When harvest happens in Contra Costa & Lamorinda wine country, what it looks like, and how to visit during crush.
September and October in the Brentwood belt, when the county's historic vines, some of California's oldest, come in from the sandy east-county soils.
Year-round: Lamorinda pours through winter and the Brentwood estates shine spring through crush.
Harvest turns Brentwood's farm belt, the sandy old-vine soils of Oakley, Martinez's historic vineyard ground and the residential hills of Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda into a working spectacle: bins on trailers, cellar doors open, and the smell of fermenting fruit around every corner.
Rooms stay open through crush, but the people pouring may also be picking; patience buys the best stories of the year.
Come early in the day, ask before wandering near equipment, and buy where you linger; harvest hospitality runs on goodwill and case sales.
Every winery we track in the region, each with its own page.
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