Things have officially gotten busy around here.
A couple of weeks ago, harvest was just beginning. The first fruit was making its way into the cellar, the team was getting into the rhythm of the season, and we were watching closely to see how the rest of the vintage would unfold. Now, there’s no question about it: harvest is here, and the grapes are really coming in.
The cellar has shifted into full harvest mode. Bins are arriving regularly from vineyards throughout the Willamette Valley and beyond, and our days are centered around getting fruit processed carefully and efficiently. There’s a constant rhythm to it. The grapes arrive, fruit moves through sorting and processing, tanks begin to fill, and before one job is finished, there’s usually another one waiting. It’s busy, but it’s the kind of busy we look forward to every year.
The weather has certainly kept things interesting. After a long stretch of warm, dry summer weather, September started with a noticeable change. The first part of the month brought cooler temperatures and several wet days to the Willamette Valley before conditions began to dry out and warm up again. Now, as we hit the middle of September, warmer weather has returned, with temperatures climbing again this week.
For a winemaking team, those changes matter. Harvest is always a balancing act, and weather plays a big role in when fruit is ready to pick and when it needs to make its way to the cellar. Because we work with vineyard partners across the region, we don’t have one single harvest date or one vineyard telling the whole story. Every site moves at its own pace, and our team is constantly communicating with growers and watching how the fruit is developing. Now, those months of watching are turning into some very tangible work.
When the grapes arrive at Dobbes, the focus shifts completely to the fruit in front of us. The cellar team is sorting, processing, and getting each lot where it needs to go. It’s a hands-on process, and harvest days are filled with plenty of movement—and plenty of tasting, checking, adjusting, and paying attention.
There’s something pretty special about seeing the cellar this time of year. The energy is different. You can smell the fresh fruit as you walk through the winery. There are bins and equipment moving around, conversations happening across the cellar, and a steady stream of work from early in the morning into the evening. It’s a little chaotic at times, but it’s a productive kind of chaos.
And while the pace is intense, we’re not trying to rush the wines. Every lot has its own story, and our job is to pay attention to what the fruit is giving us. We’re watching fermentations as they get underway, tasting as the wines begin to develop, and making decisions based on the character of each lot rather than trying to make everything follow the same path. That’s one of the most interesting parts of harvest. At this point, the grapes are still very much grapes, but you can begin to imagine where they’re headed. The fruit coming through the cellar doors today will eventually become the Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, and other wines that tell the story of this vintage.
Harvest in the Willamette Valley doesn’t happen all at once, and we still have plenty of fruit ahead of us. But the pace has definitely changed. What started with those first few bins has become a steady flow of grapes through the cellar, and our team is right in the middle of it. For now, we’re taking it one load, one tank, and one fermentation at a time.
The 2026 vintage is no longer just something we’ve been waiting for. It’s happening right in front of us.
Derek Einberger, Winemaker
