# 2022 Cab growth starting off great.



## Snafflebit (Apr 7, 2022)

I spent a little time in amongst the vines today, testing the sprayer and sorting out the leaks. Then did some light shoot thinning and rubbed off buds and suckers. I have better luck with shoot thinning in phases, making multiple passes over time. The high temperature reached 97F, so I decided to put off spraying. I felt overheated also.

There is a lot of growth for early April. This spot is great for late blooming Cabernet, but damn it was hot today.


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## Snafflebit (Apr 7, 2022)

And here is a bonus picture of my amaryllis


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## ChuckD (Apr 7, 2022)

Dang those are some serious vines! How old are they?


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## Snafflebit (Apr 7, 2022)

These vines are at least 15 years old. The vineyard owner does not know. This is my third yeard at this vineyard and I am pulling dead vines, lowering spurs and cleaning up eutypa and crown gall. In my experience Cab grows thick trunks. It grows thick vines, the vines on the end of the rows throw off bull canes every year. The merlot by contrast always look slender and stunted.


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## ChuckD (Apr 7, 2022)

I didn’t realize it varies so much by variety. I had a wild grape vine in a stone pile in my field that was almost 7” in diameter. If I recall I counted more than 60 rings.


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## VinesnBines (Apr 7, 2022)

Your vines look great!

97F in April? Geez. We’ll have frost and freezing temperatures for at least another month. I’m worried about buds breaking too soon.


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## Snafflebit (Apr 9, 2022)

The Merlot is a little more developed. It has 3-4 shoots per spur all with 2 clusters per shoot. Unusual. I am predicting a big crop this year in California


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## Snafflebit (May 14, 2022)

We are in mid-May and the grapevines are producing very healthy shoots. I was on vacation and the shoots almost grew past the point where I could adjust them to be inside the catch wires. One vineyard has adjustable catch wires but it only helps if you stay on top of the growth.


The Cab is trying to do the "California Sprawl".




The Cab canes are already thick as a finger in places and the crop will be heavy if the rains stay away in May. Here is one side of a quadrilateral cordon.




The Merlot vines look the fullest I have ever seen. I am concerned the merlot is overcropped, so I will keep watching and decide if I need to selectively drop canes. 



Merlot fruit load will be heavy this year also. I may need more carboys! Barrels are in my future when the new vines come online


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## Snafflebit (Jun 19, 2022)

I have started leaf pulling after three weeks away. The Rona got me and I was quarantined for 2 weeks 

The Merlot clusters are very full




The Cab is looking sad. Lots of shot berries and shatter this year.  poor fruit set.





Next, in the other vineyard, gophers have invaded the new plantings! Grrrr. This vine was girdled. I hope to nurse it to health



Of course the vineyard owners rescued a puppy which at 6 mo. is the size of a Great Dane and it has been hell on wheels. It destroyed the irrigation hoses for all the landscaping including the vineyard and a few vines.


So, this year has been endless excitement for me!


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## Obbnw (Jun 20, 2022)

Snafflebit said:


> I have started leaf pulling after three weeks away. The Rona got me and I was quarantined for 2 weeks


Thanks, keep the updates coming. I'm curious what you end up doing with the merlot.


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## ChuckD (Jun 20, 2022)

Obbnw said:


> I'm curious what you end up doing with the merlot.


I’m guessing he’ll make wine out of it. 

I’ll show myself out now


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## Snafflebit (Jun 20, 2022)

and jerky out of the dog!


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## Snafflebit (Jul 20, 2022)

I have a very nice crop of Merlot this year. Veraison is coming in hot!





But, the Cabernet Sauvignon is not hot, at all. The "King of Grapes" has disappointed me this year.






In addition to a bad fruit set, I think the Cab vines are declining. I am trying own-rooted Cab in this vineyard. Wish me luck.


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## SCAndy (Jul 20, 2022)

Be optimistic. 
Château Petrus ain't half bad.

Still looks like fun!


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## winemaker81 (Jul 20, 2022)

Snafflebit said:


> I have a very nice crop of Merlot this year. Veraison is coming in hot!


I'm with @SCAndy, Merlot is great! Maybe the CS will be good enough to use for blending in.


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## Snafflebit (Jul 20, 2022)

SCAndy said:


> Be optimistic.
> Château Petrus ain't half bad.
> 
> Still looks like fun!


The Merlot wine has been exceptional from this vineyard, even on bad years. Here's to pomerol!


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## ChuckD (Jul 20, 2022)

Snafflebit said:


> The Merlot wine has been exceptional from this vineyard, even on bad years. Here's to pomerol!


So do you get to take several cases home each year… for research purposes of course?


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## Snafflebit (Jul 20, 2022)

I split the wine with the owners to pay for the grapes and services. Everyone is happy with the deal.


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## Snafflebit (Aug 12, 2022)

Merlot is coming in fast. I wish I could slow it down. Grapes are at 19 Brix. I gave the vines some water. The leaves were turning from the sun. I predict this will be the last irrigation before harvest.

From comparing the taste of Cab to Merlot I can tell the Cab has more character. Sideways was right.


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## CDrew (Aug 12, 2022)

That merlot will be exceptional with the puppy jerky. If you need tasting help, let me know! Nice looking crop.


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## Snafflebit (Aug 19, 2022)

for the idly curious, here is the Brix progression


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## Snafflebit (Sep 1, 2022)

and here is the whole month of August showing Brix development. 

The Merlot is always early and I have to let it go riper in order to pick the Cab Sauv at the same time. I have to transport the grapes a ways off and rent a destemmer which forces me to wait.
When I buy my own destemmer in the future I can be more selective about my pick dates.

Row 1 of the Cab Sauv is also slow to develop each year. I think it gets more water than the other vines and it is younger. So, I will probably pick that later and hand destem.


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## GSMChris (Sep 1, 2022)

These graphs are great - thanks for sharing. 

With the upcoming heatwave, I would be very interested in what happens next. Also, if you are taking any measures to mitigate, I'd love to know what they are.


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## Snafflebit (Sep 1, 2022)

I had the same thought in mind. I watched a video conference by WineMaker magazine. I do not remember the guest speaker. He said that during a September heat wave do not be shy about drenching the vines with a single deep watering. I plan to do that over Labor Day weekend if we hit triple digits.

September 10 is the as of now planned pick date


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## GSMChris (Sep 1, 2022)

Best of luck!!


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## meridaen (Sep 2, 2022)

So you guys are having a bad summer in CA? We're about to have our third la niña summer in a row which means mild and wet, not really business as usual in southern Australia.

Watching this thread with interest because these cycles are usually flowed by 8-9 year droughts here, and I'm super interested in how you manage through this.


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## Snafflebit (Sep 7, 2022)

Because of the heatwave over the west coast we decided to harvest at 4:30am this morning sugars were spiking fast This year was not a big haul I have not weighed yet


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## ChuckD (Sep 7, 2022)

Do you crush and press in the living room as well? I don’t think my wife would allow that .


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## Snafflebit (Sep 7, 2022)

Just temporary storage. The garage becomes an oven in this heat. I could literally cook hot dogs in there.

I am a little concerned what will crawl out of these clusters.


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## VinesnBines (Sep 7, 2022)

I'm planning to start picking some tomorrow. We aren't supposed to get to 70 before noon. I'm concerned about too much rain.

I feel for you; we stay at the mercy of the weather.


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## ChuckD (Sep 7, 2022)

Snafflebit said:


> Just temporary storage. The garage becomes an oven in this heat. I could literally cook hot dogs in there.
> 
> I am a little concerned what will crawl out of these clusters.


I figured as much with the heat you are seeing.


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## GSMChris (Sep 7, 2022)

The Brix on the grapes down here in Paso is really rising as well. I am in a group that is buying two macro bins of Syrah from one of the local vineyards and doing a group wine effort. We were initially expecting to be making wine near the end of September or early October. 

The brix was 18.8 on Monday August 29th and 24.2 on Monday the 5th. So a 5.4 point rise in seven days. We will be making wine Friday - and I suspect we will be watering it down.


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## Snafflebit (Sep 8, 2022)

GSMChris said:


> The Brix on the grapes down here in Paso is really rising as well. I am in a group that is buying two macro bins of Syrah from one of the local vineyards and doing a group wine effort. We were initially expecting to be making wine near the end of September or early October.
> 
> The brix was 18.8 on Monday August 29th and 24.2 on Monday the 5th. So a 5.4 point rise in seven days. We will be making wine Friday - and I suspect we will be watering it down.


I will definitely water back to 25 Brix. These vines were almost dry farmed since I don't own the vineyards and cannot babysit the vines. Destemming is happening today.


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## Snafflebit (Sep 11, 2022)

Man oh man. The sugars in these grapes went ballistic. I am not sure I trust my field refractometer now. I expected something around 26 on the Merlot (I should have measured at harvest but I did not) but the results in the must are 29.5 Brix. I did not see any raisins but there was a little bit of shrivel. I guess the vines could have really sucked the grapes dry during this heatwave.

Must was cold soaked 3 days then measured again:

Merlot Brix 29.5. TA 3.7 g/L. pH 3.85. Not great, but I expected the acid to be even worse. TA moved from 3.1 to 3.7 after cold soak

Cab 1 Brix 28.5 TA 4.5 g/L pH 3.79
Cab 2 Brix 28.5. TA 4.4 g/L pH 3.73

Backwatering to 25 Brix and throwing in tartaric to 4.8g/L on all batches. Going to start buying tartaric acid like bags of sugar.


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## CDrew (Sep 11, 2022)

I might go even further, but you are on the right track, Not that it matters (taste does) but that's really low TA. Maybe take the pH to more like 3.5-3.6. But Brix of 28,5 is huge. Not many yeasts can deal with that.


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## Snafflebit (Sep 13, 2022)

I have backwatered to 25 Brix which is a little bit of a crap shoot with must, because who knows exactly how much juice is available in the must. I estimate 65% of must is juice. 


This is the 29.5 Brix Merlot Monster. 45L must + 9L water.  pic is backwatered must. 
The resulting liquid is 22 Brix but I believe it will climb. There are some raisins. 

And 100g of tartaric acid. pH went from 3.85 to 3.1 

I retested TA and it came to 4.875 g/L just like I wanted. 

I have to trust the math at this point. 

We have yeast liftoff!


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## CDrew (Sep 13, 2022)

This is great. I had the same situation last year, and overshot a bit for the same reason. Bet things turn out great. I went to 24.5 instead of the 25 I was going for. But that wine is tasting great at this point and no problems with fermentation. Acid balance is perfect. But 29.5 is at the outer limits! Nice work.


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## Snafflebit (Sep 13, 2022)

Last year I experienced the same overshoot with water and acid, but those wines taste fine also. So, I am not worried like I was last year. Acid hides a multitude of sins. My low acid wines taste bitter. I believe the acid masks the bitterness and enhances other flavors like sweetness and oak. Maybe I could add even more acid like 6g/L. Also I am trying to ferment reds faster to get the juice off the seeds. That is my guess about the source of bitterness.


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## Snafflebit (Sep 14, 2022)

I checked the Brix of all 4 ferments this morning and they range from 25.5 to 24.

Yay!

Gotta trust the math sometimes.


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## Snafflebit (Sep 15, 2022)

Ferments are bubbling, slowly. I am using BM45 yeast this year. Supposedly it adds lots of flavor character. We shall see. This yeast does not rip through a ferment like Merit or D80


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## Snafflebit (Sep 25, 2022)

Pressing is complete. Whew. 2022 is in the carboy. 90 Liter Spiedel press makes short work of grapes. I may never go back to smaller sized press. 

This year I was prepared and actually have enough carboys to separate free run from press fraction. Can't wait to taste the results!


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## Snafflebit (Sep 25, 2022)

I am happy so far with the BM45. Definitely a hungry yeast. I hit it with Fermaid-K and DAP 1/3 and 2/3 through ferment. Kept the H2S away and bubbling along.
The wines are significantly watered back this year, I mean it is 25 Brix but it tastes a little thinner than usual. We will see what a year of rest ends up doing to the wine.
I was not able to do co-ferment with MLF, so, I will be adding my freeze dried ML culture next month when the wine has settled. Then a long winter's nap.


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## Snafflebit (Oct 19, 2022)

Racking off gros lees now.

Some of the wines have distinct H2S odor. Let's see, pressed on 9/25 then rack off gros lees 10/19 might have been too long on the lees. Wine is still fermenting in the bottles, slowly. I rack into a fermenter then funnel poured back into the same cleaned bottle. I used to fear oxygen, but no longer. 

Getting ready to innoculate for MLF and add some oak cubes. This may be my best tasting wine yet!


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## SCAndy (Oct 20, 2022)

Snafflebit said:


> Racking off gros lees now.
> 
> Some of the wines have distinct H2S odor. Let's see, pressed on 9/25 then rack off gros lees 10/19 might have been too long on the lees. Wine is still fermenting in the bottles, slowly. I rack into a fermenter then funnel poured back into the same cleaned bottle. I used to fear oxygen, but no longer.
> 
> Getting ready to innoculate for MLF and add some oak cubes. This may be my best tasting wine yet



Sounds like it's going well. Interestingly, I was listening to a wine podacast while in traffic the other day. They were interviewing Charles Smith of Washington State renown. The Chateaux Smith wines I have had in the past were pretty darn good. He was going on and on about how he lets all of his wines sit on the heavy lees and does very ittle to them. It struck me as interesting even though I have only fermented one batch in my lifetime. You would think problems would pop up a lot with that protocol. He sounded as though he liked to embellish.....

That being said, I really like your post.....from vine to bottle. Keep us posted.
I am jealously watching as I will be relegated to frozen buckets this year.


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## Snafflebit (Oct 20, 2022)

The angel's share! Oops




ML culture is in. 

@SCAndy about leaving on the gros lee, maybe that winemaker is using a non-H2S producing yeast. I think this BM45 is extra eggy. I can see that a semipermeable barrel would let gasses exchange better than glass.


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## Joe B. (Oct 21, 2022)

I left my wine on the gross less about as long as you this year and stirred them twice a day until I was sure the fermentation was complete before letting them settle and racked. Pressed way early try to avoid green flavors due to being forced to harvest early due to rain. a lot of green seeds. I have the same press but 40 liter and love it.


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