Harvest 2023

[Rob Kneeland]

Marquettes any day now. Refractometer shows close to 20 brix and my hydrometer usually reads higher. A week of hot sunny weather ahead. Watching carefully for wasps/birds/ladybugs/earwigs, but so far so good. Oddly except for 1 vine that ripened 2 weeks ago. I picked 6 lbs and put them in the freezer.

Everything is clean. Got my Avante yeast and VP41.

Was a very hot and wet summer but still behind last year.

C'mon baby!!

 

[Rob Kneeland]

Marquettes any day now. Refractometer shows close to 20 brix and my hydrometer usually reads higher. A week of hot sunny weather ahead. Watching carefully for wasps/birds/ladybugs/earwigs, but so far so good. Oddly except for 1 vine that ripened 2 weeks ago. I picked 6 lbs and put them in the freezer.

Everything is clean. Got my Avante yeast and VP41.

Was a very hot and wet summer but still behind last year.

C'mon baby!!
View attachment 105186

PH still at 3.1....gotta be patient...

 

[hdgypsyman]

I last checked my Marquette last Sunday the 3rd of September and PH had climbed a little bit to from this to 2.78. Brix is at 26 and the weather this weekend in southern Minnesota is perfect for harvest with lows in the 50's. I'm open to opinions though......

 

[winemaker81]

I last checked my Marquette last Sunday the 3rd of September and PH had climbed a little bit to from this to 2.78. Brix is at 26 and the weather this weekend in southern Minnesota is perfect for harvest with lows in the 50's. I'm open to opinions though......

A high brix must may be watered back with acidulated water to reduce the brix. However, unless the pH hits 3.0 by harvest, you might dilute it slightly (~5%) with plain water, which will reduce brix and acid.

 

[Rice_Guy]

pH had climbed a little bit to from this to 2.78. . I'm open to opinions though......

Patience is a virtue, unless there are other picking factors as bugs or deer or limited equipment, ,,, you can wait.

 

[hdgypsyman]

I harvested last year the first week of October, so I can wait. Can anyone suggest a target ph?

 

[fermenter]

Picked the Nortons Sept. 1 and they have been working for a week now. Brix started
about 22. Just 5 vines but will get 2-3 gal. I might find a kit to mix it with.

 

[Rob Kneeland]

Picked 85 lbs of Marquette on Wednesday. They came in at a ph of 3.1 so I reduced it to 3.5 (overshot my target of 3.4). Bubbling along happily with the Avanti. looks like 50 liters of must. Had to add a lb of sugar to get the sg closer to 1.09. Quite certain I got most of the earwigs out! They do like the ripest clusters.
And the print on my hydrometer got a lot smaller!

 

[Cynewulf]

I harvested last year the first week of October, so I can wait. Can anyone suggest a target ph?

My target for Marquette is 25 Brix and pH 3.3, but I’m also in a very different part of the country from you and have been able to hit that early-mid August. Bugs forced my hand the first year and I harvested at pH 3.1. It’s still good, but there was a huge improvement when I harvested at 3.33 last year, illustrating for me how pH is logarithmic and a slight change in the integer value indicates a substantial change in the amount of acid. Like I said, the first was still very good, but the acid is a little out of balance right now - I reckon it will improve over time.

 

[Rob Kneeland]

Yup...lots of variables over which I have no control. At this point I cannot see a Brix of 25 on the vine, but every year is different. I started to see some raisining and the earwigs started moving in, so it was time, even with a brix of 21. Luckily the Asian Beetles (ladybugs) were still in the fields with the hot weather. Interesting that a hotter and wetter year ripened later.

Down to 1.030 in the primary!

 

[hdgypsyman]

I checked the PH on a sample of about 16 grapes pulled throughout my vines and it's still on the low side. The same mixed sample gave me a brix of 27, so the sugar keeps rising and the acid is slowly dropping. I've decided to let it go. Next weekend I'll be out of town so it will be two weeks before I get a chance to possibly check them again.

 

[wood1954]

last i checked my TA was about 12 grams per liter. PH 3.1 I'm picking on the 16th hopefully the mildew and bugs hold off a few more days. Haven't sprayed in 7 weeks. I'm getting some raisining , can't tell if it's disease or just berries drying out.

 

[Rob Kneeland]

I am in my secondary. Got 23 liters out of 85 lbs with a full press. Will rack in 2 weeks then put it to sleep with an oak stave. Gotta say that it does not taste thin at all.

I am doing a second wine with a Argentia Cab kit x 2 (Costco) plus the skins.