2018 Grape Season Underway

[jgmann67]

Thanks Fred. You may have answered this before, but are they Lodi grapes?

Did you guys see the email from Jim Gearing about our delivery being delayed a week? 9/29 is now the day. Kinda stinks, as I have a half marathon the next morning and was planning on not doing much of anything that day. Oh well, them's the breaks.

Just now... guess we have another week to prep. My brother in law and his wife are visiting from Texas that weekend. Going to need to run down and back so I don't cheese Mrs Mann...

 

[mainshipfred]

Got an email today from Washington Winemakers. It said the grapes weren't ripe yet because the weather was cooler first 2 weeks of September. They supposedly come from Lodi or at least the Central Valley but both Procacci and S&S already have grapes from the same AVAs with good to very good brix. Kind of hard to understand why the WW grapes aren't ripe yet. I hope they are not waiting for the last varietals on their list to ripen while the others are all sitting in storage, especially the whites.

 

[mainshipfred]

Thanks Fred. You may have answered this before, but are they Lodi grapes?

Did you guys see the email from Jim Gearing about our delivery being delayed a week? 9/29 is now the day. Kinda stinks, as I have a half marathon the next morning and was planning on not doing much of anything that day. Oh well, them's the breaks.

Yeah, I have a birthday party to go to on the 29th at 2 Silos. It's not until 3:00 but still kills my crush plans, plus I want to help Gitmo with his first crush and you if you needed it. I'll probably get everything ready and do the calculation for his preferm additives, except for the acid adjustment if needed, and crush mine on Sunday.

Not that I need any more grapes this season but I'll probably go to S&S on Saturday for the Nebbiola or Cab Franc if you or Chris are interested in coming along.

 

[mainshipfred]

Doing something for the first time this fall. I'm fermenting the wine in my walk-in that I bumped up to 65*. I waited a day for the yeast to start forming the cap before I put them in. The wine temp is hovering around 72-74*. All the yeasts (6 of them) are good as low as 65*. Will follow the recommended nutrient protocol and maybe remove them towards the end of AF.

 

[gitmo234]

Got an email today from Washington Winemakers. It said the grapes weren't ripe yet because the weather was cooler first 2 weeks of September. They supposedly come from Lodi or at least the Central Valley but both Procacci and S&S already have grapes from the same AVAs with good to very good brix. Kind of hard to understand why the WW grapes aren't ripe yet. I hope they are not waiting for the last varietals on their list to ripen while the others are all sitting in storage, especially the whites.

I didnt get that email. Are they implying a delay in delivery?

 

[Boatboy24]

Just now... guess we have another week to prep. My brother in law and his wife are visiting from Texas that weekend. Going to need to run down and back so I don't cheese Mrs Mann...

Good news! You'll have helpers! You should get a C/D and have everyone participate!

 

[Boatboy24]

I didnt get that email. Are they implying a delay in delivery?

1 week. Pickup 9/29 now.

@mainshipfred and @gitmo234 : Are you getting them to crush? I'm not. Just planning on pickup up and coming home to get my family to help with that.

 

[Johnd]

I didnt get that email. Are they implying a delay in delivery?

My supplier handles mostly Lodi grapes and when I spoke to him last week right after he visited the vineyards, he doesn’t anticipate his men picking the big red grapes (like Cab, Petite Sirah, etc.) until late September / early October. It’s nice talking to and buying straight from the guy who visits the vineyards, checks the numbers, pays the pickers, and sells the product.

 

[jgmann67]

Good news! You'll have helpers! You should get a C/D and have everyone participate!

Thanks. They’ll get a chance to see what happens after hitting it with SO2.

I’m getting mine crushed and destemmed while I’m down there with WW and heading home.

 

[gitmo234]

I'm going to crush with Fred.
The issue now is that gives me about 3 days to get setup before I'm on a work trip for 3 weeks, instead of fermenting immediately, pressing, and racking.

 

[porkchopmessiah]

@ Ajmassa5983 , I m up in Bergen county and just picked up a 6gall Sangiovese from Corrados....you go there often?

 

[Ajmassa]

@ Ajmassa5983 , I m up in Bergen county and just picked up a 6gall Sangiovese from Corrados....you go there often?

Nope. Never been there....... until today!
Crushing my Muscat/Alicante/Zinfandel blend as we speak.

 

[mainshipfred]

My supplier handles mostly Lodi grapes and when I spoke to him last week right after he visited the vineyards, he doesn’t anticipate his men picking the big red grapes (like Cab, Petite Sirah, etc.) until late September / early October. It’s nice talking to and buying straight from the guy who visits the vineyards, checks the numbers, pays the pickers, and sells the product.

That is nice to have someone looking out for you. But when I was at S&S they did have Cab and the brix was reportedly 26 and Procacci has had grapes for some time now. I just don't get it how grapes from the same AVA can ripen so differently. As I said before my Syrah that Paul got melast week was 26.7 brix and the OVZ was 23.5 and these were probably picked the week before. OVZ might not be the greatest but acceptable.

 

[Johnd]

Can’t say that I know about the microclimates within the AVA and where the respective vineyards are within it, I do know that it can easily make a difference. Cool fogs that don’t burn off til mid morning, cool evening temps, and different sun exposures affect ripening. Just like the wine we make, they ain’t ready til they’re ready..........

 

[mainshipfred]

Can’t say that I know about the microclimates within the AVA and where the respective vineyards are within it, I do know that it can easily make a difference. Cool fogs that don’t burn off til mid morning, cool evening temps, and different sun exposures affect ripening. Just like the wine we make, they ain’t ready til they’re ready..........

Did a little more research. The neither came from Central Valley. The Syrah was Madera AVA about 200 miles south and the Zin is in Cucamonga AVA I think. About 300 miles south. so they would ripen faster.

 

[pgentile]

That is nice to have someone looking out for you. But when I was at S&S they did have Cab and the brix was reportedly 26 and Procacci has had grapes for some time now. I just don't get it how grapes from the same AVA can ripen so differently. As I said before my Syrah that Paul got melast week was 26.7 brix and the OVZ was 23.5 and these were probably picked the week before. OVZ might not be the greatest but acceptable.

Procacci told AJ that trucks will be rolling every few days until early October. Pinto's told me the same thing, trucks rolling in until early october. So ripening/harvest throughout california is 2-3 months +/- depending on the weather. My bet is that the early grapes we see are from mostly those more southern AVA's. Regina/Pia probably buys from all over california, they sort and relabel. Even though the guys at Procacci told me Lodi and Central, they really don't know.

 

[sour_grapes]

Did a little more research. The neither came from Central Valley. The Syrah was Madera AVA about 200 miles south and the Zin is in Cucamonga AVA I think. About 300 miles south. so they would ripen faster.

Wouldn't Madera (halfway between Fresno and Merced) be considered to be very much in the Central Valley?

 

[mainshipfred]

Wouldn't Madera (halfway between Fresno and Merced) be considered to be very much in the Central Valley?

This is the best AVA map I was able to find. The center of the valley is Lodi and the grouping I think is what they call Central Valley. Madera should show up pretty clearly and Cucamonga is 105 east of Disney. There is no mileage scale but they are a good distance away from Lodi.

 

[mainshipfred]

Procacci told AJ that trucks will be rolling every few days until early October. Pinto's told me the same thing, trucks rolling in until early october. So ripening/harvest throughout california is 2-3 months +/- depending on the weather. My bet is that the early grapes we see are from mostly those more southern AVA's. Regina/Pia probably buys from all over california, they sort and relabel. Even though the guys at Procacci told me Lodi and Central, they really don't know.

I ready don't get why sourcing is so secretive. Zin was from Lamanuzzi and Pantaleo Vineyards, Delano CA and the Syrah Papagni Vineyards Madera CA. Apparently we will find out when we get the grapes.

 

[Ajmassa]

Careful now. This topic will take you down the rabbit hole.