Tony Rynders Consulting

As we approach the end of April, growing season in the Pacific Northwest is about two weeks late.  In Oregon, we saw bud break around the 22nd of April after a few days of 70+ degree weather.  But this past winter and the start of spring has certainly been cool.  In 2008, we experienced a similar start to bud break around the 25th of April.  The key here is that we can actually make up some growth this time of year.  So we will watch the next 4-6 weeks closely as we get a better feel as to the nature of this vintage.  The good news is that if we do repeat the growing conditions from last year, we could achieve the same glorious results in the subsequent wines!