Reply #5: I'm not sure about that, but supposedly a very dry growing season... [View All]

...for vineyards produces a wine of exceptional quality, or so I've heard. For example, dry conditions produce fewer bunches of grape per plant:

"Yield is very important, this is how many grapes are grown per hectare of land; it is quoted in hectolitres per hectare e.g. 50 hl/ha. The fewer grape bunches per vine the more intense their flavour will be. At the very best vineyards yields can be as low as 30hl/ha, e.g. top quality Burgundy, as opposed to around 100hl/ha for non-quality wines, e.g. Liebfraumilch."

.....Also:

<snip>
Dry Grapes
This summer's drought caused problems for many farmers in Pennsylvania, but couldn't have been better news for the state's wine grape growers.
December 24, 2001


This summer's drought conditions reached far and wide across Pennsylvania. Earlier this month the U.S. Department of Agriculture named 58 Pennsylvania counties where farms were eligible for emergency farm loans to cover losses due to low precipitation. And while recent rainfall has begun to replenish groundwater reserves, this year's rainfall is still well below average.
Grape growers in the state, however, are not too likely to be applying for farm loans this year. In fact, some have said that 2001 could be one of the best vintages for Pennsylvania wines in recent memory.

Deborah Deis is director of the Pennsylvania Wine Association, an industry trade group. She says the excitement over this year's crop is because of the way grapes grow. "Grapes have unusually deep roots, and are very light feeders when it comes to water and fertilizer," she says. "In addition to that," she adds, "the quality of the wine is much much better when they're not over-watered."

Deis says it's usually less likely for east coast grapes to grow up in dry conditions than to be over-watered, but this year's drought means the vines had just the right amount of water, and they put all their effort into growing grapes. On top of that, the grapes are a little smaller than usual, and that means a higher portion of the fruit is skin, where the flavor is most concentrated.

<more>
<link> http://www.greenworks.tv/radio/todaystory/20011224.htm

One slight hitch to this, wine drinkers are not likely to get the full benefit of these imparted qualities from the gods upon the wine for many years until the wine has fully aged in the bottle.

On the other hand it may just be more marketing bullshit!