Quick Take
Unlike last year, when the growing season stretched well into November with one of the longest hang times for wine grapes in recent memory, this year the Santa Cruz region is seeing a more normal harvest in terms of timing, local viticulturists tell Laurie Love.
Harvest 2024 is wrapping up in the Santa Cruz Mountains with some of the best quality wine grapes the region has seen in years. That is the assessment from every winemaker and winegrower I’ve spoken with recently, including local viticulturists Prudy Foxx, of Foxx Viticulture, and Ken Swegles, of Rhizos Viticulture and partner at Madson Wines.
Compared to last year, when the growing season stretched well into November with one of the longest hang times for wine grapes in recent memory, this year our region is seeing a more normal harvest in terms of timing, with most vineyards completing harvest last week, and the rest wrapping up next week. And thanks to a consistent growing year weather-wise, “The quality is beautiful. It’s a fabulous vintage,” said Foxx.
Swegles concurred: “We just finished everything today, and the quality and flavor is amazing across the board.” Swegles and his team did their final pick last Friday with sangiovese for Thomas Fogarty Winery, cabernet sauvignon for Lioco Wines in Sonoma and a field blend of Italian and Bordeaux varietals from Ascona Vineyard at the Summit for Bradley Friedman of Ghostnote Wines, a micro-producer in Santa Cruz focusing on Italian varietals. “We are picking fully ripe grapes with ripe seeds and stems,” Swegles said, while noting that the grapes still have a good amount of acidity to balance out their sugars.
Foxx said about half of the vineyards that she farms have been harvested. Those in the warmer areas of the summit, Los Gatos and eastern sites finished last week, while those in cooler coastal sites (Corralitos, Bonny Doon and pockets of Bates Ranch Vineyard near Mount Madonna) are harvesting this week and next. “We are right in the middle of picking at Christie Vineyard [Corralitos] and Bates Ranch,” she said. “Bates Ranch has several different blocks at different elevations with different ripening times, so that controls when we pick there.”
“Across the region, in all microclimates, we are seeing beautiful quality with acids that are part of the structural component of flavor at slightly higher levels while still at naturally lower sugar levels,” said Foxx. In her experience, winemakers in our area typically want to pick early for lower sugars so the wines have lower alcohol levels, but acidity (which drops as sugar levels rise) might still be too high and that can sacrifice flavor development. “This year, the flavors are there at the lower Brix levels,” Foxx said, referencing the measurement of sugar component in wine grapes. She attributes this to even and consistent temperatures throughout the growing season, despite the recent heat spike.
Yields, important indicators of quantity as well as quality, are around average depending on vineyard location in the region. Swegles saw some desiccation from the recent heat spike, with some shriveling in grapes in higher-elevation blocks at Ascona Vineyard. So those spots had about 10 to 20% lower yields. However, “Compared to the last two years when it rained during bloom, we are up 20 to 30% in yield across the board,” Swegles said.
While the higher blocks can be more adversely affected by heat spikes, the cooler coastal areas have more fog and therefore more mildew impact. Some of the coastal areas that Foxx farms did experience some mildew (particularly some pinot noir vineyards), although not significantly. Chardonnay and other varietals she grows, including Italian varietals, are at normal levels. “It’s not a big quantity year, but it’s not a small quantity either,” said Foxx. “It’s just perfect. I think this will be a vintage to remember.”
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