SALEM, Ore. (AP) - In a story Sept. 6 about Oregon’s wine harvest, The Associated Press reported erroneously that mild conditions for ambient yeast on the grapes were a factor in a forecast of a strong early harvest. Instead, mild conditions for flowering contributed to the forecast.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Conditions perfect for big Oregon wine yield
Hot summer, mild conditions without rain combine to forecast great Oregon wine yield
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon’s Dundee Hills suffered from late rains last year that impacted the quality of wine in one of Oregon’s most productive regions.
Not this year.
Vintners in the Willamette Valley say the conditions have so far been perfect, and early September has given white-grape growers a chance to start harvesting early.
The first picking of the state’s famous pinot noir grapes isn’t far behind, The Statesman Journal reported (https://stjr.nl/1rliEgo).
Stoller Family Estate vineyard manager Robert Schultz says Oregon’s hot summer and the mild conditions for flowering combined to forecast a strong early harvest.
“This year is remarkable for its earliness, perfect conditions at bloom and increased heat accumulation,” Schultz said, adding that this year’s crop is “bigger and riper earlier than last year.”
Melissa Burr, who is celebrating her 12th vintage at Stoller, is also enthusiastic about this harvest. “We have a healthy and heavy fruit set across the entire vineyard. The vineyard flowered in a compressed period of time, which leads me to think that harvest will also be compressed, and we are ready,” Burr said.
Schultz said harvest should be done at Stoller by mid-October.
At Sokol Blosser and other Willamette Valley vineyards, the vineyard has begun harvesting grapes for its sparkling wine offerings.
“The grapes are picked early to help with acid retention and lower sugar content, resulting in lower alcohol content for sparkling wine, an approach we’ve adopted after developing our sparkling program over the last year,” winemaker Alex Sokol Blosser said.
If the warm weather keeps up - temperatures reached the low 90s on Saturday - the pinot noir grapes could come earlier than anticipated.
“It appears to be an all-around stellar year for the Dundee Hills, and I’m looking forward to tasting the results of our collective work,” Schultz said.
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