Vineyard managers optimistic weather not an issue
By Brian Freedman, Forbes
Unusual weather throughout much of the United States this winter has been the subject of speculation, consternation, and obsession across the country. Springlike heat in the Mid-Atlantic and flooding rains in the West have wreaked havoc across a wide range of industries. In the past two months, both the Napa River and the Russian River, the latter in Sonoma County, hit flood levels.
How, then, is this weather affecting the great wine regions of California? And what will the impact be for the 2017 vintage?
Fortunately, because of the natural cycles of vine growth and vineyard-management requirements, the floods don’t seem to have caused too much damage to the vineyards themselves—at least, nothing that can’t be fixed. “[Other] than physical damage to the trellising and needing to remove debris from vineyards which were flooded (including our own Westside Farms in the Russian River Valley),” there hasn’t been any damage to the vineyards of Ramey Wine Cellars, David Ramey noted in an email.
