Late Summer 2026

Reporting from the middle of August. The vineyard is awash in purple and green. Veraison. Mother Nature’s brilliant and beautiful way of telling us to put some pep in our step and start thinking about harvest! The color display feels like a reward for months of hard work, all done carefully and intentionally by hand. It is not an exaggeration when we say we select each and every cluster that goes into our bottles of Pinot Noir. We walk down each and every row, look at each and every cluster; if the cluster looks perfect it stays, if not, or if there are too many, we drop it to the ground where it becomes fertilizer for future growing seasons.

So, what does Brad have to say about the 2026 growing season? “I would say we have seen a lot of things go into our equation this season. We had an early bud break, then things slowed down with cooler temperatures, then the heat found us again and we jumped ahead. In terms of heat units, we are spot on where we were in 2025, and we started harvesting the 21st of September last year. We’ve had 6 additional inches of rain this growing season than last growing season, which is well above average. Color came on fast this season. Now we wait to see when Mother Nature says it’s go time!”

Veraison @AyresVineyard 2026