Mother Nature can be kind or cruel. She has been mostly kind to our vineyard for 22 years.  Kind In such a surprising manner that we would experience no frost or hail damage, when vineyards five miles away would. We knew, eventually it would be our turn.

The 2023 grape growing season began with a warmer than usual March and early April. As a result, bud break was two to three weeks earlier than normal; most of the vines had already begun to leaf out and were showing exposed fruit buds. This warm spell was followed by a bitter cold front that caused freezing temperatures in the early morning hours of 25 April and again early on 26 April. While the temperature in the town center of Lovettsville was just above freezing, the temperature in our vineyard dropped to 28F.

In an attempt to avert freeze damage, Clyde arose at 2AM on both mornings and sprayed a mild solution of foliar fertilizer on the vines. Normally, this would provide a 2-3F safety window for frost damage. However, the 28F temperature was too cold and lasted too long to prevent the damage. As a result, we experienced about a 70% loss of crop.

The vines did produce secondary buds which produced a small but excellent quality crop. The Summer drought in our area came in July and August and though our lawns were mostly brown and our flower beds required frequent watering, the vineyard was unaffected. Dry conditions throughout the remainder of the growing season reduced the juice content of the remaining grapes, further enhancing the quality of the future wine.

While we mourn the loss of crop volume in an otherwise excellent growing season, we look forward to tasting the remaining crop in vintage 2023 wines. In the mean-time, an ample supply of red wines from the previous vintages of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 are slowly aging in our barrel room. Those reds will be released over the coming years in the spirit of “extended elevage” or long-time barrel aging. 

With many thanks and best regards,

Clyde & Terry Housel

Hiddencroft Vineyards