harvest

Posted: October 28, 2011 By James Laube

We're in the middle of another crazy, late California harvest. Good but spotty are other themes that run through most of what you hear about California's harvest 2011. And on the horizon, the smaller crops in recent years could spell price increases. In areas where grapes are still hanging, harvest is winding down quickly and should be finished by next week, ahead of predictions of rain and cooler weather.

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California's 2011 Harvest Drags On

Checking in with California vintners still waiting to harvest their 2011 grape crop

Posted: October 27, 2011 By James Laube

Harvest 2011 is ending up more labor than labor of love in most parts of California.

"What a crazy year," Helen Keplinger of Keplinger and Bryant Family Vineyard, both based in Napa Valley, wrote in an e-mail yesterday. "Indeed it has been very stressful and those rains were less than ideal, but not all has been lost and there will be good wines made this vintage."

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Will California Grapes Rot on the Vine?

Stormy days for California winemakers as heavy rains pound an already late vintage

Posted: October 14, 2011 By Tim Fish, Augustus Weed

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Oregon Vintners Wait for Harvest ... And Wait

The 2011 vintage could be the latest ever, if rain doesn't ruin it

Posted: October 11, 2011 By Harvey Steiman

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Nail Biting in Oregon

Recent vintages challenge vintners, including Josh Bergström

Posted: October 7, 2011 By Harvey Steiman

"It would be really nice," said Josh Bergström of Oregon's Bergström Wines, "if we could have a normal vintage again."

When was the last time you had one of those? I asked. "Well," he responded, "maybe someday."

The most recent vintages have tested the mettle of the state's vintners. This one, 2011, has everyone waiting on tenterhooks. It looks to be one of the latest on record. Most vineyards won't start picking until Oct. 15, two to three weeks later than usual. Vintners have one eye on the sky, hoping there won't be too much rain before the grapes are picked.

Blogs : Exploring Wine with Tim Fish

California Harvest Shifts into High Gear

With the season running weeks behind, last week’s heat takes the pressure off winemakers

Posted: September 28, 2011 By Tim Fish

Last week’s heat wave jumpstarted the harvest in California, much to the relief of growers and winemakers. Temperatures were in the mid-90s all week, one of the rare extended blasts of heat all summer.

But the sigh of relief was short-lived. A major rainstorm is predicted for early next week. Still, knowing that forecasts change quickly in California, winemakers remain optimistic.

Blogs : James Laube's Wine Flights

California's Grapes Are Late to the Table (Again)

The long, cool 2011 growing season means California grapegrowers in cooler wine regions could still be harvesting in late October and beyond

Posted: September 26, 2011 By James Laube

Two weeks ago I noticed that it was getting dark early, earlier than I expected. When I mentioned it to friends in passing, they too felt the same way. Summer didn’t make its usual presence felt. We had a summer all right, but what made it so different was that it never got hot.

Harvest is slowly shifting into gear in California. It’s a late year all around and harvest reports indicate the crop is good yet spotty in size. A damp, wet spring extended into summer. Some vines had a very uneven set; some vineyards were so hard hit they won’t produce much fruit. Summer was cool.

Blogs : Exploring Wine with Tim Fish

You Call This a Harvest?

Crush in California is a whole lot of nothing so far as winemakers play waiting game

Posted: September 14, 2011 By Tim Fish

California winemakers don't usually have time to talk this time of the year, but this week they're chatty. The 2011 harvest is more or less underway. Sort of. Let's just say that grapes have been picked, a few anyway, mostly whites and for sparkling wine.

Yep, the season is running late again this year, and while the size of the crop is generally small, winemakers aren't complaining.

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