And away we go! The start of the 2016 wine grape harvest is here. All in all it has been a pretty good growing year across the appellations of the Western U.S. Grape growers and winemakers alike that we have talked to over the past couple of weeks are all feeling confident and as relaxed as they can be given the natural anxiety that develops when you are on the verge of harvesting a billion dollar crop at a time when the potential for damage is at its highest.

Over the past few days alone I have been in contact with growers and winemakers from Washington all the way south to Santa Barbara. Most all have started harvesting some grapes albeit mostly white at this point. Here are more of the details on their perceptions of the 2016 vintage.

The vineyards of Washington State and Idaho experienced an abnormally early bud break last spring. The vines woke early with a mild winter last year and an even more mild spring extending into June. Everyone we talked to from the Northwest over the summer expected a very early harvest. After June though the weather started to vary. There were rains, though not damaging ones, and several cool downs that slowed the progress of the crop. I heard from Gordy Venneri at Walla Walla vintners that he did harvest some Merlot this past week from Sagemoor Vineyard, this is indeed early for Merlot but Sagemoor is historically an early ripening site.

I just spoke to Rich Funk owner/winemaker at Saviah this morning via email, and while he has harvested some whites, this quick cool down we experienced here at home has also dropped the temperatures around Walla Walla and most of the appellations in Washington. Rich’s feeling is that it pushed further harvest of red grapes off a couple of weeks. Both Rich and Justin Basel winemaker at Foundry feel that this additional hang time will benefit the end product. Foundry has even “dropped” some fruit to lower the tonnage and focus the energy on the remaining bundles.

The grape harvest in Oregon will be late this year, which in that climate is always risky. When we visited the Willamette Valley in early August the vines had just started to go through verasion. At the time they were predicting harvest in mid to late October. With a cool summer there it will likely be a very late pick and more of a “nail biter” than any wine folks prefer.

John Lancaster owner winemaker at Skylark in Northern California is feeling very good about the crop this year. He has already harvested Pinot Blanc and Grenache for his Pink Belly rosè and is very pleased with the quality of the grapes. Like here in the Northwest the weather has cooled significantly in the last week slowing ripening on all varietals. Crop size is average in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino up from the small crop in 2015. John expects to pick his Rodger’s Creek Vineyard Syrah grapes now in mid October. With no rain in sight he is happy with the extra hang time and is looking forward to a very good year.

The one risk for parts of California that John relayed is smoke damage. While none of his vineyard sites have been affected he has heard that vineyards in Lake County north of Napa and those in Paso Robles to the south have significant damage from the nearby fires.

John Busby at Palmina Winery in Santa Barbara has told us that they have just started bringing in both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Like in Northern California their crop size is up from last year and the quality is very good. Their harvest is about on schedule with the historic averages and barring any unforeseen change in the weather should progress normally.

We will be seeing the first whites and rosès from the 2016 vintage in the spring of next year a short 6 months away. As the harvest progresses we will have updates for all of our wine consuming friends so we know what to expect from this growing year, which at least so far seems to be largely uneventful and for our friends in wine country a bit more relaxed than many years.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d’Alene Press.

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George Balling is co-owner with his wife, Mary Lancaster, of the dinner party — a wine, beer and table top décor shop in Coeur d’Alene by Costco. George has also worked as a judge in many wine competitions; his articles are published around the country. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. Be sure and check out our weekly blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com/home/blog-2. You can get all of these articles as well as other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.