(Wines&Vines) - A mass of high pressure that’s settled over the Northwest this week promises to help fruit pile up heat units needed for the final push to harvest.

The past two years have seen growers prepping crush pads for harvest as August began, with the earliest-ever pick of grapes in Washington state occurring Aug. 7, 2015. This year’s relatively normal timing of véraison has many growers around the region looking to receive their initial grapes about 10 days later than the mid-August kick-off reported in 2016.