Crush planning
This is going to be a very crazy crush season. The weather sucks! We are far colder this summer than most. So the grapes are not ripening fast enough. And we may have rain this weekend. As long as it is not too much, and it warms up and dries off, we’ll be OK. Otherwise there will be unfriendly organisms growing on the grapes.
I walked the vineyard Tuesday morning, measuring the sugars and picking out the rows I want. This Saturday, the real winemakers are walking the vineyard to divvy up the grapes. My quantities are mice nuts compared to what they are making, which is mice nuts to well known wineries.
- Syrah: 2 different vineyard blocks: 13 -18 Brix. Almost completely turned. Anything that hadn’t been more that 50% through veraison last week was dropped. So there was a lot of fruit on the ground. What is left looks pretty good.
- Pinot: 20-22 Brix. Getting close! Everything is well through veraison. Lots of bird damage however. The vineyard has wild turkeys…maybe not for long. Early Thanksgiving anyone? The grapes tasted good. It is amazing how much more tannic the syrah skins are compared to the pinot. The seeds are partly turning brown, which is supposed to be an indicator for ripeness.
- Sauv Blanc: 15-18 Brix. The grapes have a noticeable “cat pee” taste. This somewhat common in SB. It does seem to be dissipating, as I have been tasting for a month or so.
- Zinfandel…I didn’t get up there. I’ll do that this weekend. These grapes are not sold, so I’ll have more than I can handle.
Here is my 2010 Crush Plan. Since I am making 4 wines, planning the containers and equipment is more important. I have no idea how a real winery manages all this stuff. I am glad my living is not on the line!