Harvest has begun in Washington with Treveri Cellars - a sparkling wine producer - bringing in 18 tons of Chardonnay from the Zillah area this morning. Christian Grieb, winemaker and senior vice president of sales at Treveri, reported that the grapes were at 18.6 Brix. "Some of the berries were already showing some amber color to them!" he exclaimed. "Quite shocking considering this is August 7th."This is the earliest Grieb's father ever recalled picking fruit in 30 years of winemaking in Washington. "Consider that Mumm just started picking on July 31st," Grieb said. "It's almost California-like this year." The same vineyard Treveri received fruit from today was picked on September 5th last year, almost a full month later. Other sites the winery works with are two to three weeks ahead of 2014, which was also a warm year (see 2015 Growing Degree Days here). Let the harvest season begin!
Picture courtesy of Treveri Cellars.