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Grape harvest begins Photo by Jim Craven The fruit is piled high at Olson Vineyards Monday as workers picked a crop of chardonnay grapes headed for Weisinger's winery in Ashland. Local vintners say crop should be good By DAVID PRESZLER It's the sticky finger season for grape growers. The harvest of some varieties in some Rogue Valley vineyards has begun, while grapes growing elsewhere hang in clusters continuing to ripen. Growers are sampling the remaining fruit daily, using equipment -- and trained taste buds -- to check sugar levels and flavor. And, so far, they like what they're tasting. "All the grapes this year are going to be exquisite," says Don Moore of Quail Run Vineyard near Talent. "They are coming in just perfect. Down here, I think we're headed for a really fine year." Harvest on Moore's vineyards began about 10 days ago, but the picking of his prize product, merlot grapes, will begin in earnest today. The timing of the harvest varies depending on the variety of the grape and the location of the vineyard. Moore and other growers say a sunny September chased away concerns and set up what looks to be very good harvest in the Rogue Valley and the state. "It really could not have been better," says Mark Wisnovsky of Valley View Vineyards. The sunny days with moderate temperatures and cool nights were the perfect combination for the ripening grapes in the crucial final stages of the growing season. "If we'd of had a rainy September, we'd have had a very poor crop," Moore says. "This is proving to be an exceptional year because of the dry, warm fall we're having," says Phil Kodak of Ashland Vineyards and Winery, whose harvest is scheduled to start this week. A month ago, the spectre of wet weather had some growers nervous -- especially in the northern part of the state. But the sun has been shining there as well and Oregon could see a record harvest, according to Kevin Chambers, a Yamhill County grower who serves as chairman of the Oregon Wine Advisory Board. "We had a fabulous September up here," says Chambers. "I don't see any variety that I'm particularly concerned about." A cooler spring pushed harvests back -- a few days in the Rogue Valley and even more in the northern portion of the state. Chambers says many northern growers are letting the fruit hang as long as the weather holds up so it can fully ripen. He says statewide this will likely be the latest harvest on record. It could also be the largest. Chambers expects the state's harvest to be more than 17,000 tons and to approach the record of 18,000 tons set in 1997. Last year's harvest was 14,700 tons. But quality, not quantity, is the driving force of the wine industry. Wisnovsky says this year's harvest at his vineyard may not match the stellar vintage of 1998 in terms of quality but he expects it to be good. "It's very rare to have two very good vintages in a row," he says. Still, Moore says, Southern Oregon is more than holding its own these days. He points to a string of award-winning wines that his grapes and others grown in the Rogue Valley have created as evidence that the industry is thriving here. "The great grapes are not coming out of the Willamette Valley," he says. "They are coming out of Southern Oregon." The number of acres around the Rogue Valley in vineyards is rising, having topped 500 with recent plantings. Moore, the region's largest grower with 150 producing acres, planted another 50 this year. Kodak added 15 acres and replanted others lost in last winter's freeze, giving Ashland Vineyards 46 acres. Wisnovsky has 30 acres at Valley View near Ruch, 10 of which were replanted following the freeze. Del Rio Vineyards near Rogue River planted 100 acres last year and other growers say there was more planting there this year, though the owners could not be reached to provide details. The growth mirrors the state trend. Oregon has about 8,000 bearing acres of wine grapes and about 9,000 additional acres planted. Statewide, the most widely grown varietal remains pinot noir, with chardonnay No. 2, followed by pinot gris. The wine advisory board says there are 136 wineries in the state and 383 vineyards. The growth even startles those steeped in the industry, such as Oregon State University District Extension Agent Ed Hellman. He sees new names and labels popping up all over the place. "There are a lot of new ones going in and most existing vineyards are expanding," he said. "We're still definitely in a growth phase, and if anything, it looks like it's accelerating." (The Associated Press contributed to this story.) Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA