Picking Grapes Like Crazy in CA

Filed in archive California Wines on September 26, 2006

With lots of rain over the past few months, some California wine makers have not been able to harvest very early, but things are looking up and vineyards are busy with people picking grapes like crazy. In fact, most are reporting some major progress already.

More from Harvest Well Underway: Despite heavy rains this winter and recent cooler weather, harvest season is well under way in Mendocino County, and most wine grape varietals are ready for the picking.

Just a few weeks into harvest, local growers say they have already taken in close to a third of their crops, and the rest are following suit quickly.

"Everything is coming fast. This year, we thought it was going to be a long harvest since we had so much rain in the springtime and everything got started late, but we really only started picking about a week later than normal," Len Brutocao, director of vineyard operations for Brutocao Cellars & Vineyards in Hopland, said. "It looks like probably the bulk of the harvest will be done by the second week in October."

Brutocao said he has already picked sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, merlot, pinot, syrah and little bit of cabernet.