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18 W i n e s & V i n e s D e C e M B e R 2 0 1 4 N O V E M B E R N E W S D undee, Ore.—The 2014 growing season was nearly a dream vintage, according to Oregon winemaker Jesse Lange. Harvest at his Lange Estate Winery & Vineyards was a three-week sprint that began Sept. 12 and ran through Oct. 5, when the final clusters of Pinot Noir were brought in from the estate vineyard. "It's been pretty wonderful on the whole," he told Wines & Vines. "I didn't have to flip any fermentors or hold off picking anything out in the field because we didn't have the capacity here." And capacity was indeed a question for other facilities—particu- larly custom-crush operations—as this year's harvest volumes appear likely to break records. Lange expects the final tallies to show that the amount of 2014 Pinot Noir harvested from his vineyards was four times what the same vines yielded five years ago. The gains are compounded this year by ideal growing conditions that allowed him to crop a little heavier than in other years. "I think it was a good year to maybe crop things a little bit higher," he said. "If you dropped fruit too much, it would definitely accelerate the ripeness." Similar stories could be heard across the Northwest, from the Rogue to the Okanagan valleys. By some estimates, growers were looking at increases in yield of as much as 25% at some sites. Marlene Woodward of Oak Ridge Vineyards in Husum, Wash., called 2014 "the most abundant harvest we've had in the 19 years we've been here." Similarly, in British Columbia, steady warmth allowed growers to savor a Goldilocks season of sorts in which everything was just right. "This year has been one of the best growing seasons that I can re- member," remarked Garron Elmes, winemaker at Lake Breeze Vine- yards on the Naramata Bench near Penticton, B.C. "Temperatures were warm but not scorching, and we have had very little rain or pest pressure." With the heat of 2008 and 2009 erased by the chill of 2010 and 2011, and now two years of relatively stable conditions, growers have a moment of calm to prepare for whatever next year might throw at them. —Peter Mitham Northwest Harvest Records Expected The picking crew at Lange Estate Winery & Vineyards harvests Oregon Pinot Noir. NADALIÉ USA 1401 Tubbs Lane Post Office Box 798 Calistoga, CA 94515 Tel. 707 942 9301 Fax. 707 942 5037 info@nadalie.com www.nadalie.com Nadalié France since 1902 Nadalié USA since 1980 NADALIÉ USA, it's also... D E C E M B E R N E W S