At Wildwood Vineyards above the Valley of the Moon in Kenwood, Gonzalez Vineyard Management field workers bring in zinfandel grapes at sunrise, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)

Last pick of a late harvest: Wine Country’s 2023 growing season comes to a hopeful end

Winemakers and growers said this year’s late harvest is an anomaly

PEG MELNIK

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

November 25, 2023

Nearly all harvest crews in Wine Country have finished their work, and just a scattershot of unripened grapes remains in some vineyards.

Many winemakers and growers are letting out a collective sigh of relief, because this year’s unusually late harvest, while unnerving and frenzied, was not calamitous.

“Over the last three years we’ve experienced fire, smoke taint, drought and low tonnages,” said Keith Kunde, founder of Dirt Farmer Co., a Kenwood-based vineyard management firm. “This was a good solid year, and it’s about time.”

He said tonnages are higher across the board and grape quality is expected to show well in the bottle.

Kunde was one of the last growers to cross the finish line with his final pick Nov. 13.

While harvest went off well in the end, Kunde said, it was one of the latest in the past decade, raising a host of challenges, bad weather among the biggest.

He and others in the final group were relieved they beat heavy rains, sidestepping the threat of mold and diseases. The intermittent rains this fall were under a quarter-inch in most instances and dried up in a couple hours.

For most, this year’s harvest window was from September through November, with the largest share of picking during an intense October. Typically, harvests span August through October. But this year, spring rains and cool temperatures throughout the growing season significantly delayed picking.

Like Kunde, Matt Ward, winemaker of Pride Mountain Vineyards, also finished late in the season. His final pick was Nov. 9.

“I might have had a revolt on my hands if I had pushed it past the harvest party (two days later),” Ward joked.

The winemaker said last year his picking crew finished Oct. 24, with the final tank pressing on Nov. 28.

“It’s quite a departure from this year,” he said. “I don’t expect to be pressed out until the first week of December at the earliest.”

Ward doesn’t know what to make of this abnormal year.

“I have little doubt that climate change will continue to keep us guessing moving forward,” he said. “The 2022 and 2023 seasons have taught me to expect the unexpected.”

Surprising growers, the 2022 vintage had an early start that began in late July. It also dealt a blow to growers in October with a string of 100-degree-plus heat spikes.

The 2023 season had moderately cool weather with little heat waves, which were perfect little nudges to ripen the grapes, said Adam Casto of Napa Valley’s Ehlers Estate.

“If I hadn’t just experienced it, I would have difficulty imagining two vintages more different, let alone vintages that were back to back,” Ward said.

“Every vintage from 2013 to 2022 had some variation of some new monster,” Casto said. “Now we’re going to lose sleep that we won’t ever have this vintage again. That’s the deeper concern: When can we have this vintage again?”

Predictions on wine quality

Now the pressure is on winemaking teams: How will an extended harvest play out in the bottle?

Eric Sussman of Sebastopol’s Radio-Coteau is among those betting on the new vintage. He uses grapes from western Sonoma County and Anderson Valley in Mendocino County.

“Although the coastal fruit crop was very light due to poor fruit set, the quality was very high with small clusters and tiny berries,” Sussman said. “The acidity appears to be higher overall, along with more extract from higher skin-to-juice ratio given the small berries. We expect the wines will be structured and poised for long-term aging.”

Meanwhile, Ward of Pride Mountain Vineyards said the grapes his crew picked at 2,100 feet above sea level at the crest of the Mayacamas Mountains show great potential. The winery and its mountaintop vineyards are perched on the county line between Napa and Sonoma counties.

“I can’t remember a vintage that tasted this good this early, especially since many of our wines continue to develop on the skins,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine they won’t continue to improve once fermentation is complete and they’re safely tucked away in our cave.”

Tyler Klick of Redwood Empire Vineyard Management farms 2,200 acres from Mendocino to Marin counties, giving his operation one of the broadest geographical reaches in Wine Country. Most of those acres are in Sonoma County.

“While we had to be patient and we had to wait for it, I think the quality of this vintage will show balanced ripening with acids and sugars,” Klick said.

This extended harvest has been ideal for eking out the full potential in grapes, according to winemaker Jeff Hinchliffe of Santa Rosa’s Hanna Winery.

“It’s the luxury zone, giving us the ability to wait,” he said. The winery uses fruit from across the county, from the Russian River, Dry Creek and Alexander valleys, to Moon Mountain on the rocky slopes of the Mayacamas above Sonoma Valley.

“As the veil lifts on 2023, sauvignon blanc is stunning, as are early-season reds,” he said of varietals like sangiovese and malbec. “All have great color, but it’s too early to tell because they’re still fermenting.”

High tonnages

With 3,745 tons of fruit harvested from 987 acres, Kunde of Dirt Farmer Co. said it was a good year, though not a bumper crop, which typically yields 6 tons of grapes per acre. Most of his 45-plus clients got 4 to 4.5 tons per acre, a significant jump from last year.

“A heat spike of 116 degrees in October of last year fried up the grapes that weren’t quite ripe, and we lost more than a third of that amount because of it,” Kunde said. Last year, he harvested 2,200 tons.

“The reds were higher (in tonnage) and the whites were a little lower,” Kunde said, referring to 2022. “But if you break it out, overall it was a good year.”

Most growers were in Kunde’s camp, with tonnages either surpassing last year or outpacing what they expected at the onset of this year’s harvest.

Adam Casto of Napa Valley’s Ehlers Estate harvested 175 tons, 20% higher than estimated. Ken and Akiko Freeman, co-vintners of Sebastopol’s Freeman Vineyard & Winery, said tonnage was 20% higher this year compared to last.

Hinchliffe of Hanna harvested 623 tons of fruit from 122 acres, or more than 5 tons per acre — more than he calculated at the beginning of harvest. The winemaker counted clusters at the start of this season, but they grew weightier because of the extended hang time.

“You’re happier it’s not as light as it could be, but the worker in you gets prepared for an easier harvest,” he said. “In the end you have no control. With harvest, you just always have to be prepared for the unexpected.”

Respite for winemakers?

The end of harvest marks the close of the busiest time of year for growers and vintners.

Akiko Freeman of Freeman Vineyard began harvest Sept. 1 and worked 12 to 13 hours seven days a week up until her final pick on Oct. 23.

But not all is done.

“I’m ready to go hibernate when everything is in the bottle,” Freeman said. “I’m going to hibernate in November. I’m going to sleep in and only get up when I’m hungry.”

Equally depleted is Sussman of Radio-Coteau. His final pick was on Halloween.

“It was a long season at a steady clip,” he said. “Now I plan to hop in the ocean and enjoy the surf.”

Casto of Ehlers Estate only took one day off from Sept. 1 until his last pick on Oct. 30. During that stretch, the winemaker averaged 13 hours of work daily.

“My wife and I used to take epic adventures to China and Hungary,” Casto said. “But after harvest now I just want to go to a beach.”

There’s so much to be done in the cellar, Casto said, preparing budgets and working up budgets, so taking time off is next to impossible.

“One of the great myths (in winemaking) is that there’s some sort of off season,” Casto said.

You can reach wine writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pegmelnik.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:

This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
No disinformation about current events.
We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.

Send a letter to the editor