Barra of Mendocino wraps up 2026 harvest with 23% smaller crop
October 27, 2026 (Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, CA) — Barra of Mendocino completed its 2026 grape harvest on October 2, following a season that delivered a smaller-than-expected crop of exceptional quality. The early harvest, which began August 19 with Moscato, was characterized by smaller berries and clusters, favorable weather and an unexpected challenge from two herds of Tule elk that discovered the winery’s estate vineyard.
For the first time since the vineyards were established in 1955, approximately 30 elk descended on the home ranch, Redwood Valley Vineyards, feeding on ripe Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir grapes, with Pinot Noir particularly attractive to the animals. The Cervus canadensis nannodes species also ate tender cordons on newly planted Pinot Noir vines, damage that will delay those vines coming into full maturity by at least a year (click here for video).
The herds arrived approximately two weeks before harvest and remained throughout most of the picking season, disappearing just two days before it concluded. Barra attempted to deter the visitors with motion-activated lights, fencing, an electric fence and efforts to herd them away using all-terrain vehicles. Only when the winery’s night-time machine harvesting kicked into gear were the elk dissuaded from staying in the vineyard to munch on the vines.
“We tried to find some humor in the elk situation,” said Martha Barra, who owns the winery and directs all of the farming operations. “Unfortunately, this may have been a situation where fifty years of farming organically attracted this wildlife,” she said. Martha and her late husband Charlie were early proponents of organic viticulture in Mendocino County, committing to organic protocols before “organic farming” was a recognized term.
Tule elk are considered a conservation success story, in relative terms, having gone from having been hunted nearly to extinction in the 1800s to a population of approximately 5,700 animals across the state of California today. The name is derived from their favorite habitat, the tule marshes of California’s Central Valley—although today they’re found throughout diverse landscapes.
Smaller clusters, excellent quality
Across the vineyards, berries and bunches were generally smaller than usual, while shatter — the failure of some flowers to develop into berries — was particularly pronounced in Chardonnay, reducing bunch weights. The resulting crop was considerably lighter, but the absence of measurable rain and extreme temperature swings during harvest helped preserve fruit quality.
The winery crushed Moscato, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah for its Barra Reserve and Girasole Vineyards lines of wine. Two hundred olive trees on the Bella Collina vineyard were harvested on October 9.
New equipment and a more efficient harvest
One of the season’s most welcome developments was Barra’s first use of a Pellenc bow-rod harvesting machine. The equipment picked grapes and transferred the fruit directly into gondolas already loaded on the truck destined for the winery, streamlining the movement of grapes from vineyard to crush.
Approximately 35% of the vineyard acreage was machine-harvested at night. Hand-harvesting crews began work as early as 4 a.m., allowing the picking teams to avoid the heat and the fruit to be picked and delivered to the winery while still cool.
Mendocino is “having a moment”
Martha Barra was recently a guest on Dan Berger and Daedalus Howell’s KRSH California Wine Country radio show, where Berger recognized Martha and the Barra operation as exemplars of how Mendocino County is “having a moment,” as he said. “Forty years ago, Mendocino was the major contributor of excellent grapes that made exceptional blends by Napa and Sonoma wineries. Today the best of that fruit now stays at home and produces wines that carry a Mendocino County designation and are produced by Mendocino County wineries. And these homegrown wines now are some of the best in the state. Just as importantly, as leaders in organic farming, they’ve encountered every type of adversity possible and have retained their identities. It has been an amazing transformation that many U.S. consumers have yet to realize,” he added.
About Barra of Mendocino
Barra of Mendocino is a family-owned winery in Mendocino County, California, known for the estate-grown, organically farmed Barra Reserve and Girasole Vineyards wines. The winery welcomes visitors to enjoy its wines in its tasting room and gardens in Redwood Valley. The tasting room is open seven days a week and reservations are not necessary.
All of Barra’s wines are made from estate grown grapes grown on 300+ acres of CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) certified vineyards.
The Barra family operates three estate vineyards. One is Redwood Valley Vineyards, the original home ranch, planted in 1955, consisting of 265 acres, perched at 820 feet, with Pinnobie and Redvine soils. It was CCOF certified in 1989.
Bella Collina Vineyards consists of 27 total acres first planted in 2000. It sits at 1,100 feet in elevation with Pinnobie soils. In addition to grapes there are 200 Leccino, Frantoio and Arbequina olive trees on this ranch. It was CCOF certified in 2001.
The Tasting Room vineyards spans 50 total acres at 720 feet in elevation with Pinole and Talmage soils. It was CCOF certified in 2007.
Organic certification requires that grapes are grown without conventional pesticides or herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, bioengineering, or ionizing radiation. Bell beans, red clover, peas, barley and vetch are planted between the rows of vines, and then, just when the flowering plants are turning to either seed or starting to bear “fruit,” the plants are chopped and turned back into the soil where they are converted to nutrients for the vines. The soils are alive with micro-organisms that allow the vines to take up the nutrients in a more efficient manner.
In addition, Barra’s winery facility, Redwood Valley Cellars, is also certified organic by the CCOF. Its winemaking process adheres to strict guidelines and ongoing inspection by the CCOF in order to maintain the claim “made with organically grown grapes” on the labels.
Beginning in 2023 the winery has been pursuing a biochar program: it’s a wood product created by burning wood chips in equipment that uses high heat and low oxygen for the burning process. Biochar increases a vine’s ability to uptake nutrients, has water holding capabilities, and increases the carbon sequestration in the soil. Old vines pulled out for replanting are converted into biochar and at the end of the process the biochar is mixed with pomace and tilled back into the vineyard soil.
