PN Rodney Strong Russian River

Late winter and early spring brought waves of atmospheric rivers dropping 40 inches of tropical moisture on the Russian River Valley, delaying bud break by about three weeks as the saturated ground waited to dry out. Warm and dry weather finally came and was the norm through August, rarely hitting 95°F. Tropical storms in the summer brought waves of cloudy weather and cooler days to our vineyards, delaying ripening even further. Sunny weather followed with slow sugar accumulation in the berries, then the vines started accumulating sugar rapidly as harvest approached. We picked our Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from September 12 through October 23, a month later than the previous vintage, due to the late bud break in the spring and the cooler weather this vintage.