(PD) - Winemakers across the North Coast are reporting a relatively normal grape-growing season so far as the crop moves into the crucial stage from flowering to fruit set.

Growers and vintners said the 2016 crop appears larger than last year’s low yield of 402,489 tons in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties, which was down 24 percent from the 2014 harvest.

Last year, cooler weather in April and May prolonged flowering that led to fruit set, when small flowers on the vines are fertilized and transformed into tiny grapes. The result was a poor fruit set that led to shatter, where fruit clusters do not develop fully, or an uneven ripening of grapes — called “hens and chicks” in the terminology of growers.

“Everything is kind of normal,” said Duff Bevill, owner of Bevill Vineyard Management in Healdsburg, which farms 1,000 acres throughout Sonoma County. “So far, so good.”

Adam Lee, winemaker at Siduri Wines in Santa Rosa, said he thinks the pinot noir crop is about average, while zinfandel and syrah are a little bit below normal.

“It is better than last year. It’s not a giant crop by any means,” Lee said.

This year’s crop has benefited from adequate winter rains, no frost this spring and mostly temperate weather during bloom, said Garrett Buckland, a partner at Premiere Viticultural Services in Napa. He added that fruit set should be completed in Napa County within a week.

“For most varieties, the fruit set looks very good,” Buckland said. “In some cases, the cluster number is lower.”

Still, vintners are looking to get any edge on improving yield. Buckland noted that some growers resort to strategically timing the spread of fertilizer, while others pinch vine tips to energize the vines.

“There are a lot of little tricks and other things we can do to increase our odds,” he said. “In the end, Mother Nature bats last.”

Over at Kunde Family Winery in Kenwood, vintners are attempting a relatively new procedure in which a tractor drives through vines with a heat blower that shoots out a quick blast of heat — up to 350-degree air — to hasten the flowering process.