Harvest has officially turned the page at B Cellars, with all of our 2026 fruit now safely in the winery. Though it may feel like harvest is “done,” there is still plenty to be done at the winery. The season began earlier than usual, following a mild winter and early budbreak that pushed picking roughly two weeks ahead of a typical year. Our first fruit for sparkling wine arrived on July 27th, with our final pick of the season happening last week.

Late-spring rain during flowering caused some shatter and naturally reduced yields, but the growing season that followed was remarkably consistent. With no significant heat spikes and steady summer temperatures, the fruit ripened gradually and evenly. The smaller crop also allowed the vines to concentrate their energy into fewer clusters, resulting in beautifully developed fruit with impressive flavor and concentration.

With the last grapes now off the vines, we have many reasons to be excited about the 2026 vintage. The fruit arrived with excellent quality and balance, and our attention now turns fully from the vineyard to the cellar as fermentations continue and these wines begin to take shape.

Punchdown

If you’ve ever visited B Cellars during harvest, you’ve probably seen one of the most dynamic parts of the winemaking process: the punchdown.

As fermentation begins, yeast cells convert the natural sugars in the grape juice into alcohol (cheers to that!) and carbon dioxide. The CO₂ causes the grape solids — the skins and seeds — to rise to the top of the tank, forming what’s known as the cap. Beneath it, the fermenting juice keeps bubbling with activity.

Breaking through the cap is essential to the wine-making process. To do this, our production team performs punchdowns by hand using a long steel tool that resembles an oversized potato masher. This tool helps us gently push the cap back down into the juice.

Why do we do it? A few key reasons:

Extraction: Good contact between the juice and the grape skins draws out color, flavor, and tannin structure.

Temperature Control: Breaking up the cap helps release built-up heat from fermentation.

Oxygenation: A small dose of oxygen keeps yeast cells healthy and fermentation on track.

It’s a straightforward but essential step — and yes, it’s also a serious workout for our cellar crew! Each punchdown brings us closer to turning beautiful grapes into expressive, handcrafted wines.

Pumpover

For larger fermentation tanks, we utilize pumpovers instead of punchdowns. Unlike punchdowns, pumpovers use more equipment based on the scale and thickness of the cap, which can be several feet thick! For a pumpover, we spray the wine back over the cap using a hose. Pumpovers achieve the same effects as punchdowns, including extracting colors, flavors, and tannins, controlling fermentation temperature, and providing oxygenation to keep the fermentation process on track.