Harvest Rush

It's always a rush when harvest gets started.  Being awoken at 5:30 by the sound of the harvesting machines driving by the house yesterday morning, I lay in bed excited, even though we would never dream of using machines to harvest our grapes.  It's started, my phone has been ringing, other vigneron friends wanting to know when we're starting, looking for some last minute materials or even with an urgent request to borrow a pump.  It's a great kind of adrenaline high, thinking about all of the things that are still left to do, what we've forgotten, heading down to the vineyards to collect samples to send off to the lab.  It's scary too though!  Will it rain again on Friday, should we start picking now or wait longer?  The weather has been less than kind to us and many others this year.  It rained heavily last Thursday and Friday night, not ideal at this moment, the grapes soak up the water, the bunches are wet and humid and rot could set in.   Luckily for us, it dried up quickly and the sun came out, no rot so far, but we are monitoring it closely. 

The biggest problem is that the grapes just aren't ripe yet!  They are starting to sweeten up, but the skins are still very tannic and bitter when you chew them up.  The seeds have all turned to brown and when you crunch them up in your mouth they now taste nutty, which is a good sign.  Our grenache came in at 13 potential alcohol yesterday, which means we still have at least a degree to go.  Pretty much everyone agrees that grenache isn't ripe below 14, despite the fact that we'd like to make a lower alcohol wine, it wouldn't taste very good if the grapes aren't ripe!  We should be able to bring the syrah in a bit lower to balance it out this year.

So now we are rushing around trying to get everything ready!!! Cleaning up the winery one last time, getting buckets and bins rinsed out and piled up and secateurs cleaned and sharpened.  They are currently predicting more rain on Thursday night, possibly violent thunderstorms, yuck.  So we're going out Thursday morning at o-dark-thirty to pick the whites.  The roussanne has turned a lovely brownish red, and is tasting good, there isn't much of it, so we're going to get it in before another possible soaking.  If anyone has a good relationship with the weather gods, could you have a word with them for us??

Sorry no photos!  I can't get them to upload!!  Argh!

Comments

[gianpaolo]

Bonne chance alors!
We are starting soon here in Tuscany's Maremma. Actually we have just started to pick somo grapes that come from suffering plants. You see, it hasn't rained enough here. Last time was the 15th of august and before that, I don't know!
Let's have a good harvest and I hope I'll have the chance to taste your wines again soon.
Bye
Gianpaolo

[Steven Lanum]

Walk five blocks in San Francisco and the temperature changes 10 degrees while you pass from dense fog to full sunshine. Yet 2008 seems to have visited rain, hail, and assorted other climatic maladies across the whole of viticultural Europe.

[Iris]

Bonne chance from me too - I keep my fingers crossed, that you get everything in before the rain - or for no rain at all - weather is changing quickly this year - so why not to dry wind and great sun...

[Michael Christian]

Out of a backyard vineyard in San Diego county, we are making our second vintage. We planted Rhône varietals and have the same problems. Our mourvedre came in at 27.5 brix! And it was not overripe. We don't want the wine to be that hot. Any advice on how to get the sugar down in the vineyard (we don't want to add water or anything like that).