2012 was a year like no other, a year of miracles in the vineyard—an annus mirabilis. This might sound extreme or perhaps forced, but there is no exaggeration here: I have never seen or experienced a year like this. In every vineyard, we harvested more fruit than we ever have, and at the highest levels of quality. Nothing could have been better.

The spring was warm and steady, with just enough rain, as if measured by angels. There were no frosts, and no storms during bloom. Fruit set was sound and bounteous across Northern California. The summer was as warm as summer should be, without heat spikes to fry the fruit. Labor Day came and went, with perfect weather for speed boating on the Sacramento; nowhere close to 100 degrees, nor so cool that ripening stalled. No—it proceeded apace, with what felt like determination but not haste.

As we began harvesting, farmers noticed that their crop estimates were too modest—perhaps we were all spooked by the devastating harvests of the last two years. Two tons always became three; big vineyards yielded tonnages that seemed to hearken back to a nearly forgotten Golden Age of Yields.

We had an amazing crew of interns and friends. The presses have never produced such excellent juice so quickly (we generated almost no heavy press this year--we seemed to nail purely superb quality without waste). We brought in tons of Sauvignon Blanc that had me afraid of intern exhaustion, and instead we find the crush pad cleaned up in time to catch a merely late-evening beer at the Rockville Inn. A team: a happy and productive team, learning together and accomplishing much.

Next, I must speak frankly about ripeness and alcohol levels. All over northern California, winemakers harvested fruit at one to three degrees of potential alcohol less than they would in any good, normal, year. In vineyard after vineyard, I made the same harvesting decisions that I always have—and then have seen two to three degrees of potential alcohol less than in any previous year! At the same time, the quality and quantity of fruit have been truly remarkable.

You may read more about this exceptional year here