Growers Enjoy Near Perfect Growing Season

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (October 31, 2024) – The 2024 winegrape harvest has just completed in Sonoma County and both growers and vineyard employees are raving about what may be one the best vintages in the past 50 years.

According to Karissa Kruse, president and CEO of the Sonoma County Winegrowers, “the best word to describe the 2024 Sonoma County harvest is smooth!” Added Kruse, “The tonnage varied by grape variety and AVA, but the quality was outstanding across the region. As the vineyards turn dormant, most farmers are hosting celebratory lunches and parties for their vineyard employees and crews and relaxing a bit before pruning season and another cycle begins.”

The start in early to mid-August for most grape growers was considered a return to normal, after a late start in 2023. The season was blessed with beautiful weather and little to no pressure to pick until the fruit was showing its best flavors and acidity. Overall, the season moved quickly once it started and was a week to two weeks shorter than most harvest seasons wrapping up before the end of October.

“From a quality element, we had some great degree days, but the nighttime temperatures were really cool and that diurnal shift that we thrive on in Sonoma County to keep the high acids and high-quality really rung true this year,” said Steve Sangiacomo, partner at Sangiacomo Family Vineyards in Sonoma Valley.

Once again, Sonoma County Winegrowers has created a bilingual harvest recap video, bringing you the perspectives from farmers and vineyard employees as they come together to discuss and review the 2024 season. It is an excellent, fact-filled video featuring insight from all areas of Sonoma County. Click here to watch our harvest recap video.

Here is a sample of the perspectives of the 2024 harvest from Sonoma County’s winegrowing community:

“This is one of the best quality vintages that I can think of in my past 48 years,” said Jim Rickards, owner of J. Rickards Winery in Alexander Valley. He added,“ Everything went like clockwork. All the grapes that we received came in in an orderly fashion without a lot of hot days to push things along. As the grapes were ripening the vines were so well balanced between fruit load and leaf area that we did very little fruit drop or canopy management and the laboratory juice panels came in near perfect for Brix, pH and grape nutrition.”

The key to the 2024 vintage was the weather.  The year started with a cool spring. During the peak of growing season, it warmed up with long periods of hot weather. As harvest approached, mild daytime temperatures and cool nights arrived enabling the grapes to maintain high acids and achieve outstanding quality. Also of note, the 2024 harvest did not have any rain threats compared to the multiple rain events we dealt with during the 2023 harvest.

“Our harvest has always lasted 10 weeks. This year we started picking sparkling grapes on August 8th which was followed by a week break before we started on still wines,” said Bret Munselle, owner and general manager of Munselle Vineyards in Alexander Valley. He added, “This year, we had a 9-week harvest, about a week shorter than normal for us, and it was much different than last year when we experienced five rain events during harvest.”

Munselle’s comments were echoed throughout Sonoma County.

“We started our harvest about mid-August this year and we went from starting out with a few small picks to being fully ramped up within a week,” said Steve Dutton, president of Dutton Ranch, who farms primarily in the Russian River and Green Valley. He added, “This made the harvest fast, compact and we finished by mid-October. It was a great season throughout the year, and the quality is going to be outstanding.”

Tyler Klick, viticulturist & owner of Redwood Empire Vineyard Management, who farms throughout Sonoma County, stated, “Harvest is my favorite time of year. Its focused, and all your hard work throughout the year to grow the best quality wine grape you can all comes together during harvest.” He added, “This season started off cool like 2023, but the summer really warmed up and finished warm which enabled us to end with an early harvest. We started harvest on August 17th and finished on October 18th. Overall, it was a good harvest, slightly above average in quantity, a few categories like cabernet were a little light for us, but overall, a good vintage”

For many in the local winegrape community, harvest, though stressful, is their favorite time as they witness the culmination of a year of hard work and effort.

Miguel Carmona, a 38-year employee at Dutton Ranch, states “There is a lot of movement during harvest, and the more work the better. It goes by quick – 9 or 10 hours fly by because there is so much excitement getting things done.”

Maribel Morales, a 5-year employee at Munselle Vineyards, who stated, “I love harvest, it is a lot of adrenaline, and it is very fun with lots of friendly competition!”

Finally, for some, like Taylor Serres, company director at Serres Ranch in Sonoma Valley, the 2024 harvest will always be memorable.

“The 2024 harvest will be one I will remember forever. Having a baby at the beginning of harvest and balancing that made it interesting. But in the end, we got most everything off the vine and are looking forward to a nice freeze to put everything to bed this year.”