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Oaking the 2011s

2011-12-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

Added oak to our wines; more specifically Hungarian oak. We added in number of beans - 10 beans per gallon to most carboys, some as little as 5 beans per ballon. Based on the leftovers from a 1-lb pack of beans I'd estimate we added about half of that recommended by StaVin (0.4 oz oak beans per gallon for new barrel equivalent). That said we recall an oakey batch, so are playing it safe (since you can always add, but can't easily remove).

The Merlot got an additional 25 Hungarian oak beans (supplementing the previously added 15 American oak beans). Tried one homemade wine where the winemaker used a blend of oaks and I thought it turned out pretty tasty.

Here's more detail on the why's behind each type of oak, and a handy number of cubes per ounce cheatsheet.

Post-Thanksgiving Harvest

2011-11-27T20:41:00.000-08:00

We finally picked the rest of the grapes - as expected we had some rot to pick through, but ended up with about 25 gallons of red wine must, and 5 gallons of juice only from botrytis-infected grapes. SERIOUSLY committed friends helped with these tasks, took twice as long as we thought and sorting through moldy grapes is not nearly as glamorous as our usual harvest, but a lunch and wine break halfway through helped a lot.

We've never had to deal with molds and rots on our grapes, so we started by picking all the grapes, then hand-sorting while destemming into 3 buckets:

1. Sour grapes - any grape that oozed anything but clear liquid appeared to be rotten. Don't want any of that in any of our wines. Pretty sure it's officially called Sour Bunch Rot

2. Botrytis-infected grapes - these for us were grapes with a brown sugar looking mold on them. This is the 'noble rot' used to make famous fancy dessert wines like Sauternes. I highly doubt we'll be able to make a similar quality wine out of not-too-sweet botrytis-ey grapes, but we'll experiment and share with caution

3. Perfect grapes, which we'll use to make our second batch of estate red wine

In the end, we had OK numbers - the pH really shot up more so than other numbers, but we're well within reasonable red wine grape numbers.

Brix: 22.0

pH 3.44

TA: 8.4

To that we added sugar to get our Brix closer to 23-24, a bit (35ppm) of Potassium Metabisulfate to kill any rogue yeasts, and yeast nutrient (1t straight DAP, 1 t Fermaid K per fermenter) before soaking overnight. Tomorrow we'll re-measure and pitch yeasts.

Falling

2011-11-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

A closer look at row 5; very fall like and those grapes are still hanging in there! All the leaves have fallen in the less sunny parts of the vineyard.

3 ways to rot

2011-11-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

It's rare that grapes hang on the vine this long, but sure enough the TA is dropping, making them more likely to turn into good wine. Unfortunately the types of rot that are growing on the berries are also on the rise: probably 10% have botrytis (looks like tan bread mold), another 5% sour rot (looks like a pink-redish berry and tastes & smells obviously bad). Then there's this white surface one; not sure what exactly it is but sure is funny looking.

In any case, our numbers:

Ta: 8.3

Ph: 3.4

Brix: 21.75

Given the speed at which the rot is spreading, and the fact that more than half the leaves have dropped, we're going to harvest the rest this weekend.

First Racking of 2011 Merlot

2011-11-20T12:20:00.001-08:00

While pressing the Cab, we realized that we pressed the Merlot about a month ago, so it's high time we racked it off of its gross lees. Went from 6 gallons of must to 4.5 gallons (we were pretty stingy due to the odd acid levels), added 25ppm potassium metabisulfate and put it on oak: 15 medium toast American oak beans.

Pressing with a new press

2011-11-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

The Cabernet's cap is getting very weak and hydrometer reading is 0% sugar, so we pressed it today.

We usually rent a basket press for this task, but given the fact that our batches of wine are so distributed this year, I looked for a less gear-intensive way to do a light press of our wines. I went to a local housewear / restaurant supply shop (the one next to 99 Ranch in Milpitas), envisioning some kind of funnel, or large pasta strainer, to do the job. After perusing the stainless steel items, I decided to give this fry basket a try (at least I *think* that's what it is). It's a single layer of about 0.5 cm mesh.

My technique: I scooped about one gallon / 2-3" of must into this basket, then gently smashed down with the scooper I was using (a 8 cup tupperware pouring / mixing vessle). I let the juice and some seeds came out the bottom and tossed the dried grape skins aside to compost. If I was hard-core, I'd get another basket to let them drip-out some additional juice, but doesn't seem like there would be too much benefit to that.

After pressing, we added 25 ppm potassium metabisulfate (very first addition), hoping that that would not be enough to kill the ML bacteria, which seems to still be eating up the excessive malic acid. Racked into carboys with enough head space to get our stirrer in so we can stir up the lees a couple times a week (to keep the nutrients in the lees feeding the ML bacteria)

Also compared numbers, pre-ferment vs post-ferment:
Pre-fermentation
pH 3.30
TA 0.85

Post-fermentation
pH 3.45
TA 0.75
This is great news - MUCH better acid levels to have in a finished wine!

Hanging in there

2011-11-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, there are still grapes out there. Even though the leaves are dropping pretty quickly. Their numbers are getting better (Brix 21.5, TA 0.85, pH 3.35), so we might harvest as soon as next week. Before the vines lose ALL their leaves.

2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Numbers

2011-11-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

Harvested rows 1-3 & 7-9, and to our surprise ended up with 2 primary fermenters - so the grapes in them are a random mix. Here's how they came out:

Batch Z:
Brix 23.5
pH 3.3
TA 8.5

Batch B:
Brix 22.5
pH 3.3
TA 8.5

To batch B, we decided to add 1 lb of sugar, with the goal of bringing the brix up to 24ish.

We'll re-test before pitching the yeast, tonight after the must warms a bit.

First harvest

2011-11-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Enough waiting already - with big rains on their way, even though the grapes are still testing under-ripe we harvested about half today. We opted for the top and bottom rows (rows 1-3, 7-9). Numbers to follow!

Pressed the Zin

2011-11-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

Zin seemed to be settling down from its earlier fermenting vigor (this snapshot from last week) - so we pressed, put into carboys, and continue to stir up the lees every few days to keep ML fermentation going.

Still waiting

2011-10-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

Grapes STILL not ripe: average Brix = 20. Looking very fall-like though; and new crop of weeds sprouting up.

Zin!

2011-10-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

We once again were generously given the chance to harvest extra Zinfandel grapes from our friends up in El Dorado County. Being a relatively cool, and wet, season some of the grapes had developed bunch rot (tan-ish and powdery on surface) and sour rot (pink/redish throughout)- so picking around those I came home with enough grapes to make 7-8 gallons of wine and 7-8 quarts of jam. The numbers:

Ph: 3.3

Ta: 8.7

Brix: 24

We did our standard: 25 ppm potassium metabisulfate to kill existing yeasts upon crush, then 24 hrs later pitched Lalvin BM 4x4 with yeast nutrients, then the next morning stirred in ML bacteria culture into the top 2 inches of the must.

Bottling

2011-10-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

Busy day - today we pressed the Merlot, yielded 6 gallons of must. Now it'll settle out and hopefully continue to go through MLF.

We also realized as long as we were going to clean all our gear might as well use this as a chance to bottle some of the wine in larger carboys we'll need for winemaking very soon. We tasted the various wines, and opted not to blend any together - we liked the individual tastes each had compared to the blend.

What we got:

6 cases 2009 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. One batch came out oakier than the other, so we labeled it 'Reserva' in Argentinian tradition. Not sure it's better or worse, time and your preference in oak will tell.

2 cases 2010 Amador County Zin. This was the stuff made from Murrill Vineyards grapes.

2 cases of 3rd Little Red Wagon. This was one carboy that ended up with surplus from our racking operations, mostly '09 Zinfandel with some '10 Zinfandel and '09 Cab Sauvignon.

Different red leaf

2011-09-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

I've started to notice that on the opposite side of the vineyard as the red-leaved group, a slightly different manifestation of red/burnt leaves is appearing. Looks like I noticed it in previous years too.

Our First Merlot

2011-09-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

Our friends and neighbors planted Merlot several years ago, and after enduring the first several years of waiting for solid root development they finally had enough grapes to make wine!.

Unfortunately, conditions for them this year were not very kind: cool weather made them ripen very slow, and then just last week the grapes experienced a sudden surge in sugar content. Acid numbers were like nothing we had ever seen - high TA but a conter-intuitively low pH:

Brix: 27 (which we watered down to 25)

pH: 3.8

TA: 0.86

The best overview of this problem was from Allison in her Wine Wizard column.

We opted to ferment as normal, but added a relatively high (50ppm) level of potassium metabisulfate since such a low pH leaves the wine susceptible to spoilage.

Yeast: Lalvin BM 4x4 (atempered & added with nutrients per instructions)

Co-Innoculant: Viniflora Oenos (stirred into top 2" of must 12 hrs after pitching yeast)

How we secured the nets

2011-09-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Chenille-covered twist ties, roughly 5" long (a standard long craft store pipecleaner cut in half), twisted twice. Put them immediately on either side of trunks & trellis poles, then at 6"+- increments along the rest of the length of the rows. Kept them tied above the irrigation line. Even with this level of security, birds got in a couple times, and they definitely learned out to pick off the grapes through the nets - but we're down to only 5-10% loss from birds now.

Veraison & netting

2011-08-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

Birds already interested in the grapes; so we netted them this weekend. After experimenting with various net-securing techniques and devices, we opted for chenille-coated pipecleaners. Easy on AND off.

Mid-Veraison

2011-08-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

Solidly mid-veraison; roughly 40% of the berries are purple.

August 17

2011-08-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Growth finally seems to have slown down, makes sense since the berries are turning purple.

August Vigor

2011-08-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

VERY vigorous vines this year - late rains, more sunshine, hope we don't have too much. Sprayed 1.5% stylet oil again today. Actually have been spraying every 10-14 days, just getting better at remembering (vs having to post online to remember). There's been little hot weather to break PM cycle this year.

Grapes pre veraison

2011-08-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

Still no signs of veraison, but the grapes continue to fill out.

Grapes post leaf pulling

2011-07-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Leaf pulling in progress now; here's a shot of a row where the little grapes are free of leaves in their way.

Sad little leaves

2011-07-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

Ground zero of red-leaf syndrome, row 7.

Dense spray

2011-07-06T16:58:00.000-07:00

Today, continued with PM preventative spray of 1.5% Stylet Oil, plus iron & zinc, plus magnesium for rows 6+ (in case it's what those red vines need).

Bloom

2011-06-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

Bloom has commenced - roughly 15% of the vines are blooming, mostly on the vines that were pruned on the early side and/or the vines that have red leaves. Good news is that now that we're approaching bloom, I can take some petioles into the lab and see if a mineral deficiency is contributing to red-leaf syndrome. Stay tuned!

Early symptoms

2011-05-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

More detail on the earliest signs of nasty leaf symptom . More soon!

Poppies!

2011-05-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

If you look closely you can see a bumble bee in the California Poppy.

Stop it, it's not fall yet!

2011-05-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Already, we're seeing the red-leaf look in row 7. Seriously? After providing Epsom salt supplements to the soil, and spraying an iron & zinc with the Stylet oil, it's hard to believe this is still a nutrient deficiency. Will do another round of Epsom salt to the soil, continue with iron & zinc foliar and see if it gets better - or at least compare to last year to see if we're better or worse.

Late May on the Hill

2011-05-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

Still growing!

12" shoots

2011-04-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

The shoots are now 12" long (for some reason, the upper rows grew faster than the lower rows are), so this week the grapes got their first PM preventative Stylet Oil spray, along with foliar zinc & iron. Bring on the growth!

Better-late-than-never dormant spray?

2011-04-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

We finished pruning (just in time ... usually like to finish by mid-March), and now the grapes are ready to grow for the season.

However, due to the late pruning I didn't quite get around to a Lime Sulfur dormant spray, and wondered if now (roughtly 50% bud swell) is too late. So, I asked the folks on winepress.us and got these responses.

I decided to spray 2.5 oz per gallon (the light end of dormant season strength) on odd rows; lighter concentration on even rows. Avoided spraying dormant buds.

Oatmeal Stout

2011-01-25T11:07:00.000-08:00

I hate having perfectly good winemaking gear to go waste, so this time of year I like to do some other type of fermenting: beer!

I've made 3 beers over the past 2 years - all from kits put together by our local wine/beer supply store, and all turned out surprisingly good. I'm a fan of Oatmeal Stouts, however, so had to concoct my own recipe. The pressure!

With a little help from the folks at the beer supply store, I took a hybrid approach and modified one of their kit recipes. Here goes:

Steep for 30 minutes @ 160F:

1lb. Crystal Malt

1 lb. Pale Chocolate Malt

1 lb. Flaked Oats

1/4 lb. Roasted Barley

Strain and transfer to kettle, stir in

3 lbs Munich Malt Extract Syrup

At boil set time for 30 minutes and add:

2 oz Perle Hops (awesome floral smell)

Add 1/2 oz Cascade Hops (some floral, more earthy/mossy to my nose) and set timer for 20 more minutes

Add 1/2 oz Cascade Hops and a Whirfloc tablet and set timer for 10 more minutes

Turn off burner and stir in

6 lbs. Pale Malt Extract

1/4 lb. Lactose

Cooled, added enough water to get just over 5 gallons. SG = 1.067.

Pitched ale yeast (62-72 degree range), and will let ferment away until SG down to 1.02-ish.

UPDATE: turned out good not great; next time I'll eliminate the lactose and reduce the smoky grains. This article from Beersmith provided some good specific insights.

Also happened upon this well organized pro-con list on various homebrew topics.

Farmer Lisa's back

2011-01-23T16:27:00.000-08:00

Here we are, mid-January, vines dormant, and we're enjoying weather in the high 60s. With no end in sight (well, next 10 days.)

So I've gotten a good jump on soil amendments & mulching. I'm continuing the plan of 1/2 c E.B.Stone organic fruit & citrus food per vine. Not a good time to add fertilizer, but this blend seems to be more of a soil additive and very slow / long-term acting, so seems OK to add now.

In addition, I'm topping that off with:
- 1/3 c iron sulfate, to address mineral deficiency in soil
- as much steer manure as I can carry - about 2 cubic feet per row
- an extra layer of live oak mulch

I've completed rows 7 & 8, row 6 has everything but iron. Will continue down the vineyard throughout the week, hope to be mostly done by our next rains.

Releases in 2011

2010-11-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

Designed labels in PowerPoint, had them laser-printed on standard white paper at OfficeMax, then cut & adhered to bottles with milk. Let them dry, wiped clean with windex, then applied a heat-shrink cap. The official titles, from left to right:

Overlook Vineyards 2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Santa Cruz Mountians

93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot

El Gato Dorado 2009 Fair Play Zinfandel

97% Zinfandel, 3% Petite Sirah

Little Red Wagon Red Table Wine

70% 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (Santa Cruz Mountains)

30% 2009 Zinfandel (Fair Play)

Fall Glam Shot

2010-11-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

The leaves seem to be holding on longer than usual - and I'm not complaining, loving the fall foliage look here in Northern California.

Fall Nutrients

2010-11-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

As the vines slip into dormancy, we're doing some soil amending to ensure a healthy recovery and start to the 2011-2012 season. This year, I'm digging in some organic plant food; I opted for a locally available product; so carefully evaluated for the one with the least nitrogen and most minearls we're deficient in - E.B. Stone Organics Tomato and Vegetable Food won.

Dug up the topsoill above the root zone of each vine, and added about 1/2 cup of this supplement per vine. Also sprinkled 1/3 c Epsom Salts per vine (for additional Mangesium), and a couple handfuls of compost (for general soil health).

Next step is to wait for rain, then cover with mulch.

Stirring up lees

2010-10-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

We've kept the must at roughly 65-70 degrees for the past week, and also stirred up the lees every other day or so. Reason being all the gunk at the bottom of these carboys needs to be re-distributed through the wine to ensure MLF and alcoholic fermentation completes - plus, the wine just ends up tastier.

We have a single 75-watt lightbulb near the carboys to keep them relatively warm; and we've had some warmer weather that's helped also.

An early press

2010-10-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

After only a week, it was clear that fermentation on our Cab had slowed down. Usually, we keep our must in our primary fermenter all the way through secondary fermentation, even after the cap falls (thanks to our early investment in a CO2 tank). However, given that there was a good amount of green still in the seeds, and we don't really care for vegetal-tasting wines, we decided to press on the early side, and go through a more traditional pattern of primary fermentation in an open fermenter; secondary in airtight carboys.

So, we rented a press and pressed both batches in one day.

Notes on pressing:

Zinfandel must is messy - we really need to learn to press in small batches; as it's a gloppy mess that will spray at all angles outside the side of the press. But after pressing our 15 gallons of must, we got about 8 gallons of very young wine.

Cabernet must was much more straightforward to press. We got a total of 18 gallons of wine out of the 30 gallons of must.

From here, we want to keep the temperature relatively warm to ensure malolactic fermentaion (MLF) completes. This apparently takes from 4-6 weeks, and temps around 70 degrees is good for this. The juice/wine still has a lot of setiment in it; and we need to stir up each carboy every other day or so, to ensure the yeast and MLF bacteria is able to continue to do it's job (convert sugar to alcohol and convert malic acid to lactic acid, respectively).

BBQ & Bottling

2010-10-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

Once we press out all the wine currently fermenting, we're going to need carboys - MANY.

So, we figure we may as well pack all winemaking tasks into a few week window and bottle now. After bottling by ourselves the past two rounds, we think we have the process down enough to invite others - so invite others we did!

We started with BBQ lunch, followed by tasting the still young wines about to be bottled. We then had a mini-blending party, deciding if the wines would benefit from blending with other wines and/or each other. Final formulas will follow, when I get around to labeling.

We then set up our bottling shop in the garage (vs cellar) - which was MUCH better in that we were less cramped and it's a lot lighter and easier to see. Being near running water, sterilizing solution, and supplies was another bonus.

The process went so well I think we'll aim for this timing in future years too - with the garage already cleaned out, most equipment freshly cleaned and sterilized, and carboys fresh and ready to use after pressing make the tasks easier and decreased the net time required to scrub stuff.

Zin Cap's Fallen

2010-10-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

The cap (of skins, seeds, etc) fell this morning - meaning fermentation is either done or very close to being done. We immediately put an airtight lid on it, then sprayed in a bit of CO2 to protect the must. Now it's officially in extended maceration; will probably keep it that way until we press the Cab (this is in the name of efficiency: renting the press once is simply easier than renting it twice.)

While at it, we checked the Cabernet - it's still actively fermenting away, and is now down to 1/2 sugar depletion. That's a bit later than ideal to add Fermaid K, but we did at a slightly smaller amount: Should be 1 tsp / 7 gallons at 1/3 sugar depletion, BUT I added about 1 tsp / 10 gallons at 1/2 sugar depletion.

Time for Yeast

2010-10-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

24 hrs later, we pitched good ol' D254 by sprinkling the dry yeast on top of 72 degree must. I was worried it wasn't going to take off very well, but seemed to take off quite nicely. A mini-heatwave here in the Bay Area may have helped.

8 hrs later, we added our Malolactic Starter (Viniflora Oenos), this time we sprinkled on top and gently stirred it into the top inch or so of must.

By the next day (10/12), a nice cap of skins & seeds had formed, and it was clear that it was on its way to becoming wine.

Chapitalization = adding sugar

2010-10-10T22:46:00.000-07:00

Never thought we'd need to add sugar to our must, so we needed to get up-to-speed on the art of chapitalization. Not too surprisingly, we turned to the Web only to get a variety of advice and a mix of good and bad equations on how to figure out how much sugar to add.

My husband is a genius, however, and shared with me that the calculation is "super simple":
1. weigh the fermenter
2. subtract 5 lbs cuz that's what the bucket weighs
3. assume 80% of the weight is juice (this is the dodgy part, i'm just guessing)
4. to get sugar, multiple brix times weight: (0.20 * 84 lbs) = 16.8 lbs in the must
5. to get target sugar: (0.23 * 84 lbs) = 19.3 lbs
6 2.5 lbs = 19.3 - 16.8

Even simpler is to just multiply the difference: (sugar to add) = (target brix - current brix) * lbs of juice.

OK Cab Sauvingnon, your turn

2010-10-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

Still a bit sad about this year's grape quality, but when life gives you under-ripe grapes, chapitalize!

Here's what we did with the Cabernet Sauvignon must:

1. Separated into A and B (A is 15 gallons from the lower rows and higher quality; B is 10 gallons from the top rows, even less sweet / more acidic)

2. Added 50 ppm potassium metabisulfite

3a. To "A" - remember the 1.5 gallons of extra sweet juice we took off the Zin? That's right, we added that juice to A, hoping to bring the sugars up and acidity down. Re-measured and got 21.75 Brix; a bit lower than we like, so we decided to add 2 lbs of sugar to bring the must up to 23.75 Brix. Note that when we added the sugar, we actually stirred REALLY well, then let sit for a few hours, then stirred REALLY well again before testing. Sugar needs to fully dissolve, and we've read tales of winemakers that over-chapitalized his wine by not letting the sugar dissolve enough.
3b. To "B", we went straight to the sugar: added 3 lbs of sugar to bring the Brix up to 23 Brix.

4. Divided a 1-oz package of pectic enzyme up proprotionally between the two bins.

5. Added 2 tsp Fermaid K

6. Let sit until tomorrow.

10/10/10 = 2010 Harvest Day

2010-10-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

Exhausted from fending off critters that want to eat our crop, combined with a chance of rain later this week and less-than-optimal sun exposure this time of year, we decided to harvest today. A bit early, which is bad, but it IS 10-10-10, which I can't help but be happy about.

We're in our groove - sent that last-minute invite to friends that are known to enjoy picking grapes. Got started around 7:30am by removing the bird nets from the lowest row, picking them, repeating our way up the hill.

We walked away with about the same yield as last year - 30 gallons of must. But, our numbers were way worse. Our goal is to get to a sugar content of 23-25 Brix, and acid level of 6-7.5 TA.

Instead, the two batches were:
Batch "A" (bottom rows mixed with unfermented Zinfandel juice):
21.75 Brix
9ish TA
Batch "B" (top rows, just grapes):
19.75 Brix
9ish TA

A bit surprised that the acids are so similar on both batches. We'll be deciding what to do with the grapes over the next 24 hours - stay tuned!

Let's get the Zin started

2010-10-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

We were not expecting the Zin must to be so high in sugar / low in acid - so here's what we did:
1. Combined the must into one Brute; there's about 17 gallons total
2. Removed 1.5 gallons or so of the free run juice
3. Added 2 quarts of water, to bring the sugar down to 26 brix. TA (0.64) & pH (3.9) stayed the same.
4. Added 10 tsp pectic enzyme (a bit more than the 1/2 tsp / gallon guideline)
5. Pitched 10g of D254 (1/3 of the packet) by sprinkling dry on top of 78 degree must
6. Waited 6 hrs
7. Added 2 tsp Fermaid K
8. Added Malolactic Starter (Viniflora Oenos)
Within a day, it was bubbling away; cap being pushed down at least 4x/day - we hear that's best, especially during primary fermentation (first 4-5 days).

Zin's in!

2010-10-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Picked up our Zinfandel must, this time from Murrill Vineyard, in the Sierra Foothills. After being worried that it's been too cool a year to properly ripen, the numbers actually look great! As reported by our broker:
Brix: 27.6 (wow!)
TA: 0.65
pH: 3.7
Immediately after crush, added just under 50ppm potassium metabisulfate to kill any native yeasts (used 1/4t per 5 gallons of must). Processing to start tomorrow.

Mini-heat snap

2010-09-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Finally, a mini heatwave that we hoped would bring the grapes closer to being ripe. They're closer, but not ready to be picked anytime soon: ranged from 19 - 22 brix. We did give the grapes a bit of water before the hottest days, 6 hrs drip on 9/27/2010.

Vague guidance

2010-09-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

Remember the vines looking like they had burnt leaves, and the one on row 7 that's really nasty looking? Well I took samples into the Master Gardners, who sent it off to UC Davis for testing.

The feedback from the lab:

"Powdery mildew Not detected. Some secondary fungal sporulation seen, but no plant pathogens detected. Some insect webbing present but no insects to send to Entomology for I.D."

-----------------

The Master Gardener's comments on the above::

Often we find that the lab tends to focus their testing on potential vectors for new invasive pathogens introduced into the state. I suppose the good news is that whatever they found on the leaves, it was not a point of concern from their perspective.

I'm pretty sure they tested for Pierce's disease since it's a real hot-button in our area, also to the extent they could probably want to see if there's evidence of European Grape Moth. Sadly, I don't think we can't rule out esca, but for now I'm going to continue to correct for known deficiencies (Magnesium, Boron) and continue to be on the lookout for more tell-tale signs of other diseases.

On and look into gopher / vole control too. They got to our tomatoes, lettuce, and even zucchini!

17.5 Brix

2010-09-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

We're still only at 17.5 brix, mostly green seeds. Aarg!

Good news is that the grapes are tasting really good - great for juice, but terrible for wine. The birds are getting in here and there; not nearly as bad as years past but enough that we need to keep an eye on the clothespins--more specifically, keeping them secured at the base.

One project to keep us busy while ripening is laying mulch under the rows. We were planning on doing this after harvest, but we really want to remove the piles of mulch from our driveway sooner rather than later.

It's a combination of live oak & eucalyptus chipped materials, which should help to keep moisture in the soil.

Mild temperatures

2010-09-10T22:44:00.001-07:00

Temperatures are STILL expected to be in the 70s - 80s, so even though in previous years we've abandoned our PM spray program at veraison, this year we'll continue until disease pressure decreases. So, we sprayed a 10% milk solution; plus gave the vines 6 hrs drip.

Brix at 13.5

2010-09-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

This morning we gave the vines a bit of water (4 hrs drip).

Before watering, while securing the nets I sampled some berries from rows 2 and 8, to measure where we are at sugar-wise.

Not too surprising, we're just about where we should be given late veraison: 13 brix at row 2, 14 brix at row 8. Plus or minus of course; as we sampled off of only 4 berries per row.

Cast the nets

2010-08-22T22:53:00.000-07:00

Here we are, netting the vines.

The process involves lots of people - 3 that cast a 17' wide net over the rows, then unrolling down each row.

Then a follow-up crew secures the nets at the base with clothepins (although we may upgrade to fishing line soon, since it would do a better job at staying sealed against aggressive birds.)

This year, many volunteers got bit by some type of small biting bug. Yuck! I didn't know we had anything but mosquitos around here; and they usually die out by June-ish.

More research necessary!

Soon, you'll be netted

2010-08-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

This is always a bit sad, the grapevines are growing, all green and otherwise satisfied, but they're about to get covered with mesh netting. I don't think they mind it (definitely don't mind birds NOT getting to the grapes), but it's sad for me.

80% veraison

2010-08-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

Purple grapes - now THAT'S what this time of year is supposed to be looking like!

We're about 80% now, most berries are now purple instead of green. And based on previous years, it's perfect time to be putting up the nets.

Timing IS everything.

Pre-netting prep

2010-08-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Interested in erradicating any traces of PM before a preventative spray tomorrow, I gave rows 2 & 3 a 10% milk + 2T/gallon Epsom salt solution (Epsom salt is to continue correcting for Magnesium deficiency.) Plus, there was just enough to also spray the 3 vines closest to side path on rows 4 & 5 with this mix. More as the weekend progresses!

Crystals

2010-08-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

I noticed these small white crystal-like deposits on the top of some leaves in the vineyard. They don't look like anything I've seen before; and because I've only recently tried spraying milk I wonder if it's residue from that? More investigation needed, stay tuned!

Spray

2010-08-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

Done spraying; was able to spread it out over several days thanks to foggy mornings. The math ended up being 6.5 cups nonfat milk in the 4 gallon sprayer for a 10% solution.

Time for milk

2010-08-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

Right around veraison is when many stop their powdery mildew (PM) spray schedule, mostly due to the fact that the grapes are relatively resistant to PM after veraison (leaf tissue and grapes are most susceptible during leaf growth / berry development per this article by Dr. Wilcox.)

However, disease pressure here is so high (given the fact that temps have been within the ideal PM range, 65-85 F), that I'm going to give the vines at least one more spray of the lightest weight stuff I know that works as an erradicant: whey. Many backyard vineyards use a 10% solution of nonfat milk exclusively - a practice backed up by Peter Crisp, out of the University of Adelaide down in Australia.

Given that I just ran out of Stylet Oil and would rather not store a nearly-full container all summer, decided to give milk a try.

15% Veraison

2010-08-12T13:48:00.001-07:00

At last, it looks like the grapes are starting to turn purple! Looks like we're 2 or so weeks behind last year, makes sense in that we're having an unseasonably cool summer.

Brown tomato bug?

2010-08-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Was out pinching & training the vines, and noticed this huge bug. Looked like a really big hornworm, but brown instead of green. Well, after close inspection, I'm pretty sure he was just a hornworm, a.k.a. tomato bug. Removed him just in case - let him live in nearby ivy instead.

After pinching & training, gave all but rows 5-6 a good 6 hrs of drip.

A good use for table grapes

2010-07-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

Frog! Made of green apple, green grapes, fruit roll-up, marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Stealing the cheese of strawberry, almond, licorice, and mini-chocolate chip mouse.

Maintenance & Water Thoughts

2010-07-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

This year's been exceptionally cool; temps usually only in the mid-70s to low 80s. As such, the PM pressure is relatively high, especially on the exposed / warmer /sunnier parts of the vine (versus in the canopy, which is usually where disease pressure is higher). So, gave the vines a good healthy spray of Stylet Oil this week. No signs of verasion - yet.

Also, given the berries are forming & growing, am erring on giving the vines too much, vs too little water, so this week they got 6 hrs drip. These professionals, however are saying post-veraison may be a more important time to keep irrigation up. Hmm.

Water + Potassium Bicarbonate for a change

2010-07-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

The hill has definitely dried out, and given the fact that the vines are moving into berry-growth mode decided it's time for a good soak - so gave all rows 6 hrs of drip over the weekend.

Now, in my every-other-week spray program routine, I started from bottom of the vineyard to top, this time spraying with a 1.5% solution of Kaligreen (baking soda like substance). I figure that *if* we're fighting potassium deficiency may as well use this foliar PM erradicant. I don't know that potassium as a nutrient is picked up through the leaves, but at least there'll be a bit added to the soil as the residual drips onto the soil.

In any case I started from the bottom and finished bottom of row 4. Will keep going up the hill as the week progresses.

Gold!

2010-07-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I entered one of our wines in the Orange County Fair. We don't live anywhere near Orange County, but the Orange County Wine Society hosts a statewide amateur winemaking contest in conjunction with their county fair. We heard that as a result you get 4 judges to taste and evaluate your wine, so we went for it and entered one of our 2007 Cabernet Sauvignons (Leach Vineyards).

To our surprise, we got a gold ribbon in the mail the other day. Yeay! Given that this is from grapes we didn't grow, kudos really go to Don, the grower we bought these grapes from who lives just a few miles down the road.

Some specifics from the judges:

- We got positive reviews on the basics: clarity/appearance, color, acidity, balance

- One judge sensed that we got a little green/vegetal smell and taste, but indicated it's 'not too bad'

- Another judge thought that the body was slightly thin, and that the finish tapers a bit too quickly

- The most laugh-inducing comment: "Skillfully made"

Specific words the judges used to describe the wine:
Plum, black cherry, nice spicy characteristic, balanced fruit & oak

Yuck!

2010-07-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've noticed that portions of the vineyard sometimes develop odd-looking leaves, and often I chalk it up to lack of water, or nutrients.

BUT, there's one part of the vineyard (mid-downhill side of row 7) that for TWO years in a row now have looked like they got severely burned leaves early in the season. Weird part is that later in the season, the new growth looks nice & green & healthy. But year-over-year trends make me nervous.

There are 3 things I've noticed:
(a) the burning leaf look
(b) black tar-like gunk on the shoots (markedly different than PM indicators)
(c) hard to see here, but some leaves off of this shoot are very small & crinkley - maybe 10% of 'em.

Given these symptoms, my worst fear is that this is Eutypa Dieback, but symptoms look different, and in pruning I didn't notice any of the traditional wedge-shaped discoloration in wood.

A trusty guide of messed-up leaves points to possibly Potassium deficiency, here's an image from Virginia that looks kinda similar and indicates the burning appears on mid-shoot leaves. Overall vineyard checked out as having enough potassium, but could be this chunk is low? Hmm.

Pierce's Disease would be bad. Leaves aren't dropping at the petiole, however - in fact the attachment is pretty strong.

A new one I've not heard of - Esca, or grape measels?!? So far this is the winner in terms of fit. In terms of treatment yuck.

Stylet Oil, water to top & bottom rows

2010-07-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Back in the vines this week, spending lots of training the vines such that they're in their trellis system (versus trailing down to the ground). Also removing parts: individual leaves that are in the way of grape clusters, laterals, and even entire shoots that aren't doing anything productive for the vine's health.

Good news is that the grapes are starting to look like grapes!

I'm at the long end of spray interval (just over 2 weeks, yikes), so I sprayed all rows with my standard 1.5% stylet oil solution, and gave the top and bottom rows overnight drip.

Spray

2010-06-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to spraying stylet oil: did rows 2,3,4,7,8,9, plus the bottom side of row 5. The rest of row 5 & all of 6 were just too overgrown and really needed some training & lateral removal, so I'll do that off & on today and plan on spraying them tomorrow.

Petiole Analysis, 2008 vs 2010

2010-06-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

Exactly 2 years ago I took some petioles in (at bloom) to be analyzed by the local plant lab for mineral content. And right now we're at about 80% bloom. So early this week I sampled from the random patches in the vineyard I did not do a foliar Zinc / Iron addition to find out how our soil amendment plan is doing. Looks great!

Still need to do those fall Boron supplements (probably more aggressively), and Magnesium came up a bit low, otherwise looking quite good! Note that the units on this chart are in a random assortment of units, a true numbers jock worth her salt would have plotted as % of ideal to normalize the variety of units, ranging from ppm to % of weight. Maybe when she's done with client work she'll make the updates.

Why did I GIVE you water?!?

2010-06-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

Countless times I've gotten the advice to provide just enough nutrients and water such that the shoots get to the top of your highest wire.

Well, once again, I've got ones that want to grow much more than that. So, again afternoons have been spent pinching, trimming, and training all that growth and removing all the laterals. Soon I'll give another good spray, as it's been almost 2 weeks and perfect PM growing temps.

I did give more water to the struggling rows - 1-2 & 7-9; although I believe their problem is more about lack of *sun* than lack of *water*.

More Stylet Oil + Foliar Iron & Zinc

2010-05-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

No, really, that's it - did a quick spray before friends arrived for a weeklong visit. Decided to give them 4 hrs of drip just to ensure continued growth.

Lateral Removal

2010-05-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Returned from a weeklong trip to the Pacific Northwest to a quasi-jungle!

The vines are vigorously growing, so to manage that, and enable the next spray to get into the canopy, we spent hours pinching off laterals. Then I reached out to friends that might be able to help, offering them dinner in exchange for an hour pinching off laterals. Bryce & Lei were able to pitch in at the last minute and we got most rows under control.

Then we dined on meat, home-grown bok choy, and ISO 9000 rice. Yum!

Wines of the Columbia Gorge AVA

2010-05-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight we're at the WineMaker conference in Stevenson, Washington (on the Columbia River Gorge). We had a chance to taste a variety of wines from home winemakers and local vintners. Winners (to me):
1st place: Cathedral Ridge Winery. I especially liked the Zinfandel, Bruce was a fan of the Cab Sauvignon. Best name goes to Bordheauxd Red (they are based on Hood River, OR after all)
2nd place: Strawberry wine, from Jason at Ancient Fire Wines in New Hampshire
3rd place: Rhubarb Wine, from a home winemaker in the Pacific Northwest. I need to find the winemaker to thank him, then plant some rhubarb and try a batch. Second time I've been impressed by rhubarb in a wine.

We learned lots today, which I'll hopefully summarize within the next few days.

2nd spray, 1st water of the year

2010-05-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

The vines are looking good and healthy after their slow start this year. Whew! Just gave them their 2nd spray of the year: 1.5% stylet oil solution, plus 1 oz/gallon of iron & zinc supplement. I managed to remember to omit the iron/zinc supplement from the segments I'll take petioles from, such that I get an accurate measurement when they get picked at fruit set. Also gave the vines a token amount of water - just in case as we head out of town for about a week.

Spent Grain Recipes

2010-05-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

Truth be told, I make both wine and beer. It's the same equipment, and seems a shame for this equipment to go to waste.

Another thing I don't like wasting is the grain after making a batch of beer: usually there's at least 2 quarts of spent grain, that's high in protein, fiber, and b-vitamins. I usually find recipes, but never archive what I've found.

Here are a few:
An assortment: granola, chocolate chip cookies, yeast bread, et al.
Banana Peanut Butter Spent Grain Muffins, from another Lisa that didn't want another yeast bread recipe
Not a recipe, but a description from probably THE best veggie burger I've had at the Deschutes Brewpub in Bend, Oregon. Excerpt: Made with Black Beans, Vegetables, Spent Grain from our Brewery and Fresh Spices with Avocado-Tomatillo Salsa.

2010-05-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

The vines, post-first spray. Keep growing guys!

Shoots Emerging

2010-05-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

Despite a late start, the vines have decided to catch up and are growing quickly! Am now going through row-by-row to remove excess shoots, remove some of the kicker canes I'd kept on, and doing general clean-up of cover crop. Tomorrow I'll spray the shoots that are long enough (over 8" or so) with a mix of Stylet Oil and Iron/Zinc supplement. On a few randomly selected vines I'll exclude iron/zinc, since I'd like to do a petiole analysis this year (and the spray will interfere with iron and zinc measurements.)

Measuring the vineyard

2010-05-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

How do you measure a vineyard? We're looking to get in on a group buy of Bare Hand bird netting, and needed a linear measurement of the vines.
It was surprisingly challenging at first; we chose to measure a certain number of strings, but the string kept getting tangled up. We got a total number but decided to double-checked our work with two tape measures and a notepad. Here are the numbers:
row 9 = 98 feet; 19 vines
row 8 = 97 feet; 19 vines
row 7 = 92 feet; 18 vines
row 6 = 86 feet; 17 vines
row 5 = 82 feet; 16 vines
row 4 = 76 feet; 15 vines
row 3 = 66 feet; 13 vines
row 2 = 52 feet; 10 vines
row 1 = 42 feet; 8 vines (well, 7 vines and 1 citrus)

Two things we learned: our vines were planted with 5' vine spacing (5 feet between each vines, that is), and we actually have 135 vines including the scraggly non-producing ones.

Ironing the Vines

2010-04-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

With all the rains, our cover crop of vetch has done quite well, to the extent that it's growing OVER some of the new growth. So this weekend I'm aiming to finish pulling cover crop from under the vines. While doing that, it makes sense to prep the soil (Iron and micro-nutrients) and also inspect and test irrigation.

Here's what one vine looks like after a winter of lots of water.

From there, I hand-pull only the area under each row. Then I'm left with a steep hillside.

I then level out the hillside directly under the drip line for each vine, add iron (this year am using Ironite, which includes many of the micronutrients the vines need), mix in some compost, and give them a good soaking.

80% budbreak

2010-04-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

Got a good dose of sunshine the past day or two, and sure enough those shoots are starting to emerge (into abundant leaves on the base rows). About 80% of the vines have emerged to show us they are still alive.

A wave of new growth

2010-04-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

Now we're seeing some buds, this as high as row 6. With the days getting longer, and LOTS of water from our above-normal rainfall, I'm pretty sure we'll see some very fast growth soon.

A shoot!

2010-04-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

I stand corrected: I found this lone shoot on row 2.

Still (mostly) dormant

2010-04-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our tour of the southwest, enjoying springtime in Southern California and Arizona.

Here in Northern California, however, the vines still look dormant. Only signs of bud swell on the lower rows. Odd, but not completely unusual given the amount of rain / lack of sunshine and relatively cold temperatures.

Cover crop is doing well - the vetch is now growing all the way down to the base of the vineyard, which should provide a great long-term boost to the soil.

Pruning started

2010-03-01T16:27:00.000-08:00

With what looks like a long string of storms heading our way, decided to get pruning started now. Would have been more ideal to prune after the most recent rain (before our 3-4 day sunny spell), ah hindsight is 20-20.

Finished rows 5-9, so I'm at least 2/3 done.

Whew!

Second Racking

2010-02-17T12:45:00.001-08:00

There's nothing going on in the vineyard, aside from cover crop getting going (currently clover is flowering, vetch is just starting to grow). We're going to wait until March to do any pruning, wouldn't want to encourage growth too early.

We did however decide to rack: we started with one of our 08s that had a little too much cloudiness on top. Then after a quick Web search we realized that now would also be a good time to rack the 09s. So out with the syphon and clean carboy to start transferring carboy to carboy. Also added Medium-Toast American Oak beans - roughly 0.75 oz per gallon (we think this worked out to about 10 beans per gallon).

First Racking

2009-12-15T16:31:00.001-08:00

We took a look at the calendar today and realized it's been over a month - almost two - since we pressed! So, we racked each of the 2009s, getting most of the lees off of the wine. While racking, added 25 ppm potassium metabisulfate.

Volume of wine whittled down to 16 gallons Cab, 6.5 gallons Zin, and 2 gallons pink. The pink is really more of an experiment, a very light wine from slightly watered down juice taken off the skins early. Smells a bit like acetone - yuck! But not bad enough to pour out yet. Good news is the Cab & Zin both seem to be doing OK - Zin has fruit and spice, smell isn't great yet and it feels like it could use some oak. Cab just tastes young & raw, hard for us to know how it'll do. Still no vinegar :-)!

First storm of the year

2009-10-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, our first storm of the year last week was a big one - we don't have a rain gage but neighbors report anywhere from 3-6 inches in one day. About 5-6 days before the storm, I decided to do a foliar application of iron, zinc, and boron. Iron & zinc are better applied in the spring, but I've read uptake this time of year is OK, so went for it. There are studies of whether boron applied through the leaves is effective; the results are inconclusive BUT once the leaves (with boron having been applied) fall, they do the trick.

This a shot from shortly after the storm.

Time to Press

2009-10-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

This year's cabernet grapes have been fermenting away for a few weeks now; the past couple of days the cap's been very weak, and we're going to try pressing a bit earlier this year. So, today we pressed all of our wines - the Zin which has been on C02 for just over a week now, and the Cab which we've been punching down 3-4x/day since pitching the yeast.

Yield was MUCH greater - we think juicier grapes, adding pectic enzyme, or getting skilled with the fruit press is getting us more, well, juice. Our 30 gallons of Cabernet must yielded 18.5 gallons once pressed out; and our 18 gallons of Zinfandel yielded about 12 gallons.

Now we let them sit in the cellar for about a month, then we rack off the 'gunk' (which is already settling out).

Carboys to Bottles

2009-10-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

This evening we managed to bottle up almost 9 cases of wine! Rough breakdown:

- 2 cases Leach 07. I was afraid it would taste flabby, but we think it's pretty good. Fruity, strong but smooth. Yeay!

- 2 cases Estate 07, which we think will need to age a LONG time to age (still tasting very sharp & acidic).

- 2 cases Estate / Leach 07 blend. More like a big Cab; likely due to the presence of the very acidic / strong 2007 estate. I think it'll be OK with big red meat or marinara sauce.

- 2 cases 08 Zinfandel. Fruity, light but heavy alcohol (especially noticeable when eaten after a mouthful of cheese). I imagine this one may mellow out over time.

- 1 case of an 08 blend; mostly Zin with some estate Cabernet. It's very reminiscent of the Zinfandel above (fruity, but with a Cab kick). Needs time to age.

As last year, we've been saving wine bottles all summer, soak in ammonia to remove the labels, then clean and store until bottling day. Within an hour of bottling, I re-rinse and sterilize, either with boiling water or a solution of water & potassium metabisulfate.

We also added 25 ppm potassium metabisulfate before bottling - a token amount to ensure nothing goes awry while aging.

Cab: Fermaid K Yeast Nutrient

2009-10-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

I remember reading that more yeast nutrient should be added midway through fermentation - after re-looking it up, you add another dose after 1/3 sugar depletion. We're using FermaidK, which to my surprise includes DAP. Added today (although sugar 1/2 depleted, so added a bit less than recommended dose). Fermentation is looking and smelling great so far!

Zin cap fallen

2009-10-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Zin cap is fallen - so off to the cooler part of the garage. We're keeping it in the primary fermenter with a shot of C02 on the surface to reduce exposure to oxygen. That way we can press the same time as the Cabernet (ETA next weekend 10/18).

Yeast-pitching, ML innoculation, and other fun

2009-10-04T21:10:00.001-07:00

After adding 25 ppm potassium metabisulfate & pectic enzyme, then letting the must sit for about 30 hours, we added yeast and ML culture as follows:

Yeast: Lalvin BM 4x4 (more reliable cousin to Lalvin BM45)

added Fermaid K - 2t per 15 gallons must

added DAP - too little, about 1t per 15 gallons must; will add more generously on second addition midway through ferment.

Also innoculated with Malolactic culture. No leucofood needed when c0-innoculating BTW.

In addition, we gave the fermenting Zinfandel a nudge by adding a bit of yeast, and additional Fermaid K. As a just-in-case measure (no notable problems with fermentation thus far).

In all cases, we decided to try simply sprinkling the yeast on top of the must, then mixed about 80% of it into the top inch or two of must. We've heard this works just fine, and it worked with our first batch, so we're trying it again.

Fingers crossed!

Harvest 2009

2009-10-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

Just wrapped up Harvest 2009! 16 volunteers and 3 hours later, we got the nets removed, grapes picked, hand de-stemmed (thanks to Gary Marcos to the closeup on this operation), and crushed - by feet!

We almost doubled our yield this year - right around 30 gallons of must. Still far short of what we should be getting out of 100 vines, but given the oaks, birds, hillside, and us still learning we think we're doing all right.

Stats:

Brix 25Ph 3.6
Ta 6.375

After crushing, we added 25 ppm potassium metabisulfate (4/10 teaspoon per 15-gallon

fermenter) and roughly 1 teaspoon of pectic enzyme for every 3 gallons (5 teaspoons per 15-

gallon fermenter).

TA is surprisingly low (after years of being surprisingly

high), but well within the realm of acceptable acid levels for a red wine.

El Dorado County Zin In

2009-09-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

Our friends up in Fair Play once again offered up some of their Zinfandel for our home wine making efforts - yeay! We worked around an already packed weekend by having Mom deliver the must down in 5-gallon paint buckets (already treated with potassium metabisulfate), which we then transferred into our primary fermenter. Awesome!

Must was watered down to:

18 gallons must

Brix 23.4
Ph 3.5
Ta 9.3

To that we we added DAP & Leucofood (per last year's measurements), and this year threw Pectic Enzyme (5 teaspoons) into the mix for extra fruit / color extraction.

To our surprise, we returned 12 hours later to add yeast and found out the native yeast had already started fermenting the wine. Hmm, after some research and advice from our mentor that yeast doesn't make all that much of a difference, we decided to let it do its thing; will monitor fermentation closely to avoid a stuck fermentation by ensuring good temperature and nutrients for the yeast.

Now we punch down, this year more aggressively and will err on more punchdowns in a day.

Estate Cab almost ready to harvest

2009-09-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

Got back from a busy weekend and did a spot-check of Brix only on the estate cab; measured 23-ish brix; so we're on target for harvest this weekend.

Only problem is the birds - STILL getting under the nets to munch on the grapes. So, a few times a week we stroll the vines and re-clothespin any holes that we see.

The birds think they're ready

2009-09-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Did our full sugar & acid measurement of the grapes this morning, and found that the birds are definitely getting in under the nets - many times tearing them open at the base to get in. Probably 10-15% eaten. Yikes! Sure enough, we're getting there but not quite ready to harvest:

* Brix 22.7
* pH 3.5

* TA 9.4

We gave them a good dose (7 hrs) of drip irrigation, knowing that this will probably be the last they get until harvest.

Sugar rising

2009-09-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Just back from a weekend away; the grapes are at 20-22 brix (depending on where in the vineyard) - average seems to be right around 20.5.

Water log

2009-09-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

We've been getting a few more benchmarks from friends & neighbors about how much water they're actually giving their vines this time of year, and it sounds like we're on the low side. So we're watering 4 hrs weekly until harvest. Including today.

Sugar & Water Update

2009-09-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

We used a refractometer to measure Brix this morning, so got to test row-by-row. Results ranged from 17.5 brix towards the top of the vineyard to 21 brix towards the bottom. Seems like the bulk of the grapes are at 19. Didn't bother with TA measurement this time, we'll do that again as we get closer to harvest.

Watered this morning - 4 hrs drip. Mostly because we've been reading more and more about watering grapes to keep them hanging and developing longer without raisining up. Sounds like the berries getting too much water and exploding is not so much of an issue where we live (California + hillside) -it's more a function of not wasting water.

Water log

2009-09-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

4 hrs drip across ALL rows now that 4-6 are turned on again ;).

Water 4 hrs drip

2009-08-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

Our first full measurement on the grapes!

They are:

* Brix: 19
* pH: 3.2
* TA: 9.5

Decided to give the vines 4 hrs drip on the top and bottom rows (1-3 and 7-9).