Bloom has begun in Columbia Valley. Lacey Lybeck at Sagemoor Vineyards reports seeing bloom in Weinbau Vineyard Chardonnay on the Wahluke Slope on June 4th. Lybeck also saw bloom in Chardonnay at Sagemoor and Bacchus vineyards in the White Bluffs on June 6th.
In fact, according to Growing Degree Days, a measure of heat accumulation during the growing season, 2022 is currently tracking quite closely to 2011, which was Washington’s coolest vintage on record. That said, a growing season is a book of many chapters; only the first several have currently been written for 2022.
This is actually a throwback to pre climate change. This year bloom is in June, peak flow of the Yakima River is now.
This was the norm in the 80’s when I started in wine growing!
Paul Vandenberg
Paradisos del Sol Winery and Organic Vineyard