Day 1
Met the picking crew at 7AM. We drove to the vineyard, up a long narrow dirt road off of Enterprise Drive:
View larger map
It was a bit awkward. The picking foreman was the guy I talked to. I drove my truck to where the crew was picking, and they immediately filled my 2 20 gallon tubs! I thought I was to be picking my own…This should be anywhere from 160-200 lbs grapes (4-5lbs/gallon of grapes).
I didn’t know if I should pay the foreman, or pay the vineyard manager, who wasn’t there. The foreman suggested something for the pickers…but wouldn’t give me a number. I am such a pushover…but I was happy that they picked for me. I gave the guy $100, to split amongst the pickers however he saw fit.
I was home by 8:30 AM. I crushed immediately, following up with a pressing less than 1 hour later, into 2 6 gal carboys.
- Sugars at 23 Brix.
- TA at 9.8 g/L. Ouch, that is high!
- pH 2.98 (low…to go with the TA)
I wonder why they picked so early? Maybe the location of the vineyard that my grapes came from was under ripe, and would have averaged out with other parts of the vineyard. Maybe I can ask my contact who got me these grapes…
- Added SO2 to the must at ~25 ppm (10 ml 10% SO2 solution for each carboy)
- Let it sit overnight.