Growers have completed harvesting nearly all the grapes in the Calistoga area and many of the wineries on Spring Mountain are finished, including Paloma, which had its earliest finish in 20 years. By American Viticultural Area (AVA) then, the harvest reports are as follows:

Diamond Mountain District — Dawnine Dyer, Dyer Vineyards, “What a lovely first rain we had Friday night — quick, heavy and followed immediately by a brisk breeze. All growers on Diamond Mountain report that the dust is down and the grapes are washed clean and harvest continues on schedule. There was a little flurry of activity on Thursday and Friday to get blocks that were fully ripe before the rain began, but those still out are looking forward to another nice week of slow, steady ripening. Diamond Creek picked a little last week and expects to get serious next week. Crops continue to be light with very small berries and first reports on quality is high. The next two weeks will tell the tale!”

Howell Mountain — Pat Stotesbery, Ladera Vineyards, “At the end of last week there were still ranches that had not picked a red grape. The showers are past and nice warm weather is ahead as is picking for most. Cabernet has begun coming in around the mountain and earlier ripening varietals are mostly off. While percentages vary from 10 percent done to almost totally done, the majority seems to fall toward the less than 50 percent side. That will change a lot this week.”

Chiles Valley District — Volker Eisele, Eisele Vineyards, “Not much is going on in the Chiles Valley District. Just a little bit of zinfandel was picked. Not only were the numbers near perfect, but flavors were outstanding. However, the bulk of the reds hover around 23 degrees Brix to 24 degrees and need a little push by some warmer weather. Even the seeds are not totally brown yet. But since the canopies are holding up, nobody is seriously concerned. Hopefully by next week we will have more exciting news to report.  As far as the rain was concerned, it was a non-event, i.e., only 0.25 inches.”

Spring Mountain District — Stuart Smith, Smith-Madrone, “An active week has brought an end to harvesting at Cain, Keenan, Paloma, Schweiger and Smith-Madrone. Guilliams, Pride, Sherwin, Spring Mountain, Terra Valentine and York Creek are still harvesting. It appears now that Spring Mt. winery will harvest up the end of the month and Pride, as usual, will finish in early November. The current consensus is that the long and uneven bloom is responsible for the unusually mixed low tonnage. Some wineries are 40 to 50 percent down with cabernet sauvignon and only 20 percent down with merlot, while other wineries are just the opposite. In 20 years, this was one of the earliest finishes for Paloma.”

St. Helena — Chris Dearden, GM/Winemaker, Benessere Vineyards, “Harvest kicked into high gear in St. Helena with the threat of moderate rainfall on Friday and Saturday. Most cab producers were not as concerned as those with thinner skinned varieties. Benessere pulled in the last few lots of sangiovese in anticipation of the wet weather. Although yields have been low, it has been a good year for color and balance of flavors. The rainfall did not do much more than wash the dust off the vines and fruit. Hopefully, warm weather will stay with us for a week or two longer and allow for a leisurely close to the 2008 vintage.”

Oakville — Pat Garvey, vineyard manager, Flora Springs Winery, “We collected one-half inch of rain Friday evening, which was just enough to clean the leaves, keep the dust down and apply an application of water to the vines which should hold us until we begin harvesting our cabernet sauvignon and merlot. The forecast is for warm weather through the week which should help us reach grape maturity.”

Stags Leap District — Elizabeth Vianna, winemaker, Chimney Rock Winery, “The first rain of the season had us on our toes, but fortunately for the Stags Leap District not much rain actually hit the ground this past weekend. At Chimney Rock, the finish line is in sight and the cellar smells beautiful with a room full of cabernet fermentations. Stacy Clark at Pine Ridge also tells me she is near the end. Michelle Edwards, winemaker at Cliff Lede and Elena Franceschi at Silverado, have put their crushers away for the season.  Alas, all winemakers know the work is just beginning. When all the tanks are filled with fermenting juice, we really begin to lose sleep, but these rhythms are a part of the winemakers’ life and a sweet one it is — with or without our eight hours.”

Atlas Peak — Jan Krupp, Stagecoach Vineyards, “Some great cabernet is being harvested on Atlas Peak. Most of the merlot, syrah and whites have been picked. Cabernet yields are down about 25 percent from last year, but the intensity and fruit flavors are wonderful.

“A lot more cabernet and cabernet franc as well as some merlot remains to be picked. Merlot yields are down 50 percent from their average. Petit verdot, malbec and cabernet franc are close to normal yields. Malbec flavors this year are incredible.”

Oak Knoll District — Bart O’Brien, O’Brien Estate, “We have had a light harvest of both chardonnay and merlot thus far. We are harvesting about two tons per acre, versus our normal 3 to 3.5 tons per acre. We are hopeful that our cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc will be closer to our normal harvest levels, but we won’t know until we actually harvest the grapes. Our light harvest is due to high dry winds we experienced during set, not due to frost.”

Carneros — Lee Hudson, Hudson Vineyards, Lee Hudson, “The small quantities of merlot, syrah and other late ripening reds left hanging are ready; just waiting on a call. The threat never materialized and we’re left with a moment to contemplate the early, short, sweet harvest 2008 and looking to 2009.”

Wild Horse Valley — John Newmeyer, Heron Lake Vineyard, “Our little valley received about half and inch of rain on Friday night — that, along with some chilly nights, have made autumn palpable. Vineyard leaves are turning yellow, the wines are safely in the barrels for the winter, and we’re preparing to shut down for the season.”