Local winemakers say timing of heat waves have impact on production

Multiple heat waves hit our region this summer prompting the opening of cooling shelters and bringing an increased fire danger, but how did the heat waves impact wine country?

With no extreme drought conditions this year, Jason Tosch with Stoller Wine Groups says he was not too worried about the extreme heat at the beginning of the summer.

"That timing was bearable, and the reason why is because earlier in June, that’s when we have flowering. There’s still a lot of uptake of water from the ground through the vine that’s keeping the vine pretty well hydrated at that time."

Having extremely hot days towards the end of the summer becomes risky for the wineries.

This year, we saw the 90s at the end of August and the beginning of September.

"We were very concerned about that but luckily, you know, groundwater being still available this year because of that rain, those rain events that we had in August, really kind of helped save the crop from being completely sunburned," Tosch added.

He says the heat waves over this summer were nothing like the ones back in 2021 that impacted their wine production.

"Luckily, (it) wasn’t back-to-back 114-degree events, you know, and we hope we never see that again because that was crazy. But who’s to say, you know, we very much believe that that climate change is real," Tosch said.

KATU News spoke to two others in the wine community who say the heat has had positive impacts on wine production. The first reason, heat waves help the ripening process.

According to the Willamette Valley Wine Association, with summer heat waves, the harvest gets pushed onto a regular schedule.

https://katu.com/news/local/local-winemakers-say-timing-of-heat-waves-have-impact-on-production-stoller-wine-group-jason-tosch-willamette-wine-valley-association-oregon-yamhill-county
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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: October 22, 2024, 3:02 am.

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