WENATCHEE — Wine made from this year’s grape harvest won’t be ready for a couple of years, but if this year’s weather was any indication the wine should be pretty good drinking.

“They’re looking fantastic in the tank,” said Vicky Scharlau, executive director of the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers. “They’re calling to this one to put on the shelf as far as long-term stability.”

“Overall, the weather conditions were ideal for ripening with warm, sunny days and dry, cool nights,” said Scharlau. “That kind of weather is just perfect for wine grapes.”

“We had some very warm weather this summer,” said Steve Kludt of Lake Chelan Winery. “The sugars were there, but the flavors weren’t there yet. We had to let them sit on the vine longer and eventually got the flavors. ... We ended up with a real nice crop. I think it’s going to be a really nice vintage.”

Lake Chelan Winery has 35 acres of wine grapes in Manson and leases or buys another 35 acres in the Chelan Valley. The winery also has 10 acres in Benton City.

Scharlau said the mid-October freeze had little impact on local wine grapes because most had been harvested. “The timing was good. If it had been any earlier it would have been different.”

Grapes that were still on the vines were at the peak of ripeness, Scharlau said, so the freeze, which stopped any ripening, only encouraged growers to get the grapes off the vines quickly. “The industry had really gone into high gear trying to get the grapes in before they got brittle and fell to the ground.”

“They didn’t get any worse,” agreed Kludt.

Scharlau conceded that growers would have preferred to have more time to harvest grapes instead of needing to get them off the vines quickly. “What you try to do is have an orderly harvest.”

Rochelle Feil Adamowsky: 664-7153

feil@wenatcheeworld.com