Grape harvest close to done

WENATCHEE — Local vineyards will be wrapping up grape harvests in the next week or two, say vintners in Trinidad and Lake Chelan. 
  
 Harvest at Lake Chelan has been of high quality, but cool wet weather slowed harvest about five days, says Ray Sandidge, vintner of three wineries and past president of the Lake Chelan Wine Growers Association.

Rain showers have been a concern because too much rain in tight-clustered varieties can cause bunch rot, he said.

Most Lake Chelan winegrape harvest will finish this week, he said.

Cameron Fries, co-owner of White Heron Cellars in Trinidad, said he would finish this week and has been harvesting three tons to the acre or less in his 12-acre vineyard.

The work is all done by hand by apple pickers who come in the afternoon after they’ve finished picking apples for the day, he said.

“Every year someone (in the Washington wine industry) says this is the vintage of the decade. I keep waiting for some winemaker to say, ‘There’s no good wine this year. Don’t buy any,’ ” Fries said with a laugh.

He said every year is the best year for one variety or another.

— Dan Wheat, World staff