Growers in Washington are seeing the beginning of veraison, the altering of coloration of the grapes. This implies the start of harvest will quickly be at hand.
Sager Small at Woodward Canyon Vineyard in Walla Walla Valley noticed veraison within the vineyard’s property Cabernet Sauvignon on July twenty seventh/twenty eighth. Small says the 2022 rising season has been two to a few weeks behind current years, however final month’s excessive warmth introduced it nearer to 2 weeks.
Grower Phil Cline noticed veraison in Cabernet Sauvignon at Equus Winery, pictured right here, on August third. Equus is positioned in Columbia Valley east of Yakima. Cline concurs that the season is at present working two weeks behind current years.
A have a look at Washington State College’s graph of Rising Diploma Days, a measure of warmth accumulation through the rising season, reveals that spring was fairly cool, monitoring with the 2011 classic. Hotter temperatures in July moved warmth accumulation near the long-term common.
With August, September, and October nonetheless forward, a lot of the story of this yr’s rising season stays to be written.