Harvest off to an early start at one Central Coast winery

The annual grape harvest and press for sparkling wine is off to an early start at Laetitia Vineyard & Winery.

Workers at the San Luis Obispo County winery crush four and a half tons of grapes at a time using a press they said you won't find anywhere else in North America. It is hard work, but they said it makes the best sparkling wine.

Laetitia's winemaker said when the grapes are ready, there is no time to wait.

"The harvest started a little bit earlier than we expected. We've been projecting all through the growing season when we were going to start. We thought it would be another week to 10 days," Dave Hickey, winemaker at Laetitia Winery.

The juice pressed Thursday and over the next few days will be sparkling and ready drink in two and a half years.