It’s impossible to capture Oregon’s epic harvest in words, picture perfect conditions that are better shown than described. We had three months of blissful summer weather with no measurable rain June – mid September, without any heat spikes to sunburn fruit, and cool nights to retain the acidity. In the ten years I’ve been photographing harvest at home, these are the most ideal conditions I’ve encountered, making the past three weeks of pre-dawn wake up calls well worth the effort. Here’s a few hightlights of the harvest in Oregon’s Willamette Valley:
Harvest day sunrise over Mt. Hood and Sokol Blosser's estate vineyard, Dundee Hills
Pre dawn light at Sokol Blosser's estate vineyard and aerial view over Elk Cove's Mt. Richmond vineyard, Yamhill
Aerial view over Evening Land's Seven Springs Vineyard, Eola Hills and vineyard manager Rob Shultz sorting leaves from pinot noir at Stoller Vineyards, Dundee Hills
Sunny clear skies typical during vintage 2012, Archery Summit's Looney Vineyard, Ribbon Ridge AVA
Perfect pinot noir cluster just before picked, Penner-Ash's estate vineyard and Saffron Field vineyard owners Angela & Sanjeev at their estate vineyard near Yamhill
Tractor full of pinot noir at Alloro's estate vineyard near Sherwood
Pinot noir carefully picked into small yellow bins to ensure optimal fruit quality, Alloro's estate vineyard
David De Lanellotti , owner of Formaglini Vineyards, has an easy inaugural harvest - sorting perfect pinot noir clusters with little debris to remove
Winemaking team (Andrew Wisniewski, Melissa Burr, Noah Bleszczad) at Stoller happy with excellent quality fruit and sunny days for harvest, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley
Leah Jorgensen working at Alloro Vineyard as harvest intern - award goes to her form best boots and energy stomping down pinot noir stems & Chehalem winery crew enjoying a sunny vintage
Mystical foggy morning dawn picking pinot noir from old vines at Chehalem's Ridgecrest Vineyards, Ribbon Ridge AVA, Willamette Valley
Chehalem's vineyard manager Chad Douglas with his dog under a fog arch on chilly dawn - New Zealanders call these mornings "Fresh", Ridgecrest Vineyards, Willamette Valley
Double rainbow over Ron & Lynn Penner-Ash at end of harvest
Penner-Ash harvest crew on Formal Friday, celebrating a harvest tradition
[…] Stunning photos from the 2012 Oregon grape harvest. […]