Wine, a work in progress

"For many, November is a busy month; in wine country, it is when we can breathe a little sigh of relief.

Harvest 2026 officially wrapped up on October 13, when our final load of Merlot arrived at the winery crush pad. An early start on August 11 set the pace for a fast-moving nine weeks, with our harvest crew and winemaking team handling 14 different varietals from 75 vineyard sites.

There’s still a little work to do in the cellar, with just two tanks left to dig out, press, and barrel down. Needless to say, the team is looking forward to crossing that last task off the list!

While yields were lower than average, the quality is superb. The grapes have beautiful, balanced flavors and rich concentration. Overall, vintage 2026 will be worth waiting for!

With the 2026 harvest complete, our vineyard crews are still busy with post-harvest cleanup of both vineyards and equipment. They are also getting ready for our annual winter rainfall. Erosion control is a top priority, with teams doing everything they can to keep heavy downpours from damaging access roads or vineyards.

Our last big rain was in April; over the next few months, we hope to receive over 28" of rainfall, replenishing water tables and providing critical moisture for the dormant vines."

- The Family Team, Alexander Valley Vineyards, 11/1/26

"Harvest 2026 is officially all in... and you’ll never guess what our last pick was!

An early spring jumpstarted the growing season and meant we began picking early ripening varietals, like Sauvignon Blanc, earlier than usual. The summer ultimately took a cooler turn with August bringing normal temperatures followed by the coolest September on record. The cool conditions extended hang time, allowing flavors to develop beautifully while maintaining freshness in the grapes.

Some of the standouts for me so far are Merlot, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Malbec. All four are showing ripe fruit flavors and seamless textures, and I’m excited about what we’re seeing in the cellar.

With all that incredible fruit coming in, what was our final pick of Harvest 2026?

If you guessed Riesling, you were right!

I’m excited to be working with one of my favorite grapes again, especially as this marks the first time we’ve worked with Riesling at L’Ecole. We have something special planned for this wine, so keep an eye out for it a few years down the road.

Now that the fruit is all in, our cellar team still has several weeks of fermentation and pressing ahead before the wines make their way to barrel. Then comes the cleaning, and finally, a chance to catch our breath after 10 weeks of nonstop harvest activity."

- David Rosenthal, Director of Winemaking, L'Ecole № 41, 10/26/26

"We’re busy wrapping up Harvest 2026 here at Porter Creek Vineyards! Only our 2026 Estate Syrah remains on the vines at this point.

It’s been a productive, enjoyable process, with perfect fruit coming in, and enough time to rest between days of picking … and that made everything run super-smoothly.

Despite the high temperatures of the last few days, it’s been a relatively cooler summer here for us on the property … so the early harvest really has more to do with the warmer-than-normal weather we had back in the first week of February and the third week of March."

- Jonathan DeMichael, Tasting Room, Porter Creek Vineyards, 9/10/26