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Article: Mendocino County. (viticulture)(A Wines and Vines Special Report: Harvest 1997)
- Article from:
- Wines & Vines
- Article date:
- February 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Wines & Vines. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The 1997 season began early, with Chardonnay and Pinot noir bud break starting the first week of March. Very balmy, dry weather during most of March ended with a series of Gulf of Alaska storms that brought on extremely cold weather for the first two weeks of April. Temperatures dipped as low as 24[degrees] in Potter Valley. In Ukiah Valley, growers frost-protected for 10 consecutive nights. Some benchland vineyards were seriously injured, resulting in much lower yields (around 400 acres were affected).
May was dominated by humid, mild temperatures and rain scattered around bloom. Some shatter occurred in Chardonnay and Merlot, but in most cases, very large crops ...