Spring's hard freezes leave El Dorado County wineries out in the cold as harvest arrives
EL DORADO COUNTY – Wineries in El Dorado County hit hard by the Caldor Fire are now being left out in the cold after two hard freezes this past spring.
Zach Norgaard is the winemaker at Windwalker Winery in Fair Play.
"This will be my ninth harvest overall," Norgaard said. "I've been here four years."
His staff is prepping for one of the worst harvests in 30 years.
"Ninety percent of the whites [are] not even worth harvesting," Norgaard said.
And half his reds are wiped out. it's hard to swallow.
"It's farming. Unfortunately, that's just the way it goes," Norgaard said.
Norgaard blames an early spring combined with two hard freezes in March and May.
"Any buds that were growing, they froze and died. And there are secondary buds that come out but then those froze, too," Norgaard said. "So basically there is nothing out there."
This is a third of the size of what it would normally be – and it's also two months behind what it should be.
Norgaard showed us vines with smaller clusters that were more spread out. He says they turned on sprinklers to try and save the crop, but it wasn't enough.
"All the cold air came down here at night and kind of got stuck down here because we are kind of in a little hole, so we really got hit hard," Norgaard said
Less than a half mile away - and 300 feet higher - Gold Mountain Vineyard fared much better. General manager Michael Scully says they will not bottle wine this year. He won't have to: He's had so many requests for grapes from neighboring vineyards.
"Zinfandel is sold, our grenache is sold; that's another acre," Scully said. "Windwalker is getting some petite Syrah, Syrah, [and] cabernet sauvignon."
He says, unlike last year during the Caldor Fire, this year's canopy is looking good
"Last year we did about 42 tons … down a lot. And I think this year might be up in the 65-70 ton [range]," Scully said.
The clusters, like one six-acre patch of petite Syrah destined for Windwalker Scully showed us, are looking excellent and will be ready to pick in just a matter of weeks.
"This will probably be harvested mid-October," Scully said.
Norgaard is watching and waiting, harvesting what little he can.
"We can't bottle the wine from last year because it had smoke taint, and this year because off the freeze. That's two vintages from our estate impacted," Norgaard said.
But, by using locally sourced grapes, Windwalker will still be able to put "Fair Play" on the label.
Norgaard says he cannot raise prices again this year as they have already had to up costs $2-3 a bottle because of inflation. But next year may be a different story. He worries yields will be down again after vines were stunted by the freeze.