2024 Wine Grape Harvests

While every harvest follows similar patterns: ripening of the grapes,  gathering of community to harvest, preparation of food to share, harvesting and rushing the grapes to the winery; each one is unique in its story. 2024 started with lots of potential. We had our second consecutive winter of above average rainfall. Spring was cool, but not too cold. The vines were strong and well nourished. Bud break began at the end of March and flowering of the tiny grape bunches began in mid-April. A strong fruit set occurred with the promise of a bountiful harvest to come. Then summer arrived. We experienced three heat waves with temperatures over 100 degrees. High temperatures ‘shut down’ photosynthesis, slowing ripening of the fruit. While we had lots of fruit on the vine, we were concerned about its ability to ripen.

As usual, our first harvest was the Shiraz grapes. A group of family and friends gathered for the Labor Day Weekend harvest. Unusually, not all of the Shiraz were ripe and ready to harvest. Starting at early morning light, harvesters selected those bunches that were fully colored and ripe. Since we are a small vineyard and hand harvest, we can be selective as to which grapes were picked and which left on the vine. Harvesters made excellent choices with the grapes coming in at a perfect 24.5 brix. This capacity to hand-select for ripeness proved essential in the following harvests as well.

The second harvest was of our largest, the Zinfandel grapes. Zin does not ripen all at once; so our first pick (over two mornings) was of the grapes that were fully ripe for our special dry-farmed Zin. This turned out to be a challenging harvest. While many bunches looked ready, we were not sure. We used the tried-and-true method of tasting a grape from any bunches we  were not sure about. If the flavors in our mouths held the richness of Zin, then the grape bunch would be harvested.

We were halfway through September, the full moon came and began to wane as we prepared for our last harvest: the varietals for our rosé blend and our special Pedro Ximénez for our white wine. Two days before the harvest we were slammed with an intense thunderstorm, dropping 0.66 inch of rain in 20 minutes. Yes, this was very unusual. Such a storm can make the grapes swell and crack open. Fortunately, we had little damage and there was a full day of sunshine for the grapes to dry. We spent one morning harvesting the rosé blend from Zinfandel, Shiraz, and Mission varietals, carefully selecting grape bunches that were in perfect form. The second morning we harvested the Pedro Ximénez. Unlike the other varietals, this grape whose origins are in Persia and that grows in the hot, arid climate of southern Spain, is not nearly as bothered by the heat. With great joy, the harvesters picked every bunch, many as long as 12 inches!

We have suffered droughts before, which are not unusual for our climate. To have this wet rain year, followed by challenging climate conditions seems that it is our first season with a direct correlation to climate change. We appreciate that we made it through with a bountiful harvest of close to 9 tons and look forward to the wine of 2024. We are especially grateful to all of the harvesters who carefully selected each bunch. And we can’t help but feel the warning the plants are giving us as they adapt as best they can to the changing conditions.