2008 Harvest – Reflections on the Year of Fire and Ice

Harvest always forces winemakers (and wine lovers) into a game of comparisons.  The singular character of a vintage is dependent on an incalculable array of variables;  from sunlight hours to rainfall, from the gradations of temperature to the frequency and intensity of wind, from the decisions to green harvest to the agonizing judgment of sending in the crew to pull the fruit from the vine.
The 2009 vintage was incredibly even until the freakish storm that swept in mid-October. But that was nothing compared to the disparate conditions of 2008.  Barry refers to it as the year of Fire and Ice.