Early San Joaquin Valley grapes looking great as California shipments start

Chris Koger

May 22, 2025

The domestic grape season has kicked off with favorable early season conditions in California’s Coachella Valley, and as the supply swings north to the San Joaquin Valley in July, early expectations are also optimistic.

“Early season conditions have been good in both the Coachella and San Joaquin valleys, allowing table grape growers to begin harvesting the week of May 12 in Coachella,” said Ian LeMay, president of the California Table Grape Commission. sdf

The San Joaquin Valley historically starts around July, and growers in mid-May said they were expecting to get a jump on harvest a few days early, perhaps up to a week before the national holiday.

Rob Spinelli, on the sales desk at Anthony Vineyards, Bakersfield, CA, said Coachella’s growing weather was favorable, but some varieties, including early Flames and Sugraones, didn’t have the dormancy needed for a full crop, and yields will be down.

“But all the other varieties should be normal and are looking good, such as Ruby Rush, which is a new Sun World (International) variety that we have,” Spinelli said.

Sweet Globes, Autumn Crisps and other varieties will carry through the transition to the San Joaquin Valley in late June/early July, he said.

“There’s still a lot of weather between now and then, but it looks like we might get started the week of June 23 (in the San Joaquin Valley) with some red grapes,” Spinelli said. “We’ve had really perfect growing conditions in the San Joaquin Valley, especially in the southern part of the valley, like Arvin and southern Bakersfield area.

“All the preliminary signs that our growers are seeing, it all looks like it’s going to be a great crop out of the San Joaquin Valley in the beginning,” Spinelli said.

Following the early reds, green varieties will start the first or second week of July. And while California has storage grapes shipping into January, Spinelli said competition with an expanding Peruvian grape marketing window on the back end of the California season is tempering some late-season shipments.

While adequate labor has been a topic for fruit and vegetable growers across the country, Spinelli said Anthony Vineyards’ pre-harvest prep, including pruning and thinning, in the Coachella and San Joaquin valleys has not been a problem. The same goes for harvest labor.

What is a concern is tariffs on Chinese products, such as packaging. Although the U.S. agreed on May 12 to drop the rate from 125 percent to 30 percent for 90 days, the cumulative effect of a three- to four-cent bag adds up. Spinelli said up to 70 percent of California grapes are packed in the bags.

The table grape commission’s 2025-26 global marketing campaign is strategically developed to drive demand in the U.S. and 21 export markets. California has a promotable supply from May through January, and the commission works to encourage retailers to stock and promote the state’s table grapes from the early season and continue as late as possible.

To engage retailers, the campaign offers a suite of promotional tools and incentives, including bonus opportunities, digital promotions, a registered dietitian retail program, contests, point-of-purchase materials and in-store sampling.

“At the same time, the consumer portion of the campaign utilizes health research messaging to inform consumers of how California grapes positively benefit health; recipe development to inspire consumers with new ways to enjoy California grapes in snacks and meals; and an extensive library of creative content to highlight the numerous ways to celebrate with California grapes,” LeMay said.

Last year, excessive heat early in the season resulted in some fruit loss, according to the commission, but healthy production of table grapes continued through the fall. Growers harvested into December, for a season total of 91.5 million 19-pound boxes.

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