A look at the first six weeks of harvest in Washington

We’re at the six week mark of harvest!

Harvest began in Washington this year on August 17th, with a pick of Chardonnay for sparkling wine at Hilltop Vineyard in Yakima Valley. Most winemakers I’ve spoken with recently have reported they have brought in about 60% of their fruit and expect to continue harvesting for the next several weeks. Hillary Sjolund, consulting winemaker at Wine Boss in Richland, provided on Facebook the following summary of 2018, which I have combined with her summary from the same point at previous vintages:

Tons received by Oct. 1st:
2015 - 540 (82% complete)
2016 - 419 (67% complete)
2017 - 211 (38% complete)
2018 - 312 (~60% complete)

Winemakers I've talked with recently have noted the exceptional weather in September and also the strong natural acidity of the vintage.

Below is a look at harvest based on what has been picked when and where. Enjoy!

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See information on the Washington State Growing Degree Days here.

See monthly forecast for Yakima Valley (Sunnyside), Red Mountain (Benton City), Walla Walla, Paterson, and Mattawa.

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The information in the table below is aggregated from personal correspondence with growers and winemakers, as well as information posted on Twitter and Facebook. It is not intended to be comprehensive but rather is intended as a snapshot of what is going on around the state. If you wish to send data for your grapes or vineyards (or correct any of the information below), please email me at wawinereport@gmail.com, leave a comment here, or leave a comment on the WWR Facebook page.

Winery	Grape	Vineyard	Date	Notes
Columbia Valley
DeLille	Sauv Blanc	Sagemoor	8/28	First fruit
Baer	Merlot	Stillwater Cr	9/9
Bookwalter	Merlot	Dionysus	9/10
Eternal	Grenache	Lawrence	9/19	Thunderstone site
Eternal	Syrah	Lawrence	9/24
Rocky Pond	Merlot	Double D	9/27
Yakima Valley
Treveri	Chardonnay	Hilltop	8/17	For sparkling.
Karma	Chardonnay	French Creek	8/27	For sparkling wine
Buty	Sauv Blanc	Lonesome Spr	8/29	First fruit
Cedergreen	Sauv Blanc	Meek Family	8/30	First fruit
Sleight of Hand	Chardonnay	French Creek	8/30	First pick in ’81 block
Savage Grace	Sauv Blanc	Red Willow	8/30	First day of harvest at RW
Gramercy	Syrah	Red Willow	8/30
Owen Roe	Syrah	Red Willow	8/30
Côte Bonneville	Chardonnay	DuBrul	8/31	First fruit
Long Shadows	Chardonnay	French Creek	9/4	For Dance Chardonnay
Two Vintners	Chardonnay	Boushey	9/5	First fruit
Two Vintners	Cinsault	Olsen	9/5	For rosé
	Syrah	Red Willow	9/5
DeLille	Merlot	Red Willow	9/7	1993 plantings
Lobo Hills	Auxerrois	Inland Desert	9/8
Treveri	Pinot Meunier	Marchant	9/10
--	Merlot	DuBrul	9/11
--	Syrah	DuBrul	9/13
Columbia	Syrah	Red Willow	9/14
Rocky Pond	Sauv Blanc	Double D	9/17	About a week ahead 2017
--	Chardonnay	Roza Hills	9/19
Cote Bonneville	Cabernet Franc	DuBrul	9/19	For rosé
Eight Bells	Sangiovese	Red Willow	9/19
Pearl and Stone	Grenache Blanc	Boushey	9/22
Fortiuty	Cabernet Sauv	Red Willow	9/22
--	Grenache Blanc	Conley	9/26
Cairdeas	Grenache Blanc	Boushey	9/26
Swiftwater	Grenache	Boushey	9/26	For rosé
Co Dinn	Syrah	Lonesome Spr	9/28
Gamache	Semillon	Boushey	9/28
Eternal	Grenache Blanc	Painted Hills	9/29
Cairdeas	Syrah	Boushey	10/2
Rattlesnake Hills
Perennial	Syrah	Portteus	9/8
Co Dinn	Merlot	Elephant Mt	9/10
Co Dinn	Malbec	Elephant Mt	9/10
--	Merlot	Pollard	9/24
Co Dinn	Syrah	Elephant Mt	9/28
Snipes Mountain
Co Dinn Cellars	Chardonnay	Roskamp	8/28	Dijon 76, 96
Co Dinn Cellars	Syrah	Roskamp	9/10
Red Mountain
Longship	Syrah	Red Heaven	8/28
Sightglass	Sauv Blanc	Artz	8/30	First fruit
Syncline	Syrah	Ranch End Rd	8/31	First Syrah
Saviah	Sauv Blanc	Artz	9/4	First fruit
L’Ecole	Sauv Blanc	Klipsun	9/4	First fruit
Cadence	Cabernet Sauv	Tapteil	9/5	25.0 Brix, 3.50 pH
Cadence	Merlot	Cara Mia	9/5	181, 25.1 Brix, 3.70 pH
Cadence	Merlot	Cara Mia	9/5	348, 25.0 Brix, 3.74 pH
Mark Ryan	Merlot	Quintessence	9/5
Mark Ryan	Syrah	Quintessence	9/5
Soos	Merlot	Ciel du Cheval	9/7	First day of crush
Auclair	Syrah	Artz	9/8	First red grapes
Long Shadows	Merlot	Red Heaven	9/11
Swiftwater	Syrah	Klipsun	9/13
Swiftwater	Malbec	Klipsun	9/13
Swiftwater	Merlot	Ciel du Cheval	9/13
--	Grenache	WeatherEye	9/19	Bush trained vines
Cadence	Cab Sauv	Ciel du Cheval	9/29	Last pick
--	Syrah	WeatherEye	9/29
Walla Walla Valley
Tertulia	Tempranillo	Riviere Galets	8/28	For rosé
Lagana	Chardonnay	Eritage	9/4	First fruit
Tertulia	Tempranillo	Whistling Hills	9/5
Sleight of Hand	Syrah	Elevation	9/7	Upper block
Va Piano	Syrah	Stoney Vine	9/8	First pick
--	Syrah	Stoney Vine	9/10
Woodward Canyon	Barbera	Estate	9/10
Locati	Sangiovese	Mission Hills	9/10	For rosé
WT Vintners	Syrah	Stoney Vine	9/10	First fruit
L’Ecole	Merlot	Seven Hills	9/11
College Cellars	Syrah	Cockburn Ranch	9/12
Sleight of Hand	Syrah	Stoney Vine	9/12	For Psychedelic
Sleight of Hand	Merlot	Blue Mountain	9/14	Binaural block
Buty	Syrah	Rockgarden	9/18	Phelps clone
Sleight of Hand	Merlot	Seven Hills	9/19
Boudreaux	Merlot	Seven Hills	9/19
Pearl & Stone	Syrah	Stoney Vine	9/21
Dunham	Syrah	Kenny Hill	9/25
--	Syrah	Eritage	9/25
Tertulia	Grenache	Riviere Galets	9/26
L’Ecole	Grenache	Summit View	9/27
L’Ecole	Cabernet Sauv	Waliser	9/27
L’Ecole	Cabernet Sauv	Seven Hills	9/27	Old block
Wahluke Slope
Milbrandt	Syrah	Katherine Leone	8/29	For rosé. First fruit.
Brian Carter	Syrah	Stonetree	9/8
Fielding Hills	Merlot	Riverbend	9/19	First fruit
Horse Heaven Hills
Bartholomew	Syrah	Coyote Canyon	9/12	First fruit
Bunnell	Syrah	Discovery	9/18	First fruit
Waters	Merlot	Canoe Ridge	9/18
Den Hoed	Cabernet Sauv	Wallula	9/19
Columbia Gorge
Syncline	Pinot Noir	--	8/30	For sparkling wine
Dowsett	Gewurz	Oak Ridge	9/19
WT Vintners	Gruner V	Underwood	9/19
Syncline	Syrah	Estate	9/20	River block
Syncline	Gamay	Estate	9/22
Boudreaux	Chardonnay	Celilo	9/26
Lake Chelan
--	Pinot Noir	Clos CheValle	8/31	For sparkling wine
Treveri	Pinot Meunier	Clos CheValle	9/10	For sparkling
Hard Row	Sauv Blanc	Glacier Gravels	9/13	First fruit
--	Pinot Gris	Clos CheValle	9/19
Hard Row	Grenache	Gary’s	9/25
Rocky Pond	Chardonnay	Clos CheValle
Hard Row	Pinot Noir	Gary’s	9/30
Rocky Pond	Semillon	Clos CheValle	10/2
Rocky Pond	Sauv Blanc	Clos CheValle	10/2