P.E.I. winemakers say cheers to dry summer

This year's dry weather and hot temperatures on P.E.I. have winemakers excited about their crop of grapes and the wine they will make with them.

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The berries on the plant are small so the yield will be down, but they'll be better quality, said Mike Newman, wine maker at Newman Estate Winery in eastern P.E.I.

"A smaller berry means higher sugar concentration and then higher sugar concentration in a grape generally results in to better wine," he said.

"So it's a year I'm very excited about."

That's why winemakers love dry weather, he said.

"In a year where there isn't drought, you're trying to simulate drought," he said.

"That's partially why you see vineyards on hills, in rocky soil. You see them in sand because a lot of times with grapes, we're always trying to get the water off the vine because the vine will produce a better grape whenever it's starved for water."

The last three summers have been hot and "amazing," he said, but expects 2017 will be his best vintage.

"High heat is good but then this year we also have the dryness. In a sense for grapes, it's like your ideal conditions," he said.

In St. Catherines, P.E.I., Jaime Matos is feeling equally optimistic.

"For the grapes, it's been beautiful," said Matos, who operates Matos Winery and Distillery along with his wife Heather.

The weather is always a huge factor in growing grapes for making wine, he said.

"We have to deal with what comes at you, every year is different. The baby vines that we had planted, they didn't grow as much because it was a very dry summer but they're making up for it now."

Weather station

Matos tracks the conditions in his vineyard using a weather station.

"Right now we have the weather station there, we see what it's been like and what effect it had on the vines," he said.

"Temperature, wind speeds, that's the most important for right now."

What does he need now?

"Cool nights, sunshine during the day, that's what we need, sunny and hot."

Earlier harvest

If the dry conditions continue, Newman predicts the harvest will be early. Last year it was in early October.

"We're actually caught somewhat off guard because the grapes are red already," he said.

"We're ahead in our ripening cycle by at least a week, maybe even a week and a half."

However, he acknowledged, it's still all up to Mother Nature.

"If we did have heavy rainfall all through September, that would take this perfect year and maybe shift it towards an average year," he said.

"With the weather, there is a lot that can happen."

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