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Roger Morris | The News Journal | 11/09/2005

Local growers deem 2005 both good year, bad year

If Brandywine Valley winegrowers had only a few words to describe the almost-completed 2005 harvest, what would they say?

"Very promising," ventures Jim Kirkpatrick of Kreutz Creek.

"What did I do to deserve this?" asks Eric Miller of Chaddsford.

Anthony Vietri of Va La enthuses, "Back to normal again!"

"Our yields were certainly better than last year, and we certainly had less disease," summarizes Sherry Sowers of Folly Hill.

John Weygandt of Stargazers draws a literary analogy: "Cinderella — unanticipated beauty, great at the ball, but later, the pumpkin coach."

After two very difficult harvests, in many ways, the year was a roller coaster with more ups than downs. Some vineyards had major damage in February when high temperatures encouraged the dormant vines then hit them with a hard freeze. Flowering and bud break were delayed in most areas, but a long warm summer with an extraordinarily dry September promised good ripening. The October deluge caused some problems, but they were manageable.

Most winegrowers rated the quantity of the 2005 vintage as average to less than average, but the quality was given a very optimistic 8/9 on a scale of 10, depending on the grape varieties and the style of winemaking.

Vietri says the year reminds him of 2002, after two difficult years in 2003 and 2004, "but of even higher quality this year in soluble solids, flavor and color."

"I've never seen this combo of light crop, lean growth, and focused wines before," says Miller, who has done more than 20 harvests in this area.

"The chardonnay is the best I've seen in a decade," Weygandt says, adding that "I'd like to put in a plug for cabernet franc, which, because it ripens early, had another good vintage locally.

"All in all, I think it was a good harvest, but not a spectacular one," Sowers says. Kirkpatrick is happy that "12 of the 13 varieties we grow are bright, except the Gewürztraminer," which continues to underperform. Kirkpatrick also has become the regional specialist in ice wine, which is made from frozen grapes picked on some cold winter's night.

So the 2005 harvest is not technically over. "The vidal and the cabernet franc are hanging nicely, and, hopefully in the beginning of December, we will have some 22 degree nights to pick," he says.

Which is a very cool way to end a harvest.

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