The vines don’t know it’s a drought, they got some moisture just as they were waking up. They’ve been ahead of schedule all year and they keep cruising in the warm weather.
Jon Ruel, president of Trefethen Family Vineyards and former president of Napa Valley Grapegrowers, providing a good explanation for why harvest in California appears to be early this year.
I realize this particular story is a few weeks old now, but after continuous news stories about California’s drought and excited tweets from vineyards about their harvest start time (including Hirsch Vineyards, which announced its earliest harvest in 34 years!), it was a good re-read and gave some perspective of what’s happening with the 2014 vintage.
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