Smoke, heat impact Santa Maria vineyards

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Thanks to hot weather, crews at Foxen Winery are harvesting earlier than expected.

"It speeds up the sugars in the vines and we’ve got to pick. It speeds up that schedule," said co-owner Jenny Williamson Dore of Foxen Winery.

The same goes for crews over at Rancho Sisquoc.

"The heat has brought the ripening a little sooner ... we’d be looking at starting harvest probably in the next two weeks and it’s kind of pushed up to where we’re probably a few days away now," said general manager Steve Fennell with Rancho Sisquoc.

As a result of the heat, vines are also losing a fair amount of water.

"We’re really trying to fight dehydration ... we’re trying to keep the berries truly ripening and not just deflating because of the heat," said Fennell.

Another concern with extreme heat is that there’s no indoor tasting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Because of the coronavirus regulations, all tastings are outside, and when the temperature goes over 100, it’s just too hot and it’s not safe for customers as well as our employees," said Williamson Dore.

In addition to the recent warm temperatures, smoke is in the air.

"The smoke is pretty high up in the atmosphere and it looks terrible and you can smell it but it really isn’t concentrated," said Fennell.

While smoke isn’t a risk for these vineyards right now, the overall hope is that Mother Nature doesn’t turn up the heat any further for the sake of their crops.

"We’re hoping that we return to a nice, cool morning fog in the morning. I called our Santa Barbara County air conditioner," said Williamson Dore.

"We’re very careful with our staff and making sure people stay cool and hydrated, and that’s true of the vineyard as well," said Fennell.