(Wines&VInes) - A few months ago it looked as if this year’s harvest in California’s Napa and Sonoma counties might be wrapping up by the middle of September, as another warm winter triggered early bud break, and prompted vines to push much earlier than normal. Thanks to a cooler-than-normal May and unsettled weather in June, however, the reports of an early harvest are now being replaced with a sense of things returning to normal—or just a week or two early. Some areas also experienced problematic set and cluster development because of windy, wet weather that also raised the risk of Botrytis and rot, especially for later in the year. A weak system that came through before the July 4 holiday brought more humidity and some thunder showers as well. Lengthy bloom period The Napa Valley Grapegrowers reported in mid-June that a lengthy bloom period had created a “wide variability” in developing clusters. “Because of the variability in this year’s fruit set, crop thinning at the time of véraison will be even more important to even out the maturity of the clusters,” said Allison Cellini, NVG member and viticulturist at Cliff Lede Vineyards. Cellini told Wines & Vines that she’s pleased with set at Cliff Lede despite reports of heavy shatter throughout Napa County. “We have found our cluster formation to be looser and berry size to be relatively smaller than the last couple of years,” she said.