California: Early Grape Harvest Brings Good Quality

(Wines&Vines) - Growers and winemakers in the counties that comprise the Sierra Foothills region of California reported a good crop this season with few problems during the ripening period and excellent quality at harvest.

Wines & Vines reported on Amador and Calaveras counties on Nov. 12, 2013 (Tight Harvest Window in Amador, Calaveras Counties) and will cover El Dorado, Nevada and Placer in this harvest report.

 All of the five counties are included in California grape district 10, which also includes Tulomne and Mariposa. According to the Wines & Vines Online Marketing System the district is home to 220 wineries, with 79 of those in El Dorado County. Tulomne and Mariposa are home to only 11 wineries.

Last year district 10 produced a total of 23,373 tons of wine grapes with white varieties making up 2,681 tons of the total, according to the state grape report. Zinfandel accounted for 41% of all the wine grapes produced in the district.

Ed Dorado County

Winemakers in El Dorado County agreed that it was an excellent year, but it had a condensed harvest. “We usually start about the second week of September and go to the end of October, but this year we were done by the first week of October,” said winemaker and owner Susan Marks of Cedarville Vineyard in Fair Play, Calif. “It was a cold winter. We got a lot of freezing, but the vines remained dormant and weren’t damaged,” she added.

Maggie Bush of Madroña Vineyards in Camino, Calif., which grows at 3,000 feet elevation, agreed that the harvest was very compressed. “It usually takes us nine to 12 weeks to pick our 27 varieties. This year, we were done in 3 weeks. It was very hectic in the cellar!” “It was a crazy early year,” said winemaker Scott Johnson of Perry Creek Winery in Fair Play. “We had to start watching the grapes in August.”