At one vineyard the Pinot Noir will be
ready late next week subject to some samples being tested early in
the week. At the other vineyard the Chardonnay should be nicely ripe
by mid week. But again some samples will be tested at the beginning
of the week.
The Pinot will have our new standard
red practice of chilling to 10C and holding that for 72 hours before
fermenting between 28 and 32 C and staying on skins for 22 to 26
days.
The Chardonnay will be split into two
batches. One batch to ferment after cold soaking overnight. The
second batch will cold soak for 48 hours before fermentation. Both
batches will be fermented at 15 C until only one third of the sugar
remains then it will be racked into demijohns to finish under
airlock. The 48 hour soak is something new for us hence hedging our
bets with lots.
The Sauvignon Blanc is 2-3 weeks away
from being ready to pick as are most of the reds. The weather is dry
and there is no serious rain forecast for the next month. The
vineyards are irrigating to prevent the vines from stressing. Yields
may be down because of the dry Spring causing some varieties to set
lower fruit levels but the quality should be up. The botrytis
problems of last year won't be an issue this time. The last really
quality year was 2007 and it maybe that this year will be in that
league.
For anyone into making wine this is the
exciting part of the year. Watching the fruit ripen and being ready
for those pre-dawn starts to get the harvest in while the grapes are
cool and the temperature and humidity are ideal for the pickers.
It's good to have a hobby.
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