Harvesting has only barely just begun here in Mendoza. That’s why it seems a bit strange to me that the land of “sunshine and good wine” just wrapped up its notoriously exuberant harvest festival, Vendimia.

All the hard work, in fact, lies ahead of mendocinos.

The other day, I was actually at a winery that did have some white already in barrels. Today, driving back towards town from a night up in the Uco Valley, we saw truck loads of Chardonnay, and I know a few vineyards that were planning to start the Merlot harvest today.

And yesterday, one winery I was at said they’d be starting picking Malbec today as well.

But…. just about everybody else around is planning on waiting another four weeks or so before picking Malbec - the biggest crop of all by far - as well as the Cabernets (Sauvignon and Franc), Syrah and the like.

Wineries are tidy and squeaky-clean and enjoying a quiet calm before the ’storm’.

It seems that over the past decades, the harvest has been pushed back considerably. This likely has to do with climate change. But the Vendimia party has stayed put on the first weekend of March.

Over the weekend, crowds were five-deep through downtown Mendoza, all eager to see the peach-throwing parade floats and catch a glimpse of the idealized beauty queens all competing for the “Queen of the Vendimia” prize (which went to a girl from Santa Rosa, in eastern Mendoza).

The cynics in town feel that the harvest festival should actually take place a month later, when the work is done and there is something to celebrate. But that’d put things right around Semana Santa (Easter Week), which is already a busy tourist season.  So Vendimia is staying put.

The word on the streets is that 2010 is a decent year, but a good percentage of the vines were damaged by hail this year. So high-quality Malbec is at a premium, with a premium price to match.

Still, there’s still time; things could change. Nobody is willing to celebrate until all the grapes are harvested.

So in the meantime there’s 09s to chill and 08s to oak.

Vendimia, pre-harvest, post-harvest, I’d say it’s always a good time to be in Mendoza.