With temperatures in 90's last week, we've wanted to simplify with very little to no picking those days (both for the fruit and for our staff working outside). Actually, the cooler weather leading up to the heat (temps in the 60's and 70's) gave us some breathing room both in the vineyards and the winery. And luckily, things have cooled down once again (it was positively chilly this morning!)
First, let's clear something up. The extremely early harvest here, even in the higher elevations, was not due to a hot summer. Actually, the summer here has been relatively mild and pleasant. Instead, the early harvest can be tied to a relatively warm winter and early budbreak. (Do you remember that we were in the 80's during the first week of March?) And even though we had a cool spring with rain, hail and even a slight frost, this was not enough to delay the harvest. If you start the race early, you're going to finish the race early. And we will.
As of right now, all of the white varieties have been harvested. The Chardonnay in barrel is already dry and inoculated with malo-lactic culture...also super early. The white Rhones (Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier) have all been homed in their new winery homes, and the Muscat, Chenin Blanc and Rieslings are fermenting away.
The red varieties often come in a little later than the start of the whites. With multiple Zinfandels, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Nebbiolo, Pinot and Grenache all fermenting, we have just Cabernet Sauvignon (picking today), Barbera, Malbec, Petite Verdot, a drop of Syrah still out there. It sounds impressive, but all in all we're only looking at maybe 10 tons still out in the field to pick. I suspect we will be finished with picking by mid next week.
All in all, with the short crop, I estimate we'll be bringing in about 47 tons to Madroña (as well as having sold some grapes from our other vineyards to other wineries). But I can hear you thinking, "But what do you normally bring in?" So "normally" can range upon what God gives us. But most often, we are in the 130 to 150 ton range, having maxed out at 202 tons a few years ago.
So, once again the takeaways for the 2026 harvest:
- The earliest start ever.
- The earliest finish ever.
- Very light crop (and the smallest crush at Madroña ever since 1981).
As to the quality...
- Great color intensity in the reds.
- Great uniformity of color in the grape clusters.
- Lower brix levels at maturity (making for lower alcohol expressions).
- Good natural acid balance overall in the juices needing little adjustment.
- Fast and clean fermentations.
So in the end, we'll be able to go trick-or-treating with no worries about harvest or the crush, and we need to celebrate that we have any crop at all with all the crazy weather we've had. Cheers to 2026!
(P.S. The picture of the Malbec above is the crop this year from 1 acre of Malbec vines at Madroña. That block took the weather particularly hard (and a little bit of bear action too!). But there's Malbec in our Enyé vineyards in Pleasant Valley. We will pick that tomorrow!)