(PD) - Despite lower yields from a difficult harvest between heat spikes and wildfires, North Coast vineyards produced a record $1.51 billion of grapes in 2017 as prices continued to climb to new highs, according to preliminary figures released Friday.

The average price of grapes from Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties last year jumped 9 percent to an unprecedented $3,259 per ton, according to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Although the size of the crop fell 8 percent last year to 464,765 tons, rising prices drove up the value of the region’s prized grape crop 1.3 percent from $1.49 billion in 2016.

The 2017 harvest was difficult for winemakers as they battled a Labor Day heat wave that forced them to pick pinot noir and chardonnay grapes before they began to raisin. A month later, some growers had to leave their fruit — mostly late varietal reds — on the vine because they were damaged by smoke from the October wildfires.