We’re gearing up for harvest here at Hillside Ranch Vineyard, and it’s shaping up to be one of the earliest we’ve seen. Thanks to a mild winter and a hot spring and summer in Jamul, our fruit is running about 3-4 weeks ahead of where it’s been in recent years.
Overall, the fruit is looking solid — clusters are sizing up and coming along nicely. With sugars climbing fast, we’ve also gotten the bird netting up early this year to protect the fruit as it ripens.
The tricky part is what comes with maturing early. When grapes ripen fast, sugar tends to climb ahead of our target acidity and pH — and getting that balance right makes a big difference in wine quality. We’ll be watching our numbers closely over the next couple of weeks, tasting berries daily and pulling samples to figure out exactly the right moment to pick each block.
Normally, harvest stretches out over 4-6 weeks as different varietals hit their sweet spot at different times. This year, with the forecast calling for continued heat in Jamul, we might have to compress that window down to as little as two weeks.
A compressed harvest means a busy one. Instead of picks spread comfortably across a month or more, we could have multiple blocks coming in on top of each other — which means more hands in the vineyard and less breathing room between picks. We’re already lining up extra help and making sure we’re ready to move fast once things start. And the work doesn’t stop once the grapes are harvested — we’ll be de-stemming, crushing, pressing, pitching yeast, and more.
The tasting room will still be open during harvest (Fri-Sun, noon-5pm). Since our tasting room is in our production facility, you’ll likely get a glimpse of some of the post-harvest activities if you come by for a tasting in the next few weeks.
We’ll keep sharing updates (time permitting) as picking gets underway — stay tuned to see how it all comes together!