2023 Harvest Update

November has come, and we’ve finally wrapped up harvest! Typically, we begin harvesting by the end of August, however, this year we didn’t pick our first fruit until mid-October.  I was talking with several growers and winemakers and the overall sentiment is that this is the latest harvest of this century.  Let’s explore this year’s phenomenon…

This uncharacteristically late harvest began earlier this year with a colder-than-average and rainy winter, which delayed the vines’ stage of budbreak, activated when they wake up from dormancy.

The increased rainfall led to a wet, cold spring (and lack of sunshine), moving into what is known in SoCal as “June gloom,” which delayed, elongated and weakened the early summer stage of flowering, offering a light yield. A perfect example of how the environment needs ideal conditions to set a healthy crop.

While the rain is certainly welcomed to cleanse the soil, fill the water table and relieve drought, it can also create a moist environment, presenting a high “mildew pressure” (the potential for mildew to develop). To address this, our growers open the canopy for ventilation, letting in sun and wind.

We can’t stress enough the importance of working closely with our growers and vineyard crews to be able to monitor situations like these and grow quality fruit. Luckily, our vineyard sites are old enough to handle adversity, and with our detailed attention, we are pleased to report that even though the yields of Harvest ’23 are low, the quality of the fruit is excellent.

The slow development of the fruit in the vineyard during the growing season allows us to achieve maturity of fruit at a slow pace, which leads to incredible elegance, balance and development of flavor.