Amador County – The Amador County wine grape harvest is creeping closer and a local vintner said the harvest is smaller than normal, and will begin about three weeks later than normal.

Paul Sobon, winemaker and vineyard operations manager of Sobon Family Wines in the Shendandoah Valley, said the harvest will be late by about three weeks pretty much state-wide, though some areas will have earlier harvests. He said the bulk of vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley would likely be starting to harvest in the next 2-4 weeks.

Sobon said he did not expect that they will have the harvest start for about 2 weeks, until probably Sept. 15, or “about three weeks later than normal.” He said the late harvest will change the grapes, as “it always does.” The late harvest will be good because it is “not a very big crop.” But it will be bad because it is a “light crop,” meaning that they will have less grapes and they “must spend more money on grapes,” and it could increase the need for blends.

Sobon, whose family keeps the Sobon Vineyards and Shenandoah Vineyards wineries in Amador County, said they are trying to get the wineries ready for grapes and for bottling. They took in some fruit over the weekend from Brentwood. The sauvignon blanc was processed on Saturday and was in the tank fermenting on Tuesday.

He said typically some Amador County grapes will get riper earlier, such as in vineyards on Ridge Road and in Ione. But he said in the Shenandoah Valley, “it will be about a good month until people are really in the harvest full blast.” He said during the Big Crush event, Oct. 1-2, there will be a lot of harvesting going on, as there usually is during that time.

Local Real Estate Agency Al Bozzo said he has a lot of clients in Amador County wine country. He said now more than ever vineyards are getting purchased by Napa Valley-area winemakers, including a recent purchase of Renwood Winery, whose vintner is Napa-based.

Bozzo said Napa owners have never been more prevalent in owning vineyards in Amador County, and it helps the county, because of their skill and craft, which will benefit county production and sales. It will also help raise the quality.

Bozzo said visitors have increased from recent medals won by Shenandoah Valley grapes and vintners, and other Amador wines. He said that showed too in a busy September calendar of events across Amador County wine country.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.