CALDWELL, Idaho — Mike Williamson and his crew waited out intermittent storms early Nov. 13, standing ready to pick grapes for ice wine.

“Yesterday it was Riesling white, and today we’re going to pick some reds,” the Williamson Orchards & Vineyards co-owner said.

For the year, “when we look at yields over the whole farm, we’re right on average for tonnage,” Williamson said.

Mixed but mostly solid grape yields and high-quality fruit have characterized the 2024 harvest, the Idaho Wine Commission reported.

“Across the state, our wineries are reporting outstanding grape quality and predicting an excellent 2024 vintage,” executive director Moya Dolsby said in a news release.

The growing season and bud break started a little later than usual in the southwest region’s Treasure Valley due to a mild spring frost. Warm weather lasting well into October quickened harvest.

“It looked like an early harvest until a cool couple of weeks in September stalled everything just before harvest began,” Mike McClure, of Indian Creek Winery near Kuna, said. “Then we saw one of the warmest harvest periods I’ve experienced in 20 years.”

Crews picked the 15-acre vineyard in four days, compared to the three weeks often needed, McClure said. “Some lots came in a little light due to a minor spring frost, but in general, yields were normal.”

“Mother Nature delivered high-quality fruit, and we look forward to big, juicy reds and elegant whites from this vintage,” said winemaker Melanie Krause, with Cinder Wines in Garden City.

In the northern Treasure Valley, “we had a great harvest in the Eagle Foothills and are very bullish on the grape quality,” said Trae Buchert of Dude DeWalt Cellars.

In south-central Idaho, Hagerman Valley Vineyards was not hit by an early spring frost and saw a 30% increase in volume for red and white varietals, according to the commission. At Holesinsky Vineyard and Winery near Buhl, 2024 will be “an outstanding red wine vintage,” Caitlin Holesinsky said. “The quality is there with plenty of grapes to make amazing Idaho wine representing our terroir.”

In the state’s north-central region, a January freeze that killed a few fruiting buds led to slightly lighter yields than usual, said Lane Hewitt of Rivaura Estate Vineyard near Juliaetta.

“Most of the varieties ripened beautifully and a little early, possibly due to the smaller amount of fruit on the vines compared to earlier years,” he said. This year’s harvest was Rivaura’s seventh and “the vines continue to mature. We see that in the quality of the fruit and wines.”

Grape quality at Williamson Orchards was helped by prolonged heat and sunlight well into October, Williamson told Capital Press.

Also significant was a typical August, in contrast with unusually wet conditions seen in August 2023 thanks to Pacific hurricane remnants, he said.

“We didn’t have to thin out any rot,” Williamson said. “Quality levels were much better than last year.”

At nearby Bitner Vineyards, Ron Bitner on Nov. 10 finished late harvest of a small lot of red cabernet grapes for a dessert wine.

“We had to wait for a couple of hard freezes we had before it was ready to harvest,” he said. Cold weather concentrates sugars.

Bitner’s main harvest began in mid-September with some white grapes and finished in the third week of October with reds. The team waits as long as possible to start picking, to optimize sugars and pH.

This harvest, his 42nd, produced “one of the bigger yields we’ve had,” and nice grapes, he said. “I’m really happy with what we got. I could tell in mouth feel.”

Idaho has about 65 wineries and more than 1,300 acres of vineyards. About 3,100 tons of grapes are harvested each year, according to the commission.