2009 Wine Vintage Report: Growing Season & Grape Harvest

Every growing season—and grape harvest—has its own distinct personality. Grapes can be precocious or take their own sweet time to mature. Harvests can range from hectic to calm and thrilling to frustrating. These grapes are our babies in many ways. It’s the birth of a new vintage we plan carefully and anticipate at the end of each summer, nurturing our vines throughout the growing season. Sonoma County is blessed with amazing weather—the long days of sunshine and the cool, foggy mornings and chilly nights grapevines love. Mother Nature rarely, however, lets a full year pass without reminding us who wears the pants in our relationship, from the risk of spring frost to the threat of rain at harvest. Because Jordan employs its vineyard crew full-time, we thoroughly prepare for—and quickly react to—any weather conditions so that pristine grapes are delivered to Rob Davis and the winemaking team back at the winery.

The 2009 harvest had its share of excitement, especially in October. In this video, we discuss the exceptional weather throughout the 2009 growing season and the thrilling end to a beautiful year in our Alexander Valley vineyards. Wine is a living, breathing gift from our vines, constantly evolving with time. We look forward to opening a bottle of our 2009 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (releasing in 2013) to see how it grows with time—and to be transported back to the memory of harvesting those grapes.