The grapes are ready. Early. The staff at Mazza Vineyards in North East started harvesting this year’s grape crop last week.

“We’re running somewhere between 10 and 14 days ahead of last year’s schedule at this point,” said Mario Mazza, vice president and general manager at Mazza. 

In fact, this harvest might be one of the earliest on record. The last time it was this early was about 10 years ago. 

“It’s, you know, looking to track the same. A lot of things can happen between now and the end [the] of season,” he said.

“But right now, things have moved a long and the weather has been really conducive for growing and ripening this year.”

That weather was a warm and early spring that turned into a warm and dry summer. 

“As we got into August and started taking samples and looked for some key indicators of what was happening to the vineyard we could tell by early August that it was going to be an early start to the season,” Mazza said. 

That dry weather was key. Too much moisture runs the risk of damaging crops with fungi and mildew. 

Some vineyards east of Erie have damage from an early season frost. That means not all varieties of grapes are in abundance. 

As for Mazza’s final product, their award-winning wine, there are a lot of variables that determine how much it costs. This year’s crop probably won’t be one of them. 

“I think everybody’s probably aware of what’s happened in the past several years and, you know, we’re no different,” Mazza said.

“Various supplies, materials, et cetera have impacted our growers, they’ve impacted us.”

But the crop will affect the wine’s quality. Mazza said if the weather stays warm and dry this fall, they can make and sell some really good wine.

“I don’t count my chickens before they’re hatched and the last grapes come across the press floor,” he said.

“But right now, things are shaping up pretty well. We’ll hope that the trend continues.”

The harvest season should end sometime in October.