INTENSITY MEETS ELEGANCE
Inside the 2016 Grape Harvest By Rob Davis, Winemaker
A 6
fter more than 40 years as winemaker at Jordan, 2012 ranks as the best vintage I’ve ever experienced. I thought I’d never see another vintage like that again, especially not this soon. But, 2016 was phenomenal— truly superb. What I look for in a great harvest is intensity of fruit flavors, and all those same amazing aromas that splashed into our hopper brought back the same smiles as 2012. It’s an average-sized crop compared to the bountiful 2012 but with taste and complexity on par with 2012. We can’t complain. An average- sized crop is better than low; 2012 certainly spoiled us all.
What we look for in a growing season is lack of extremes, and 2016 was blessed with moderate weather throughout most of the vintage. The much-needed rain arrived in waves during winter and spring, replenishing reservoirs after years of drought (29 inches is average for the first half of a year, and we received 32 total). Weeks of intermittent rainstorms in December and January were swiftly followed by a record heat wave in mid-February, forcing yet another early bud break. Chardonnay bud break began in the Russian River Valley on February 19, about a week later than in 2015—continuing a new norm for an early start to our growing season. Bordeaux varieties in Alexander Valley followed suit a few weeks later,
with Petit Verdot buds bursting the first week of March, followed by Malbec, Merlot and the later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon on March 15. Across both appellations, bud break was quite uniform—all the leaves pushing and growing at the same level—which is ideal when the goal is achieving a balanced grapevine to make a balanced wine.
Despite the usual concern for frost damage to these delicate buds, temperatures didn’t drop to freezing in March or April.
Flowering commenced in early May, and despite some rainy days and a little wind, the flowers on our earlier-ripening vineyards pollinated well. Mother Nature still reminded us it was spring with a few rain showers punctuated by two heat spikes over a two-week period. This disrupted the bloom of some later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards, which affected quantity (not quality) of clusters.
Fruit set in June revealed an average-sized crop for all of our Chardonnay and Merlot growers, as well as some hillside and benchland Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards and our Estate Petit Verdot and Malbec. This was a relief after the smaller 2015 vintage, which yielded about 20-30% less fruit than a typical year. Summer days were foggy in the mornings but sunny all afternoon with moderate temperatures, allowing
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
