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There’s a lot to be excited about in the vineyard this year.
The first thing that stands out from the 2026 harvest is the quality of the fruit. Yields are on the lower side, but what we’re seeing coming into the winery is exceptionally strong. Color development has been fantastic, with excellent polyphenolic and anthocyanin development across the reds, while fruit condition, stability and cleanliness are all looking very good.
What has been particularly interesting this year is the way harvest timing is continuing to shift across Texas.
For the first time in my career, we’re picking red varieties in the Texas Hill Country after we’ve already picked reds in the Texas High Plains. Traditionally, we would expect the opposite.
The Hill Country has been experiencing cooler, wetter and generally more favorable growing conditions, allowing fruit to spend longer on the vine and achieve greater ripeness. At the same time, warmer conditions in the High Plains have resulted in fruit ripening more quickly.
It’s a change we’ve been watching develop over several years.
Since around 2017, conditions in the Hill Country have become increasingly favorable for longer ripening periods and stronger diurnal shifts. That extra time on the vine can help fruit develop while retaining acidity, creating a better balance at harvest and gradually pushing the picking window later into the season.
Over the past three years, that shift has become even more noticeable. Changes in weather patterns across Texas, including high-pressure systems and the jet stream, appear to be playing a role in how ripening is progressing between regions.
From a winemaking perspective, it’s fascinating to watch.
More importantly, the longer ripening periods appear to be contributing to the quality we’re now seeing across the Texas Hill Country. This isn’t something confined to one vineyard or one site either. We’re seeing consistently strong fruit across the region.
There’s still plenty of harvest ahead of us, but at this stage, 2026 is shaping up to be a particularly exciting vintage.
