If you have driven Apple Hill or Shenandoah Road lately, you have probably passed a trailer of half-ton bins and a picking crew out before the sun. Harvest 2026 has arrived in the foothills, and by every neighboring account it arrived early.
The year started in a hurry. A record-breaking heat wave in March pushed vines into early bud break across California, and in the Russian River Valley ripening began around 25 June, two to three weeks earlier than normal. By the first week of September the North Coast was deep into it: Sauvignon Blanc largely finished in Napa and Sonoma, Pinot Noir nearly done, and some Cabernet coming in unusually early.
Closer to home, the clearest report comes from winemaker Jeff Runquist in Plymouth, whose September letter reads like a weather diary. Winter rain was plentiful, with almost six inches in April, so the vines went into summer with soil moisture to spare. Bloom was cool.
The summer has seen just three days of triple-digit heat. Runquist crushed his first fruit on 8 August, Tempranillo from a Lodi vineyard, two weeks ahead of his previous record of 22 August. He says the pace feels like jugglers being fed flaming torches much too quickly.
That is the mood on the hill in September: early, quick, and busy. Bins go out empty in the dark and come back purple by mid-morning. The crush pad smells like the inside of a grape.
The best way to follow harvest is to come see it. The cellar in Placerville and the Camino tasting room on Apple Hill are both open, Camino has live music Friday through Sunday, and the people pouring will tell you what came in this week.
Sources
- Jeff's Letter From September 2026, Jeff Runquist Wines (Plymouth, Amador County)
- Early North Coast grape harvest collides with higher costs and big H-2A ruling, The Press Democrat, 7 September 2026
- Sonoma County's wine grape harvest looks meager. That may be good news, Sonoma Index-Tribune / Press Democrat, 10 July 2026
- Glass half full? Local wineries adjust to changing industry, Mountain Democrat (Shelly Thorene), 15 July 2026
- 2026 Fire Season Incident Archive, CAL FIRE
