Drought Causes Early Wine Harvest Season

Laetitia Vineyard and Winery workers snipped, dropped and carried thousands of Chardonnay grapes by hand Tuesday morning.

For the next few weeks, tractors loaded with locally grown grapes will deliver them across the vineyard to the pressing room where they will be crushed.

Dave Hickey is the sparkling winemaker at Laetitia Vinyard and Winery. He says they are “just about on track for a normal season,” despite harvesting two weeks early.

Hickey adds that along with the drought, the micro-climate here on the Central Coast is also a reason for this early harvest season

Laetitia Vineyards and Winery wants people to know that the quality and taste of their wine will not change “even though [they] are harvesting early.”