End of grape harvest already in sight for many Sonoma County growers

This year’s grape harvest continues on its quick schedule to wrap up in early October as last week’s rain and recent heat spike didn’t alter the pace of the picking, according to growers.

Some growers in Sonoma County report that they are far past harvesting 50 percent of their crop, a figure that varies depending where on their vineyards are located in the many microclimates around Sonoma County. A few say their final pick is very near.

“If we keep going on this pace, we may be finished before the first of October, which would be a first for me,” said Duff Bevill of Bevill Vineyard Management, which oversees about 1,000 acres of vineyards around the county. Bevill has been farming grapes for 41 years.

About three-quarters of his crop has already been picked, Bevill said, leaving mostly cabernet sauvignon remaining on the vines, which his crews began harvesting last week.

At Balletto Vineyards, president John Balletto said he will be finished picking on Friday, the earliest wrap-up in his 38 years in farming with a season that typically takes six or seven weeks shrunk down to four weeks this year.

The Santa Rosa winery has been on a “fast and furious” schedule especially after a lingering heat spike a few weeks ago, which elevated sugar levels in the grapes. Sugar levels determine the alcohol content in the wine and are a key factor for wine growers in weighing when to pick their crop. Balletto’s crews were forced to scramble on the recent picks as the varieties were ready all at once instead of ripening in a sequential manner, Balletto said.

“This is the toughest one I have been through,” Balletto said.

This season kicked off with a bud break occurring in February, a month earlier than usual, while cooler weather in April and May slowed flowering and fruit set.

That resulted in a lighter crop this year, about one-third less than 2014 and 15 percent to 25 percent less than a typical a year, according to growers.

Rain can be a nightmare for vineyard managers during harvest because it can cause rot and mildew, but the showers last week moved through very quickly and the high temperatures that followed dried the fruit out. Daytime highs began dropping on Tuesday to the low- to mid-80s, prime conditions for harvest that are set to stick around the rest of the week.

In some cases, there has been sunburn on the leafy canopy of the vines and some of the berries have begun to shrivel, though it’s very minimal, affecting about 3 to 5 percent of the crop, depending on the location, said Doug McIlroy, director of winegrowing at Rodney Strong Vineyards.

“There is quite a bit of shriveling from the heat,” McIlroy said. “In general, it’s not that large of a number to worry about.”

Rodney Strong has picked about three-quarters of its fruit so far, including all of its whites, with only the Bordeaux varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, merlot and malbec remaining, he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5Doug Mc223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.