2004 vintage--what's the story?

[JohnL]

I am starting to get offerings for the 2004 vintage from wineries in California and The Pacific Northwest.

Not that I would ever question a winery's assessments in their offering letters

but--given that we have some very trustworthy people out here with "intimate" knowledge of the 2004 vintage in California, Oregon and Washington State--I would love to get some inside info on how the 2004 vintage went and ,seems to be developing, as these wines are now in bottle or will be over the next several months.

many thanks for any help (as a great marketer once said: "an informed consumer is our best customer.")

[Rebel Rose]

There is an excellent and brief summary of the 2004 vintage on the blog Wine Whys.

Each varietal has it's own growing requirements, so I can't say, for instance, how it was for local pinot growers, but for Paso Robles zinfandel and syrah, it was a steady, balanced growing season and we are very happy with the 2004 reds we have in barrel. The '04 whites have already been bottled, and while a little higher in alcohol than I would prefer (but they are Rhone whites), they have been very popular.

The growing season here started and ended earlier than usual. This was not, as has been reported by some, due to heat spikes during the summer. Heat spikes actually cause the vines to shut down temporarily--transpiration and nutrient exchange grind to a halt in excessively hot weather. The fact that the vines got an early start in the spring allowed for a long hang time. However, high winds and a few punishing rainstorms during fruit set affected pollination adversely, so some vineyards had a lot of the small, green "shot" berries, or uneven ripening. But overall we were very pleased with everything we brought in.

I haven't tasted the 2004 barrels for a while. When I do, I'll post some overall impressions of the vintage, as expressed by our fruit at least.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Recent 2004 barrel samples from Napa are showing quite nicely, thank you very much... It was an odd year because everything happened early (80 degree heat in February with a harvest that started shortly after the July 4th weekend) and ended well before the end of September.

I'll be buying Petite Sirahs, Syrah, and (usual for me), wines from mountain vineyards that didn't see as much heat spiking as the valley floor wineries saw. I'm already setting my sights on Outpost Rhone varietals, Lamborn zins, and Carneros Pinot Noirs (but probably not from THIS year!)

[winesonoma]

Our reds are tasting very nice in the barrel and our white we just bottled was the only one we ever did lab tests on. 16.5% Sav blanc. Balance and acid were good (whatever that means)