What a difference 3 months makes…

A layer of snow covered Oregon vineyards in mid March. Now, a little over 3 months later, the weather has soared to over 100 degrees. Monday broke all time record high temperatures for the entire month of June.

This is relatively “safe” weather during the critical flowering stage that the vines are going through at the moment. In fact, the heat will help them speed through flower more quickly than they would in cooler weather. This is good news for fruit set and therefore harvest yields this fall.

The picture below is a close up of a Pinot noir fruit cluster during flower stage. This was taken on Monday, June 26, late in the afternoon (at temps above 100 degrees), at the Oak Springs Vineyard.