Per a newsletter I just received from Cristom Winery in McMinneville:
Summer arrived on July 5th and we’ve had gorgeous weather for over two months now. Gorgeous in Oregon means that we attained our average high temperature of 83F during the day, with clear blue skies and evenings where you can dine al fresco without a jacket. October is continuing this trend! October 1st saw a high/low of 82F/54F. To date, we have more heat units in 2012 than we had in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011.
October 1st also brought with it the beginning of harvest. We have processed 3 tons of our “Parking Lot” block of Louise Vineyard Pinot Noir and 2.75 tons of Pinot Gris. The fruit is coming in on small clusters with small berries. The brix are perfect and acid is lower, making it a perfect year for our whole cluster fermentation. This vintage brings to mind 2000, a vintage whose wines are drinking beautifully right now.