2024 Harvest Showcases Fruit-Forward Vintage

The 2024 harvest has ended, but the winemaking process has just begun. This year’s vintage displays great quality, according to Terry Culton, Director of Winemaking & Vineyards.

“The wines from this vintage are showing themselves to be incredibly balanced with a great fruit-forward profile and supple tannins,” Terry said. 

This year's harvest lasted around 40 days. Picking for sparkling wine at Bernau Estate Vineyard started at the beginning of September. Picking at other vineyards began a couple of weeks later and lasted until the end of October. According to Terry, our vineyard stewards picked most of the fruit in around 28 days.

Although the weather didn’t impact the actual harvest process, the climate did influence this year’s fruit. While the 2024 growing season started cool, a warmer August caught the vines up.

When harvest began at Bernau Estate Vineyard in early September, 90-degree weather was on the horizon. Terry said the high temperatures followed by cooler weather allowed the grapes to “mature naturally and gently.”

“The fruit quality was amazing,” Terry said. “We got some nice ripeness this year and decent sugar levels at harvest.” He anticipates high-quality wines will come from the 2024 vintage.

“All the Pinots are going to be gorgeous across the board,” he said.