Mudslides, threat of ‘wet vintage’ won’t dampen Bay Area winemakers’ delight in record rainfall

As Prudy Foxx walked through rows of ripening fruit at several vineyards nestled among the Santa Cruz Mountains last September, she cringed at the spindly shoots rising from the stocky grapevine trunks.

“I was looking at the canes going into winter, and many of them were a little thin for my taste,” Foxx said. “They were the diameter of a No. 2 pencil and lacking in their protein component. I thought ‘that’s a real issue.’ ”

A similar scene played out last fall at many vineyards around the Bay Area: years of drought taking a destructive toll on the vines, threatening a billion-dollar industry and putting more stress on California’s scant stored water resources.

Then, like a “godsend,” the rains came.

Over several weeks in December and January, storms dropped more than a foot of rain on Northern California, smashing historic records and leaving a wide swath of devastation in their wake. But in Livermore, Napa and the Santa Cruz Mountains, vintners rejoiced as rainwater streamed into their reservoirs and the water table received a much-needed refill. With every passing storm, vineyards got closer and closer to beating the drought.

“We’re starting off the year with some well-needed optimism and positivity,” said Foxx, a consultant who works with about 90% of all Santa Cruz Mountain wineries. “We’ll have to see as we go into spring, but so far, it’s good news overall. The rain has been like a godsend for wine growers.”

The gift of rain also had a downside. Downed trees blocked roads and cut off some mountain vineyards from the Bay Area, while other areas dealt with property damage, landslides and near-constant power outages.

In Napa Valley, arborists had long told Tom Davies the massive 275-year-old valley oak tree that spread its long limbs over his bucolic vineyard and market in the Napa Valley would last beyond his lifetime. But as the rain kept coming and winds picked up, the tree that had served as shade for countless weddings, picnics and wine tastings cracked and fell.

“We centered so much of what we did around that oak,” said Tom Davies, president of V. Sattui Winery, which is best known for sparking wines like its Prestige Cuvée. “It was the most cared-for oak in the valley. It meant a lot.”

Still, the thought of another year of sweltering temperatures and little water alarmed him and others across the region. Avoiding another political battle over water in California is an added benefit. But was it worth losing the signature of his vineyard?

“We’ve had buildings burned in fires, we’ve lost whole rows of vines to fires,” Davies said. “All that can be replanted or rebuilt. But with this oak, that’s 275-year-old oak. Sure, we can plant a new tree, but it won’t ever be the same again.”

A vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains that Foxx works with closely — Green Earth winery on Old Mount Road near Felton — told Foxx they lost about 100 vines to a mudslide in January. It took out two whole rows.

“But when they replanted them, they just popped back up,” Foxx said. “These are really resilient plants.”

Just three years ago, the Bay Area wine industry was looking at an entirely different forecast. In late June 2018, growers in the Russian River Valley were working fast in sweltering heat to harvest as many grapes as possible before they became raisins in the intense heat.

Even if the days of water shortages and strict regulations on agricultural diversions continue into the future as California’s climate changes, winegrowers in the Napa Valley were happy to watch the rain soak into the ground in recent weeks.

“We really escaped the worst of it this year,” Davies said. “We needed the rain, and I’m really thankful for it because I was worried a lot about how we would navigate as an industry not having rain for another year. Those questions still remain.”

All that rain won’t necessarily lead to bad wine either.

Sommelier Amanda McCrossin — who runs a popular TikTok account highlighting Napa Valley’s historic vineyards — said the rain came exactly when it was needed: right before the vines awakened from their winter hibernation and started budding. Winegrowers have their fingers crossed that the extra moisture from January won’t affect the taste of grapes harvested this year, but it could if the rains continue through the spring and summer.

Commonly known as a “wet vintage,” wine in extra rainy years isn’t as “juicy” as normal and is a little more herbaceous, tart and acidic — and usually lower in alcohol content, McCrossin said.

“We say it’s a little on the green side,” McCrossin said. “It doesn’t happen in California much because we don’t get as much rain. But it happens when the fruit doesn’t get completely ripe.”

Though McCrossin said there’s not much to worry about as far as a wet vintage for 2023, rainy wines are on the whole less desirable. In 2011, Napa vintners mostly produced wet vintages after late storms brought rain right at the peak of harvest.

“It always depends on when the rain hits,” McCrossin said.