A historic March heat wave has thrown a curveball into the start of the 2026 California table grape season, leaving retailers scrambling to bridge an immediate supply gap. While early July harvests are showing an unprecedented two-to-three-week acceleration in color and physical appearance, sugar and flavor profiles are lagging behind, says third-generation grower-shipper CJ Buxman, owner of Sunny Cal Farms in Reedley, Calif.
And as Mexico’s grape season wrapped two to three weeks early, the grower of specialty and heirloom California table grapes has been navigating a delicate balancing act between high retail demand and strict quality standards.
Buxman says the March heat wave threw off the normal synchronization between color and size development and Brix-acid accumulation. But once the vine gets triggered to color early, can the sugars and acids catch up?
“It’s going to be variety and region dependent,” he says. “The industry has yet to see a year quite like this one. The overall consensus is that as the season progresses, flavor will catch up to normal season levels.”
However, July is bringing much reason for optimism, Buxman says.
“During the first and second weeks of July, we’ve already started to see California supplies with adequate Brix catching up with demand. It appears that Brix and flavor have started and will continue to catch up to where we all are wanting it to be,” he says.
And as the season develops, communication between grower-packer-shippers and retailers is critical.
“It’s much easier for niche, specialty grape producers like us to communicate with customers and schedule when we harvest and ship based on flavor,” says Buxman. “For large-scale grower-shippers with full season and full catalog retail program commitments, the balancing act is front and center. The large-scale grower-shippers I know and work with are doing a good job communicating with their customers on what to expect each week. That goes a long way.”
As Sunny Cal specializes in high-aromatic, heirloom varieties like thomcords, kyohos and niabels, which inherently rely on a complex acid-tannin balance, Buxman is keeping a close eye — and palate — on this early harvest.
“We’ll be kicking off our organic thomcords next week, which is the earliest we’ve ever started,” says Buxman. “We expect the kyoho and niabel to be historically early as well. What I’ve experienced with these varieties is that color is coming on three weeks early, but the flavor balance I’m looking for is two to two-and-a-half weeks behind. So far, I’m tasting what I’m searching for, even though it’s two-and-a-half weeks behind color, and a week earlier than previous seasons.”
No matter how beautiful the fruit looks, the bottom line for Buxman is if the sugar-acid balance that delivers real flavor hasn’t matured yet, Sunny Cal won’t put its name on it. Sunny Cal Farms says it is using the moment to underscore its growing philosophy: “Consumers will buy fruit once based on how it looks, but they buy it again and again based on how it tastes.”
The good news for retailers and consumers alike, says Buxman, is that 2026 volumes are looking strong. Once the crop achieves the sugar-acid balance that defines a true Sunny Cal grape, the company expects to deliver both the quality and the quantity the market is waiting for, he adds.
“We’d rather wait a couple of weeks and deliver fruit that earns a loyal following and repeat purchases,” says Buxman. “Patience now protects the flavor experience our customers count on — and keeps shoppers coming back all season long.”
