Grape harvest kicks off early in Livermore Wine Country under challenging conditions
LIVERMORE, Calif. (KGO) -- The grape harvest is officially underway in Livermore Wine Country in the East Bay. It came two weeks earlier than last year but under some challenging conditions.
Brent Amos is the winemaker and general manager at Las Positas Vineyards. He said crews were hard at work at the crack of dawn Thursday.
"Today is the first of harvest," Amos said. "It started at about 5 o'clock am--essentially sunrise."
Crews worked fast to pick grapes off the vines.
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"We like to pick when the grapes are as cold as possible. It just gives us a better quality," said Amos. "Today we started with Verdelho which is a very popular white wine for us and its always the first to come in. The quality has been great so far."
Workers picked five and a half tons of Verdelho grapes Thursday. They'll return Friday at sunrise and pick four tons of another type of varietal.
"This is our Alberino. We're actually going to pick this tomorrow," Amos said Thursday.
Amos likes what he sees.
"We get these nice tight small clusters," said Amos.
He said it has been a good season so far for his wine grapes.
"This year, nice long wet winter and spring, we've irrigated very little so far," said Amos.
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The extended hot weather of July didn't impact Amos' crops too bad, but he hopes another heat wave isn't around the corner.
"So far this year, the heat wave we had was early enough to cause that much damage. If we were to have a heat wave now or in the next couple of months, we would suffer some crop loss from that. We hope that doesn't happen," said Amos.
Aaron Andrews is an assistant wine maker at Las Positas Vineyards.
"This is where all of the wine making happens," Andrews said. "We store wine in these stainless-steel tanks."
Climate change is a big concern for everyone in the wine industry, with heavier periods of rain and longer heat waves.
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"We have no control of over that," Andrews said. "We just take what mother nature gives us. We just try to make the best possible product we can."
Consumer tastes are also changing with not as many people are drinking wine in California, and around the world.
"Again, you just adapt," Amos said.
Some say making wine is a labor of love that requires long hours and a lot of patience, and the ability to adapt to whatever challenges lie ahead.
