The ghosts of El Nino linger in California vineyards this fall as wine-grape harvest is delayed by an unseasonably cool spring and early summer. "The grapes are just now ripening, with harvest about three weeks behind schedule this year," says cellar master Ernie Farinias, a staff researcher who for 28 years has overseen the wine-grape "crush" in UC Davis' world-famous viticulture and enology department. Adequate sugar levels in grapes are crucial for winemaking, and the sugars have been slow in accumulating due to the early-season cool weather, according to Farinias. Fortunately, the grapes will be ripe, flavorful and ready to crush for the Oct. 1 start of university classes, when students in the department's wine-production course get their first lesson in commercial-scale winemaking. Farinias predicts harvest in the department's 80-acre Tyree vineyard in Davis and its 40-acre Oakville Experimental Vineyard in Napa Valley may continue until mid-November this year. UC Davis grows 250 different varieties of wine grapes, totaling about 50 tons of grapes that produce about 10,000 gallons of wine. Grapes from both vineyards are used for research at UC Davis and at the new Harry E. Jacob Research Facility in Oakville, as well as for University Extension winemaking classes. Some of the famous Oakville cabernet sauvignon grapes are sold to commercial wineries to cover vineyard operating expenses. Campus-produced wines go into the department's research wine cellar or must be discarded, as required by California's state constitution.