Harvest 2024 is looking quite promising, according to the wineries of Texas Fine Wine. Early bud break, the spring rains and not-too-hot summer temperatures have harvest sneaking up a bit early this year – with first fruit coming in sometime next week. And the fruit quality looks exceptional; some are suggesting this year’s harvest might rival 2017.
Here are updates from Pedernales Cellars, Spicewood Vineyards, Bending Branch Winery and Duchman Family Winery.
David Kuhlken, Co-Owner and Executive Winemaker, Pedernales Cellars
Our estate Kuhlken Vineyards, still in young-vine mode from replanting several years ago, is looking good and vigorous and we expect to get 1 or 2 tons of fruit from it, with first pick in the latter half of July. Quality is on track given the generally moderate temps and timely rains.
We expect to get the majority of our fruit from the Texas High Plains, where everything is looking better than most of the last few years. At the moment, most of our vineyards appear to be carrying anywhere from 2 to 5 tons an acre on most blocks, with only a couple trending toward higher yields. Thankfully, almost all of our vineyards have hail nets, which has helped reduce hail-damaged fruit. In all, harvest is trending well and we expect to our first High Plains harvest to be Viognier around the first two weeks in August and the rest of the varieties to be on schedule over the course of September.Despite having irrigation, most Texas Hill Country vineyards’ systems were not built for this kind of drought – Julie Kuhlken with Pedernales Cellars pointed out they pumped the very last drops from their vineyard well in 2011. (On a side note, Pedernales Cellars recently put in a new 55,000-gallon rainwater tank to support their sustainability efforts at the winery.)
Ron Yates, Owner, Spicewood Vineyards
Harvest is looking quite promising is on track to be about two weeks early in the Texas Hill Country. Bud break occurred in February instead of March so it’s not surprising that we are ahead of schedule for veraison. We have had abundant rain – about 13 inches since March – so everything is looking good. We will harvest Sauvignon Blanc first, probably in mid-July. While our crop will be slightly smaller than last year’s record estate harvest, we are excited about the quality of the fruit. We also get fruit from the Texas High Plains and far west Texas in Dell City. It has been unusually hot in Dell City so I expect to get that fruit in before the High Plains.
Dr. Bob Young, Co-Owner and Executive Winemaker, Bending Branch Winery
We are looking forward to quality fruit from across the state. Tallent Vineyards in Mason County, which has avoided hail damage and enjoyed good rains this spring and summer, is expecting a good quality crop. Fruit from a couple of the vineyards located closest to Bending Branch is also looking really good.
Spring hail caused mixed levels of damage for a few of the Texas Hill Country vineyards where we get fruit. And in general, the wetter spring and summer had a lot of benefits, but in many cases, it has also created additional work in the vineyards.
We are expecting fruit to begin arriving mid-July. Again this year we are working with around 30 different vineyards and approximately 30 different grape varieties. This will be our second harvest of Charbono from Tallent Vineyards, and we are eagerly anticipating higher yields from these vines after another year of development.
Dave Reilly, Winemaker, Duchman Family Winery
The 2024 crop is looking terrific – a big crop, coming in a bit earlier than usual, and excellent quality. We source our fruit from some of the most experienced Texas High Plains growers. Our 18-years-long relationship allows us to make last-minute decisions on the absolute best time to harvest based on the weather and fruit maturity.
We expect harvest to kick off in August, with Roussanne coming in first, followed by Vermentino. For the reds, Sangiovese will be the first, followed by Montepulciano and then Aglianico.