California: Mendocino Reports High Quality (if Uneven) Harvest

(Wines&Vines) - Like other parts of California, Mendocino County appears to have enjoyed an early harvest with mild weather that produced grapes of high quality.

Most of the county’s vineyards have been picked, and growers said two storms that came through about a week apart triggered little to no mold issues.

Zac Robinson, co-owner of Husch Vineyards and president of the Mendocino WineGrowers Inc., said harvest got off to a busy and early start, but then cooler weather slowed ripening. The result is that ripening has been uneven between vineyards and varieties.

“What’s proven to be a little oddball is there are guys out there in the middle of their Chardonnay harvest,” he said.

In addition to uneven ripening, Robinson said some vineyards—and Zinfandel in particular—have struggled to reach their average Brix levels. “What’s unusual at this point is the flavors are there but people are picking grapes at about 2° Brix below normal.”

He said at Husch they picked some Zinfandel at 22.5° Brix. “At a certain point you say, let’s just go for it and grab it,” Robinson said.

The mild weather means the grapes aren’t suffering from the extended hangtime. “It’s still relatively pristine fruit, despite its extra age,” he said.