From the Field – Brad’s September Harvest Update

Harvest 2020 began nicely with ideal weather for our early programs, but within a few days, it turned hot and humid for over a week. The greatest challenge was keeping canopies healthy and the vines ripening the crop. This weather accelerated sugar maceration in our white varietals and harvest quickly ramped-up.

As we fast forward to this past week, our weather has cooperated – the fruit is ripening nicely, all the harvesters are running, and we are delivering the grapes on time. But as a farmer, I’m always looking forward and this weekend calls for a short heat-spike. This news has our irrigators in the vineyards managing water to keep the grapes fresh and the vines healthy.

Along with the swings in weather, I must mention the fires. We have had our share of smoke, but because of our distance from their location, we are not concerned with it affecting the quality of our winegrapes. It’s something new we are keeping an eye on!

Now back to the vineyard I go – I’ll check back in a couple of weeks!