Aridus harvests more than 100 tons of estate fruit in a volatile 2026 season

A rapid harvest with 2 sources of fruit

Aridus Wine Company began its 2026 harvest on 14 July with Chardonnay, the only variety it purchases rather than grows. Sauvignon Blanc was the 1st fruit from the estate vineyard to arrive, on 30 July. By the final intake on 9 September, the winery had harvested more than 100 tons of estate-grown grapes, approximately 7% more than in 2025. Fermentation, racking and aging work followed in the ensuing weeks.¹

The company’s 40-acre estate vineyard lies near Pearce, about 45 minutes from the winery in Willcox, at an elevation of nearly 5,000 feet in the Chiricahua Foothills. It is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Tempranillo, Graciano, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Malvasia. Founder Scott Dahmer described the site as a meeting of mountain elevation and desert conditions.¹

Varieties ripened out of sequence

An early period of heat appeared to push the growing season almost 2 months ahead, but the varieties did not follow their customary order. Sauvignon Blanc initially seemed to trail Malbec and Petite Sirah before catching up. Winemaker Jef Stebben said all the white varieties ultimately reached picking maturity before the 1st red grapes. The team harvested Sauvignon Blanc, moved to Viognier and then returned for additional Sauvignon Blanc.¹

Sugar levels rose rapidly in the heat while other maturity signs developed differently: seeds remained greener than usual, stems did not lignify normally and skins did not soften as expected. The team therefore relied heavily on tasting fruit instead of using visual and chemical measurements alone when deciding when to pick.¹

Stebben raised unusually intense ultraviolet radiation as a possible contributor, noting that weather services had issued extreme-UV warnings during the growing season. He did not claim a causal link, describing it only as a hypothesis that might help explain the divergence between rising sugars and the development of seeds, skins and stems.¹

Monsoons complicated scheduling

Monsoon storms supplied needed water and could lower temperatures by 30–40°F, offering relief from the heat and affecting grape development. Rainfall was highly localized: several inches could fall in one place while vines only 1,000 feet away remained dry. Picking was sometimes postponed for 1–2 days so the fruit could dry.¹

Heat, fast ripening and intermittent rain made fixed plans impractical. Stebben’s team had to adjust at short notice as both weather and fruit conditions changed.¹

New cellar practices reduced labor

Automated pumpovers, which circulate fermenting juice over grape skins, saved an estimated 10–12 labor hours per day at peak production. The winery also introduced a yeast-addition protocol using GoFerm SterileFlash, enabling newer staff to handle a task Stebben had supervised closely for decades.¹

The cellar team also stopped applying cold soaking uniformly to every red-wine lot. Instead, it selected individual lots according to the requirements of each fermentation. Stebben said the season emphasized scenario planning, adaptability and mutual respect among crew members working under pressure.¹

Malbec and vineyard wildlife

Malbec delivered an especially abundant crop. Stebben observed unusually vigorous vines beside much more restrained neighboring plants in one block, but judged the resulting Malbec positively.¹

Wildlife encounters included a very pale fox seen in the Malbec block, a tarantula that repeatedly tried to occupy a press, and numerous grasshoppers, toads and frogs brought out by monsoon rain. After one day of harvesting and cleanup, the crew heard frogs and toads calling around the crush pad beneath a nearly full moon.¹

The 2026 wines in the cellar

After the larger crop and unusually rapid progression of ripening and fermentation, Stebben said he was pleased with the developing wines and found differences from previous vintages. The wines had moved beyond primary fermentation, with malolactic fermentation, racking and maturation continuing in the cellar.¹

Sauvignon Blanc, Malvasia and Rosé are scheduled to be the 1st wines from the 2026 vintage to be bottled. The winery tentatively expects Rosé to become the 1st released wine of the vintage.¹