(Wines&Vines) - Colorado growers started to pick Chardonnay over Labor Day weekend, and they are anticipating a normal harvest in both quantity and quality. According to Dr. Stephen Menke, associate professor of enology at Colorado State University, the crop this year “is the first full harvest in several years. We had a mild winter with no big spring freezes, and the quality looks good.” He reported that Chardonnay had close to perfect numbers for the region, with 23° Brix, total acidity between 5 and 7 grams per liter and pH at 3.4 or 3.5.

This season stands in contrast with the past several grape harvests, which have been problematic across the state. Very cold weather and April frosts reduced the 2013 crop to approximately 50% of normal, and low temperatures in early December 2013 damaged the 2014 crop. This past winter the temperatures didn’t fall below 0° F, spring was cool and rainy, and summer temperatures were moderate. “It looks like we will have a good harvest quantitatively this year,” Dr. Horst Caspari, professor of viticulture at Colorado State University, stated. “We should have at least as good a harvest as 2012 and 2009, on a yield-per-acre basis.”

Jay Christianson, owner and winemaker at Canyon Wind Cellars in Palisade, Colo., told Wines & Vines that he picked all of his Merlot for Canyon Wind’s Rosé on Sept. 9, with a Brix level of 21°, total acidity of 9.5 grams and a pH of 3.28.

“We plan to pick Pinot Grigio next Monday, Sauvignon Blanc on Tuesday and Chardonnay on Wednesday. At that point we’ll have one-third of our vineyard done. Then we’ll be into Merlot, Syrah, Malbec. All the chemistries are tight, and it looks like harvest will be condensed more than usual.” Christianson grows nine vinifera varieties in his 35-acre vineyard, and all the wines at Canyon Wind Cellars are fully estate grown.