"Reining" in the Harvest
Today is October 12 and the rains have subsided. Prognosis at this point…we are bringing in Chardonnay as quickly as possible ‘round the clock. We brought in half the Chard before the rain and it is BEAUTIFUL with bright acidity. I decided to take a calculated risk and let several tons stay on the vine longer – looking for a rise in sugar and higher ph (lower acidity). When we first looked at the forecast, the weather called for 2 inches of rain over 2 days but what we got was 4.5 inches over 4 days! It’s during these challenges of harvest when we are thankful to have an experienced Vineyard Crew headed up by Randy Peters who is blazing through his 40th harvest this year. We seem to have made out better than most with our aggressive leaf pulling along with the use of some new organic sprays that have deterred a good deal of botrytis (bunch rot). At this point, we are HAND SELECTING only Chardonnay clusters with no botrytis. Cabernet? Still on the vine for another couple of weeks. Cab clusters are thick skinned and the berries are loosely clustered, so, when we do have an early rain it doesn’t bother it a bit. The loose cluster structure allows for plenty of air flow preventing the possibility of botrytis. Cab is usually the last to come in, so no worries there! One more thing….we have been racking a lot of wine….so far in barrel – Zinfandel, Malbec, Primitivo and Pinot Noir….the cellar is filling up quickly.
