The picks are in: Sonoma County closes an early, light harvest with high hopes for the 2026 vintage
Sonoma County Winegrowers said Monday the 2026 harvest is complete, one of the earliest and lightest in years at an estimated 35 to 40 percent below average. In the accounts the group collected, from Dutton Ranch's July 16 first pick to the Sangiacomo family's small berries, the growers call the quality of what they picked exceptional, despite the short crop.
SONOMA: Harvest is over, and it ended the way it began, ahead of schedule. Sonoma County Winegrowers announced on Monday, October 19, that winegrowers and wineries across the county have completed the 2026 harvest, closing out a wild weather year that produced one of the earliest winegrape harvests, and one of the lighter crops, in years. The group estimates the total county harvest at about 35 to 40 percent lighter than average.
The year ran in two acts, according to the Winegrowers. A warm spring came first. Then cold, wet and windy weather settled in during bloom, when the vines set their fruit, and the crop came in light. Summer reversed the story: exceptional weather through the peak growing season let the remaining fruit reach full maturity, with the color, ripeness and flavor development the group says point to a smoother mouthfeel and outstanding flavor in the finished wines.
Less fruit, high hopes
Karissa Kruse, the Winegrowers' president and chief executive officer, acknowledged the cost of a short crop while pointing to what is now in the tanks. "While lighter yields present real challenges for our farming families, the quality of the fruit and the early reports from our winemakers give us a lot to look forward to," Kruse said in the announcement. She added that wineries are buying additional grapes to meet consumer demand, and that the group hopes a smaller harvest helps bring greater balance to the grape marketplace in the region.
One account comes from Steve Sangiacomo of Sangiacomo Family Vineyards, listed in the announcement for the Sonoma Coast AVA. He described one of the earliest harvests on record, with grapes that stayed on the vines a long time developing flavor, below average yields from the cool bloom weather, and small berries that have the family excited about what ends up in the bottle.
A season that started on July 16
The early theme was set at the very first pick. Steve Dutton of Dutton Ranch, in the Green Valley and Russian River Valley AVAs, said his crews kicked off harvest on July 16, the first pick in Sonoma County and the earliest start in the ranch's history. What fruit there was, he said, proved exceptional, especially the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with beautiful concentration, balance and flavors.
In Alexander Valley, Bret Munselle of Munselle Vineyards reported a calendar he had never seen: his whites started and finished inside the month of August for the first time ever, running four to five weeks earlier than he considers normal, and his reds were done by October 12, also a first. The shortfall varied by variety. His Chardonnay came in about 10 to 15 percent below the five year average, while nearly every Sauvignon Blanc block picked at right around half of its five year average.
The pattern repeats across the county's 19 American Viticultural Areas in the accounts the Winegrowers collected. Jim Rickards, marking his 50th year farming in Sonoma County, paired one of the earliest budbreaks ever with one of the earliest harvests. Brian Ball of Sphaerics Wine credited the warm March weather and the smaller crop load for the early start, and said the moderate summer left the fruit with bright acidity, deep color and concentrated flavor. Justin Seidenfeld of Rodney Strong Vineyards called 2026 the earliest harvest of his career and one of the lightest, and praised the concentration now showing in the tanks. In the Petaluma Gap, Tony Lombardi pointed to the afternoon winds and marine air that keep that area's Chardonnay and Pinot Noir bright, a character he said is showing up again this year.
What a short crop means from here
For Sonoma Valley growers and the tasting rooms that pour their fruit, the arithmetic of 2026 is now fixed: considerably less wine from this vintage, and, if the early reports hold, wine the trade will be proud to sell. The Winegrowers, a marketing and educational organization that counts more than 1,800 grape growers across those 19 AVAs, also note that 99 percent of the county's vineyard acreage is certified sustainable by a third party auditor, the result of a push the group led beginning in 2014. The next chapter of the 2026 story will be written in the cellar, as fermentations finish and the first young wines can actually be tasted.
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