Well, the fact that both Microchip and Nordic Semiconductor are shipping actual chips based on RISC-V says that if it's not this year, the year is really close.
Yes, there have been an assortment of dodgy "RISC-V" chips from dodgy Chinese suppliers that would appear and disappear like spectral invaders from another dimension.
Until last year, though, I couldn't plan around being able to buy and put a RISC-V chip in a product. Now I can.