(Wines&Vines) - As with southern and central California, the growing season in Mendocino County started early and was compressed into a shorter time.

“Bob Swain, winemaker at Parducci Cellars, told me this was the earliest that grapes were picked in his 17 years there in Ukiah,” said John Cesano, reporting from McFadden Farm Stand & Tasting Room in Ukiah and its vineyards in Potter Valley.
“We picked the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for our sparkling wine a week early. Folks were definitely picking as early as August for some varietals, and in some warmer spots: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for sparkling wine,” he said.

“McFadden is the coolest climate farm I know of inland, and the little we have left to pick will be harvested within a week,” Cesano said earlier this week. “Overall, we will have a bigger harvest at McFadden than is typical. The quality is stellar.

“Because McFadden Farm is where the Russian River begins, the drought had no impact on the farm or in our Hopland retail shop,”

At McFadden, a bio-diverse, year-round farm that grows herbs and beef as well as grapes, labor supply was not a problem. “We employ a core team year-round, augmented by family through harvest and on through the holidays,” Cesano said.

In Potter Valley, “Turkeys and bears ate a lot of delicious Zinfandel grapes. We lost roughly 40% of our crop to hungry beasts. Thank goodness our other varietals over-performed,” he said. “Things are so dry it has brought the animals out. Where drought usually leads to a rattlesnake migration to the river, McFadden Farm has been remarkably rattlesnake free. Perhaps the turkeys and bears are eating the snakes,” he surmised.

Cesano is a spokesperson for Destination Hopland, which will host its 23rd annual Fall Passport Tour of 14 wineries Oct. 18 & 19. For details, visit Destination Hopland.