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The 2006 California growing season has been characterized by winemakers statewide as a classic vintage, as long as they were patient and used their instincts in the vineyards, first and foremost. The early growing season of 2006 began with isolated flooding in California, especially Napa and Sonoma counties. The flooding did very little damage to dormant vines, but made for sensational television footage across the United States. Later than normal rainfall and cool spring weather delayed bud break in many areas up to two weeks and very mild spring frosts kept vineyards out of frost danger until early summer warming temperatures turned very hot. California experienced a ten day heat wave in mid-July, but with crops behind in their growing cycle, very little heat damage was reported. Any clusters that may have been sunburned were removed during normal post-veraison thinning (veraison, remember is when grapes start to color). Many winemakers were actually happy for the heat (after the fact), as vines were able to catch up to a more typical growing season timeline without a lot of extra work. The largest impact of the heat wave seemed to be the small berries with huge extraction this weather pattern created, something most desired in quality winemaking to begin with. The remainder of July and August had very mild weather patterns inmost areas and set the stage for a smooth harvest. Patience was a virtue for most growers in 2006. Mild weather led to evenly ripened fruit with wonderful, vibrant flavor profiles. Cabernet Sauvignon harvest took place mainly in the last week of September and all of October with the coolest regions finishing harvest the first week of November. For many wineries it was a very compressed harvest, with typically early ripening varietals coming into the winery at the same time as the later ripening ones. In mid to late October a lot of wineries were jammed, with juice/wine in every available fermenting vessel. The overall Cabernet Sauvignon crop was average in size and sugars were similar to the 2005 vintage. Colors are deep hued with rich, concentrated fruit flavors. The high acids growers were seeing earlier in the season came into balance and tight tannins will add longevity to this vintage into the next decade. Early indications – a thrilling vintage.

Using information gathered from winemakers statewide, the general consensus of the 2005 vintage is that vineyard management decisions, for the most part, made the wines. The growing season of 2005 started out with intermittent rain showers late into the spring. This put us all in attack mode against the possible outbreak of powdery mildew, even though access to the wet vineyards was limited. Along the way, vigor and flowering was quite generous as the vines had bounced back from the short crop of 2004. This setting for an abundant crop gave managers the luxury of being able to fine tune their crops with multiple passes of fruit selection as spring moved on into summer. The fact of the matter is that for most, an unusual amount of time and money was invested in canopy and fruit management in the vineyard. And, although it wasn’t universal, the next result was a crop 30% greater than average. Many regions experienced cooler than normal temperatures for much of the typically hot summer months. With berry counts already high and cluster weights continuing to rise due to the lack of stressful conditions during this time, conscientious growers were able to make yet more fruit thinning passes and further achieve balance in the vineyards. Some heat spikes occurred in late September, but otherwise harvest was drawn out into late October while the grapes slowly ripened. Sugars were generally lower than normal which made for lower alcohols and healthy fermentations. The color, flavor, and structure extraction was generous, and the concentration of vintage 2005 fruit will make cabernets and cabernet-blend wines age gracefully well into the next decade. As for comparisons, at this early stage, let’s say 1997 – wonderful, long-lasting wines and a most bountiful vintage.