The 2026 Calif North Coast Grape Harvest

It's an odd year. It all started in the early spring.

 

A 2026 Sonoma County grape harvest -- in late July
image from sonomawinegrape.org

 

March of 2026 was an odd month. It was dry, that's happened before. What was odd were the historically warm temps in the 80s and 90s for half of the month in Santa Rosa. The average high temp for the entire month is mid-60s. Only six days had highs below 70. Bud break will start when air and soil temps get to the 50s so the vines started the new year's cycle early pushing the entire life cycle ahead of schedule. 

Along came April and the return of winter with a couple of rain storms and wind. Flowering happens about a month-and-a half to two months after bud break. The vines did their self-pollinating early this year in less than optimum weather. We had what's called shatter meaning berries don't develop. You get far fewer grapes on the cluster meaning. You also can get more concentrated flavors and color. The impacts vary by location and grape variety.

Having a smaller crop was just fine with many people because a lot of wineries intentionally made much less wine than in the previous couple of years. For Sonoma County the estimate is two-thirds of the normal crop size this year. Even with that I've seen lots of fruit left hanging on the vines and shriveling up because it isn't needed this year.

Harvest 2026 started and ended historically early this year. It all goes back to that hot March weather. 

Someone I know is working a harvest cellar job in Sonoma County. It was an odd year for them. This winery processed 20% of the tonnage they usually do. The harvest interns worked M-F 40 hours a week. No weekend work, usually no overtime. Most of them were gone before mid-October. That's odd. These interns rely on lots of hours and the money that comes along with it. They didn't get it this year. Also, the harvest interns were all Americans, not the usual international workers from Europe, South America, and Australia. 

Another small, local winery is only making a few hundred cases rather than their usual few thousand. This is all to help balance out the backlog of unsold wine with the lower worldwide demand. 

Shatter
image from the now-closed Belledor Vineyards in Amador County
another family that lost their business due to the downturn in wine sales