The California table grape season begins in late spring when the first grapes are harvested from vines in the Coachella Valley, the state’s southernmost growing region. The warm, desert climate helps ensure that fresh grapes will appear in markets across the country by mid-May.

As the season in Coachella comes to a close in mid-July, harvest begins in the 200-mile long San Joaquin Valley. The valley’s warm dry climate allows the grapes to ripen slowly on the vine.

By late fall, seedless varieties still ripen in vineyards in the northernmost part of the San Joaquin Valley. There, the influence of the distant San Francisco Bay can be felt in cooler nights and occasional rain.

Due to advances in storage technology, varieties of both seedless and seeded California table grapes are available through February. During the few months that California grapes are not available, grapes imported from the Southern Hemisphere, chiefly Chile, can be found in most produce markets.

California table grapes are also exported: one-third of the crop is currently shipped to more than 60 overseas markets.