September rains delayed the picking of Oregon grapes as growers wait for conditions to improve.
September rains delayed the picking of Oregon grapes as growers wait for conditions to improve.
“We have about half of our fruit in right now, but our cabernet sauvignon and tempranillo are still hanging,” said Trium Winery’s Kurt Lotspeich, following the second-wettest September on record with 2.76 inches of precipitation falling at the Medford airport. “They’ve had to deal with this in the Willamette Valley many times, but usually we’re lucky and these rains start in November, sometimes in middle or late October.”
“This much rain is not great for us, but it does allow the flavor to catch up with the sugar,” he said. “The cab had good (sugar) numbers to pick, but the flavors weren’t quite right. So we elected to let them hang, probably for another week, possibly two, because the rain has diluted the juice.”
Read more at The Mail Tribune.
