“Even in vineyards with good conditions for pollination, like Cabernet Sauvignon and some Syrah clones, fruit size was affected,” Foxx says.

In some cases, growers with vines that appeared to set a good crop were dismayed when the harvested grapes failed to fill the bins as expected because of smaller, lighter clusters, she adds.

As Foxx sees it, drought may have contributed to that but only indirectly. While water stress could account for some of the light-weight fruit, it doesn’t explain the similarly light berries growers harvested from irrigated vineyards, she notes.

“I think the lighter weights and lower yields are more a result of a shorter growing cycle and letting soils get too dry,” she says. “Because the grapes ripened so early, growers didn’t have time to re-wet or to maintain soil moisture enough to prevent dehydration of fruit still on the vine during some 100-degree-plus temperatures we had in September. In addition, the shorter growing cycle did not allow for normal sizing of fruit prior to veraison.”

Despite the drop in production, the new crop brought smiles to the faces of the growers.

“People are excited,” Foxx says. “The chemistry looks good and pH numbers are perfect. However, sugar readings may be a little high. Because the grapes ripened so quickly, crews weren’t always able to get out to every vineyard on the same day the grapes were ready. But, the small, perfectly formed clusters have made for some incredibly intense flavors with excellent skin to juice ratios, especially in normally larger clusters like Cabernet Sauvignon.”

This year’s poor pollination and resulting limited and shattered formation of the fruit reinforced her thoughts about the role of canopy management in encouraging fruit to set during challenging weather conditions. This spring she experimented with some gentle early shoot-tipping techniques used by growers in the Burgundy region of France.

“Basically, it’s designed to re-direct plant hormones in the tips of the vine into the lateral shoots to invigorate the potential buds trying to set fruit,” Foxx says. “Where we experimented with this technique we saw improved set.”