The Wine Knows

I'm looking out at my little backyard vineyard and seeing the start of green leaves pushing through the buds on my Sangiovese vines. This should be typical because Washington wine country normally has bud break around April 15.

Yet growers are concerned. Overnight temperatures are expected to dip below freezing this weekend. There is talk that the Cascades will get snow. It's been a weirdly cool spring so far in Washington's Columbia Valley.

Chris Figgins, winemaker for Leonetti Cellar in Walla Walla, told me Thursday that in recent years, the wine industry has not had to worry so much about spring frosts. This year is different, he said. Fortunately for much of the Walla Walla Valley, bud break has not occurred, so there probably won't be an issue.

Last weekend's temperatures pushed into the 80s, thus giving the vines a boost. My buddy Hank called me last night. He has two Sangiovese vines in his backyard and wanted to know what we can do to protect our nascent leaves. I replied, "Pray."

Farmers are deeply concerned, especially orchardists. Read more about that here.

The worries aren't just east of the Cascades. Brent Charnley of Lopez Island Vineyards in Washington's San Juan Islands reports that no spring has been colder or later in his 20 years of growing grapes in the Puget Sound appellation.