Harvest Report
2009 Harvest Report
The 2009 vintage in Washington was a hot year producing rich ripe wines with compelling concentration. Initially, the vintage didn't start out that way due to a cool wet spring, with bud break and flowering occurring as much as two weeks behind schedule for some growers. Yields were naturally low, which is always a great indication of concentration. Then our summer hit with a vengeance. We had hot sunny days throughout the summer without a break. By verasion in August, grape maturation had caught up to what was normal and now there was talk of an early harvest. Early harvest whites (Sauvignon Blanc, Roussanne, and Viognier), were right on time during the first couple of weeks of September. Intensely flavored yet nicely balanced, the 2009 vintage promises to be one of the great vintages for our carefully selected white wines.
As September rolled on, the sun never stopped developing the reds immediately following the whites. For most of the red grapes, harvest was early and the entire vintage was finished by October 7th (the earliest on record for DeLille Cellars). The 2009 vintage favored reds that thrive in the sun, specifically Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Overall, all reds exhibited rich, ripe characteristics promising powerful wines that are generously flavored, reinforcing an excellent vintage.
"...big powerful reds and perhaps the best white wine vintages in a long time"
- Chris Upchurch, Executive Winemaker on the 2007 & 2008 vintages
2008 Vintages
After a long string of hot vintages finally we had a cool year in 2008. Bud break started 2 weeks later and ripening remained slow during the cool summer. It was September where the 80 degree power ripening weather kicked in. These cooler years give us great hang time which really rewards hotter areas like Red Mountain. Look for expressive wines with great complexity, loads of spice and deep dark colors.
2007 Vintages
The profile of the ‘07s is absolutely fantastic with excellent ripeness, balanced acid levels, and wonderful intense color. This is because of the record setting temperature swings between day and night. Though it was a pretty hot year, the nighttime temperatures hit record lows which gave us very satisfying and balanced grapes. Therefore we focused on getting the grapes very ripe and got balanced structure levels. The results are big powerful reds and perhaps the best white wine vintage in a long time.
2006 Vintages
A mild, wet spring gave way to a consistently dry, hot summer, producing balanced canopies and smaller berries. It was a very even season with no heat spikes. Heat accumulation ended up being right at the 20 year average, so it was not too hot and not too cool. As flavors came on during harvest, acid levels remained firm producing classically structured, long lived wines. The red wines did particularly well and will reward cellaring. An outstanding vintage.
DeLILLE CELLARS' Grand Ciel vineyard - Shows its Stuff in the Great 2005 Vintage
For DeLILLE CELLARS it's official - 2005 is an outstanding vintage for Washington State. Most winemakers seem to agree that 2005 is one of the best vintages for us in recent history. The combination of very low yields, tiny berry size and a flawless warm and sunny season produced wines with a natural concentration and structure with which all wineries have been impressed. It is nowhere more evident than in our own Grand Ciel Vineyard, at our new Red Mountain AVA site.
Grand Ciel Vineyard was designed from the ground up to produce wines in great vintages, like 2005. Vintages with low yields and warm weather can ripen grapes too fast. Often they lose natural acidity and the great "hang-time" complexity for which Washington State is famous. However, with the French grape clones we chose, along with high-density planting and traditional Guyot-trellising, this vineyard slows everything down. The idea is to have the best of both worlds, namely concentration and hang-time complexity. It is still too early to tell, but many barrel samples from 2005 are simply brilliant. These wines have an abundance of ripeness, spice, concentration and style that will last a long time.
Vineyard Spotlight
A lot of our attention has been given to enhancing the cabernet sauvignon and syrah at our new Red Mountain Vineyard. Meanwhile, Dick Boushey has been planting other varietals for us in his new Yakima Valley AVA vineyard. Dick was the Washington State "grower of the year" last year and has always produced some of DeLILLE CELLARS' best varietals, such as merlot and syrah.For the past couple of years, Dick has employed some of the same techniques as in our Grand Ciel Vineyard and added a few tricks of his own in planting merlot, sauvignon blanc and semillon. For all three varietals, Dick has planted French ENTAV clones that are "new" to Washington State viticulture.
We have great anticipation for this year's 2006 harvest, a year which will bring in this vineyard's first full crop. This year Dick is also planting a few acres of Grenache for our Doyenne label, which we hope will be destined for our new Châteauneuf-du-Pape style blend called "Métier". Thank you Dick for helping to raise the bar in Washington State wine-grape growing.
