Mother Nature

Originally published June 16, 2017. Updated in 2026.

With the green of early summer crowding around us, it can be easy to forget the weather of the winter before. Drinking and enjoying wine with a friend or savoring it with dinner can be such an immediate experience. We notice the aromas, flavors, textures, and colors, while sometimes overlooking the fact that every glass begins with vines growing outdoors in a vineyard.

Vines and vineyards are influenced by many things, including the whims of Mother Nature. Few things remind us more clearly that winemaking is, at its heart, an agricultural endeavor.

The winter and early spring of 2017 provided a dramatic example.

Periods of unusually warm winter weather were followed by a severe cold snap in March. As grapevines begin to emerge from winter dormancy and their buds develop, they become increasingly vulnerable to freeze damage. A hard freeze at the wrong time can injure developing buds and reduce the year’s crop even when the vines themselves survive.

For three days in mid-March 2017, temperatures fell to about 16 degrees and barely rose above freezing.

Habersham’s vineyard staff fought the cold using wind machines, large vineyard fans with 18-foot blades mounted on roughly 30-foot towers. The machines and the staff worked through the nights in an effort to protect the developing crop.

When the damage was assessed, Habersham had lost approximately 25% of its Chardonnay crop, 15% of its Chambourcin, and 20% of its Merlot to bud mortality. Fortunately, the vines themselves survived.

Weather-related losses are an unavoidable part of farming. Vineyard managers and winemakers can plan, prepare, and respond, but each vintage ultimately reflects the conditions nature provides.

The winemaker makes a plan. The company has its goals. The vineyard team does its best. But the finished wine is always, in some measure, a cooperative venture with Mother Nature.

Cheers to Mother Nature!