Yesterday marked the official end of the growing season and what a season it was, amiright?? 2023 has proven to be polarizing. For some growers and winemakers, this was a remarkable year for quality, and others are just thankful to have crop insurance. Let’s take a look at why this is. I wrote about how 2023 was shaping up back in July when I looked at how Growing Degree Days (GDD) were stacking up compared to other years. GDDs are typically calculated by taking the average of the daily minimum and maximum temperature and subtracting a base number, in this case 10°C (50°F). Back in July, most places sampled were around 300 GDDs behind previous years. After rerunning the temperature data this week, it looks like the season never caught up. Here's a look at Growing Degree Days in Alexander Valley  The difference in some locations was extreme. At this vineyard in Eastern Paso Robles, this year was between 300 and 800 GDDs behind!  Early season woes Back in July