Lodi grape harvest begins weeks ahead of schedule as wine industry struggles continue

It is an unprecedented grape harvest, with some growers starting as early as late July. They say this is the earliest harvest they've ever seen in the Lodi wine region.

"One, we had a very warm March and the vines got off to a really great start back this spring, and then two, we're seeing a very light crop out there," Lodi Winegrape Commission Executive Director Stuart Spencer said. "When you have a light crop, it's going to ripen up much more quickly."

A great spring and light crop mean farmers are putting on their boots and getting to work.

"It's actually put us probably somewhere in around the range of about four weeks ahead of schedule at this point right now," Manna Ranch General Manager Brandon Sywassink explained.

Early harvest doesn't necessarily mean this will be a good and profitable wine year.

"This is probably one of the most challenging years we've seen in a generation," Spencer said. "There's a lot of grapes that are still looking for a home. There's a lot of grapes that will not get picked. There's a lot of vineyards that have come out and so the economics are really challenging for our farmers these days."

Spencer says the wine market is down by 15%. Compared to 2018, their grape market is likely to be down 50% from its peak.

"We are down probably about 30,000 acres in the Lodi region from where we were 10 years ago," Spencer explained. "We're going to continue to see some more grapes coming out this year."

They have harvested early in years past, but the main difference was that there were buyers waiting to purchase and demand was high.

"As we kind of move on down the list of grapes, it is a little concerning that there still are quite a few grapes available that haven't been sold," Sywassink said.

Although the industry has struggled, there is positivity. The grapes that are being harvested are making a delicious product.

"We don't want to paint this dire picture for the industry to the consumers out there," Spencer shared. "We're still here making delicious wine. We have delicious wine to sell. I can proudly say our sales are up here at St. Amant this year, which is a good thing." 

Growers say it will likely be a few more weeks until they get to see what tonnages they are harvesting, which will give them a better picture of what wineries will want to do with the product and what they can sell.