Harvest Update from Blair

Harvest will be underway a little earlier than usual this year, and many of you have been asking why.

The answer is actually pretty simple: the growing season got an early start.

After the 2025 harvest, we experienced a cold snap that pushed the vines into dormancy a little earlier than normal. Because of that, our vineyard team was able to complete pruning and all of the necessary winter vineyard work before January. However, the unusually warm temperatures early in 2026 triggered an earlier-than-normal bud break.

That early bud break led to early shoot growth and a healthy fruit set. Overall, we're looking at a very average crop this year—not especially large or small.

The biggest story of the 2026 growing season is simply that everything started earlier. Despite the earlier start, the vines have still enjoyed a good amount of hang time. It's also worth noting that this is very different from 2015, which was the height of the California drought. That year, we had a much smaller crop and a shorter hang time. This year, we actually received good rainfall early in the season. 

We're getting ready for the start of harvest and will be busy in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned for more harvest updates here!