Oregon winemakers could feel impact of prolonged high temperatures

By PAULINA AGUILAR

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    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — Crops around Oregon struggled when Portland saw record-breaking rainfall in the spring, causing some crops to fall behind. Winemaker, Don Crank says Hawks View Vineyard produced 40-60% less of their five-year average.

“We first we had a little bit of a frost after my break so that kill some of our buds in fact,” said Crank.

But the heat this summer has helped. It’s allowed the vineyards to catch up, but Crank says in extreme heat, the plants can shut down.

“If we can get those really cool nights which retain the acid structure of the wines. So, if it gets down to 55°-60° at night and gets up to 92°-94° in the daytime, that’s kind of perfect ripening weather.”

One big plus is that workers didn’t remove some of the leafy covers.

Crank said it was a good decision because then the grapes could be sunburned. Hawks View Vineyard said if they have a wet fall, that could be trouble. They can have a lot of powdery mildew pressure, or a mold called botrytis cinerea.

Though they may be making less wine this year, the wine they will make will be high quality.

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