1994 vintage guide for Oregon Pinot Noir

Vintage 1994

Oregon 1994: Drink soon

A smaller crop than usual produced rather jammy, easy to drink wines

Weather Conditions

The season began with a cool spring, and cool weather prevailed into the early summer. The cool, snappy weather led to a below average set, and the vines were carrying a small crop into the summer weeks. Growers waited anxiously for a second consecutive Indian summer, and it happened with temperatures finally warming up in September. With such a small crop few growers felt crop thinning was necessary. Picking began around Dundee the last week of September, and the harvest was underway everywhere during the first week of October. The conditions remained favorably warm and dry over the next few weeks of the harvest. Volume
was light, but ripeness levels were unusually high. The final tally has volume down by one third of normal, but quality was high.