As Pat Stotesbery puts it, this has been “the harvest of fits and starts.” Triple-digit temperatures resulted in a frenzy of picking earlier this month, but a string of cool days has allowed growers to relax and take stock as they prepare for cabernet sauvignon grapes to mature. So far this vintage can be summed up as low-quantity, but high-quality.

By American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), from north to south, the reports are as follows:

Still Pending Calistoga AVA — Paul Smith, OnThEdge Winery, “Fritz’ guys downhill thump bins, roust the rooster and beat my alarm clock to the next 4-something-am-no-snooze-button crush day. Of course I’m thrilled we finished the zin pressing by 2-something-a.m., opening that single tank we need to continue this entertainment; can’t understand why it doesn’t show. The zin…? Well … darkest in 10 years, red and blue and black, dense angular flavors … spooky stuff … wish we had more. What’s next? Well, if we can keep a tank open, only everything. Would you believe the charbono is almost dry! Didn’t think so … Only a touch of PS and our last CS still hang but hopefully, our sincere prayers, marathon phone calls and relentless googling will bless us with that merciful block of “30 percent more” needed for the most bountiful, though merely average harvest. Without such a miracle, Vintage 2008 for us and many others in the Still Pending Calistoga AVA is legend by this weekend.”

Diamond Mountain District — Dawnine Dyer, Dyer Vineyards, “On Diamond Mountain, the frantic first round brought on by 100-degree-plus weather has now cleared the crush pads and is fermenting nicely. Early reports of light crop, small berries and concentrated colors and flavors persist. Sterling has been picking merlot since Sept. 4 and Coho is picking young merlot and cab franc at Klopka Vineyard. Andrew Geoffrey is going to begin this week with the full moon, but expects to pick into October. Many of us — Diamond Terrace, Dyer and others — are still looking at sugars in the 23-24 Brix range with healthy canopies, and are well-positioned to wait for that perfect moment to pick.”

Howell Mountain — Pat Stotesbery, Ladera Vineyards, “The harvest of fits and starts. After all the heat there was this feeling of surprise that is now replaced with a slow but steady picking regime. The normal suspects of zin and merlot are being picked from the top, including some from Sears, Summit Lake and Outpost down and through Ladera where we have actually started into the cabernet. Everyone wants to keep picking but the process is slowing as we approach more cool weather. Waiting for the next surprise.”

Chiles Valley District — Alexander Eisele, Eisele Vineyards, “Fall is coming. The weather has become wonderful again. Heavy fog greets us every morning. The grapes are maturing, but slowly. The cabernet quality should be outstanding this year. The hillside zinfandel has been picked with mixed results, i.e. quality is outstanding but the quantity is down almost 50 percent. There is some effect of the frost in April but the stronger impact seems to have come from two years of drought. Even Mother Nature is shutting down early. Oaks and maples are turning color and some are losing their leaves already. This coming week will see heavy zinfandel picking on the (Chiles) valley floor.”

Spring Mountain District — Stuart Smith, Smith-Madrone, “Progress of the Spring Mt. harvest is quite varied — as might be expected from a group of strong-minded mountain folk. Some of us have picked most if not all of our merlot and others will be starting soon. Several of us have picked some blocks of cabernet sauvignon and others are still several weeks off. We all agree that the grapes have high acids, low pHs and yet have very good flavors for so early in the season. Whether it is the harvesting of merlot, cabernet franc or even cabernet sauvignon, the cooler weather is allowing all of us to pick the grapes at the peak of maturity — albeit a rather contested definition.”

St. Helena — Eric Titus, Titus Vineyards, “As we move into mid-September, we have seen just about every weather condition possible for the growing season. The heat that moved in before Labor Day until a week ago spiked sugars and wrinkled fruit of every varietal. We had a much-needed respite this week, with cool nights, foggy mornings and daytime high temperatures in the low 80s. The fruit seems to be recovering well from the heat events; we have seen the Brix readings drop a point and half in some cabernet blocks several days after the heat abated. As of this past week most, if not all, of the zinfandel is in and the focus is turning to the other early red varietals like merlot and malbec. The zinfandel yields were as low as we have ever seen, however the intensity of the flavors and concentration of the fruit is amazing. With what we have seen to date, the indicators are consistent with a low quantity/high quality vintage for all varietals.”

Rutherford — Jeffrey Stambor, director of winemaking, Beaulieu Vineyards, “Two weeks ago it looked like the 2008 harvest would be over early and we could all take early vacations. The cooling temperatures and fog lingering until late morning have slowed down the pace and we aren’t envisioning much harvesting activity until next week. Canopies look good and sugar levels have come back down from heat inflated values of last week.”

Oakville — Pat Garvey, vineyard manager, Flora Springs Winery, “We have just completed a week of cloudy mornings after a week of intense heat. We have postponed a chardonnay pick because the grape sugars are high but the fruit flavors are not fully developed. We will also keep an eye on the weather as Thursday is supposed to bring us rain clouds. We usually receive a small amount of precipitation in September which is usually harmless but reminds us that winter is not far behind.”

 

Stags Leap District — Elizabeth Vianna, winemaker, Chimney Rock Winery, “We wrote odes to the return of the sweet sight of cool foggy mornings this week! It has provided us with respite from the initial craze and time for our crew to catch up on some sleep. The Stags Leap District was still buzzing with activity in spite of the cool down. At Chimney Rock, we finished harvesting merlot and these tanks are receiving one-on-one attention as we await our first cabernet sauvignon, which will probably come in by the time this is in print. Our neighbors at Clos du Val were busy picking cabernet sauvignon this week. The last time I spoke with Michelle Edwards at Cliff Lede, she said they were about one third finished with their fruit. Stacy Clark at Pine Ridge has picked much of her property in the SLD with a few blocks to go. We will have all eyes on multiple forecasts for the next few days as we wait for those final flavors to come about.”

Atlas Peak — Jan Krupp, Stagecoach Vineyards, “Atlas Peak has benefited from the recent spate of cooler weather. Flavors, anthocyanins and tannin maturity are all catching up with sugar accumulation. The merlot and white grape part of harvest is in full swing. Flavors and balance are great. The merlot crop is light. Only a few blocks of cab have been harvested in the Atlas Peak area. Most of our cab still requires several more weeks of ripening.”

Mount Veeder — Brian Nuss, Vinoce Vineyards,  “Over at Wing Canyon they finished picking all their cab on the 13th, two weeks earlier than ‘07 but down 33 percent. The fruit was clean and the bunches full. We picked some cabernet sauvignon again on Tuesday and all the cab in the lower vineyard will be in by the end of the week. The cab franc is still hanging on and hopefully bring it in next week. The upper elevations are still at least a week out. Everyone has been happy with the way things are right now.”

Oak Knoll — Joan and Stan Boyd, Boyd Family Vineyards, “Boyd Family Vineyards is seeing the benefit from keeping the canopy strong with early water … about six gallons per vine per week. Even with the heat we have sugars 21 to 24 Brix, which is slightly ahead of last year. Mature flavors are starting to develop but another two to four weeks of hang time will bring everything together.”

David Becker, One Acre Wine, “I took a 100-berry sample of the vineyard on Sept. 11 and the Brix was 23.2 degrees. I looked back to last year and on this same day last year a 100-berry sample showed a Brix of 23.0 degrees. So even with all of the hot weather from last week the sugars are basically the same. I have irrigated quite a bit of the last week or so. The crop load looks a little lighter throughout, even though I really didn’t get any frost damage from earlier in the year. Last year I harvested on Oct. 14, but the fruit tastes like it may be earlier this year.”

Carneros — Lee Hudson, Hudson Vineyards, “What a difference a week makes. With the heat breaking on Monday we have all slowed harvest to a snail’s pace. Yields continue to be very low and quality exceptional. The pinot noir is all picked and chardonnay is three-quarters done. By early this week we were harvesting merlot with syrah starting the week of the Sept. 22. If the weather continues to cooperate we could be done in early October; a near record early harvest.”

Wild Horse Valley — John Newmeyer, Heron Lake Vineyard, “The vintage continues apace: All of our pinot noir is in, as well as part of the chardonnay. We expect the balance of the chardonnay to be picked within three or four days. Cool mornings have made our work pleasant. Tonnage is somewhat less than last year, but quality is excellent.”