Harvest 2024
Hard to believe it’s autumn already and Wine Harvest is in full swing. Depending on vineyard location we’re generally about 1-2 weeks earlier than usual. Put that down to a warm spring and warmer than usual summer nights. While it has been an extremely wet season, late August, all of September and October to date have been mostly dry, sunny and warm. That’s made for some really excellent looking fruit, and harvest yields seem to be hovering around average (a little less in the vineyards that got hit with downy mildew during the wet months, and a little higher in those that are open and had the winds dry them out between the rain storms). As everyone that has been here knows, the micro-climates are everything in the County.
Sparkling wine grapes are all off of the vines, and well into, or have completed first fermentation. Hybrids are in various stages of fermentation, or have commenced aging depending on the variety. Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris have mostly been picked and are fermenting (some Pinot Gris completed and into stainless aging tanks). Chardonnay and Gamay is coming off the vines as I write this. The later ripeners like Cabernet Franc, Riesling and Gewurtztraminer will be picked just after Thanksgiving. We’ll hope the first frost holds off as we head down into single digit overnight lows this coming week.
No rest for the winery Field staff as I’m already seeing the picked vines being pruned, and cane tie down starting for either hilling up and burying, or geotextile covering. Got to get it all done before the ground freezes.
I’m pretty excited for this year’s Pinot Noir vintage. Most of the Pinot vineyards I saw through September were showing the darkest fruit (almost black) that I’ve ever seen in the County. It should hopefully make for some wonderful wines from 2024 that we’ll start to see in 20-24 months from now.
Beautiful looking Cabernet Franc almost ripe on the vines @Three Dog Winery
Co-owner and winemaker Andrew Rytwinski doing Pinot Noir punchdown about 1 week into fermentation @Three Dog Winery
