Forecasters predicted cool weather for the Spring of 2023.  As a result, we pushed back our grapevine pruning until mid-March to ensure buds would not be damaged by frost. Our decision to prune late was sound, and thus a late bud break safely emerged on the 27th of May. Primordial grape clusters (called inflorescences) followed the shoot emergence, and they began to flower on the 10th of June. Heavy rains hit our vineyard on June 18th - a moment when our uppermost hillside was flowering. These strong rains suppressed the fertilization of our grape berries on that slope and thereby reduced our potential crop load. Ultimately, this higher section of the vineyard produced a smaller crop yield but resulted in very concentrated fruit.  We sailed through the growing year with very little fungal activity in the vineyard. It was a hot, dry summer - and the hottest August on record. Rolling into the harvest season we had expected to be harvesting our Pinot Noir on the last week of September. However, after rain showers arrived on August 31st and refreshed the vines, the weather turned dry and hot once more and pushed our grapes to ripen more quickly than we had expected. Everyone in the Willamette Valley moved quickly to pick - and the harvest was compressed into about two weeks from start to finish.  A mad rush that ended quite beautifully.