Very Early Start to Wine Grape Season

Very Early Start to Wine Grape Season. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.

The 2015 wine grape harvest got it's earliest start last week as some producers got busy in the vineyards. Some 18 tons of chardonnay grapes were harvested in the Yakima Valley. It was the earliest anyone can remember grapes being harvested in the state. Last year Aug. 18th was the official start day and one industry person can remember an August 15th start to harvest. Interestingly the crew who began the harvest had to wear coats due to the cool early morning temperature. The weather in the state has seen some extremely warm days and of course the winter months quickly gave way to a very early spring which has created early harvests for cherries, apricots and more. Ste. Michelle Wine Estates is planning on beginning today with their harvest in the Yakima Valley. Other varieties will of course take longer to mature and see their sugar levels increase but it will definitely be the earliest crush that the region has ever seen. Even in California the wine grape harvest also came a week earlier than last year in California's Napa Valley. It will be interesting to see how this 2015 vintage comes out.

That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.