Vintage 2026 is Over October 9, 2026 11:06

Vintage 2026 is one for the record books.  

A month early, this was my earliest harvest ever.  It began in August and ended in mid September.  Now, that is not normal because usually my last pick is October 31. Today as I look out the window there are no grapes on the vines. In other years I would still have grapes on the vine right now.

My yield  was 50% of normal. 

Why?  Climate. Weather. Timing. A warm winter instructed vines to come out of dormancy before normal so the growing cycle started early. Start early, end early.

Early flowering made timing of germination more susceptible to rain. Rain was here a little later than normal, just when many varieties were blooming.  A lot of pollen was washed off the blossoms. The tiny berries in this Viognier cluster did not get pollenated. The full ripe berries tasted great but there were not a lot of them.

Vintage 2026 was an abnormal year. Exceptionally early harvest and low yield.

In spite of all this the wines from this vintage are tasting very good. The flavors and balance are exceptional. I plan on releasing some real nice blends from this vintage.