Heat spikes and harvest timing....do it now or wait it out?

[Cynewulf]

I can see having land is work, but rewarding as well.
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I’m looking forward to your pruning update in winter/spring!

 

[NorCal]

Depends what you want in the finished wine. If you prefer over ripe, high alcohol, fuller body but possibly flabby wine that will need acid adjustment, let ha itng. If you prefer a wine with more finesse, go by balanced Brix and acid levels in the grapes as long as verasion has happened. May get more balanced wine with less need for adjustment but not as big and bold. Longer hang times has been a CA thing for a while to make those big, fruity over ripe wines with higher alcohol that people love but there are plenty of incredible wines that are made with less hang time and have great balance and complexity. The hardest wine I have made to date due to needed acid adjustments was from grapes out of Paso Robles where they wanted long hang time to get higher Brix but the pH was 4 along with low TA and the adjustments with tartaric acid were a nightmare to get it to stable pH giving the wine an over acidified taste that has taken years to calm down with aging. This reduced the quality of the wine and I wish they would have picked earlier with more stable acid levels.

Also, tastes the grapes yourself to get a sense of sweetness, acidity and phenolic content in the skin. This may help a lot.

Great post! Yes, I've found that timing decision of when to harvest is one of the biggest decisions influencing the end taste profile of the wine. I've made very nice 23 brix wine and different, but equally as nice 28 brix, watered back to 26 brix wine. For me, it depends on the varietal if the wine would be better erring on the early side vs. later side. I see Zin, Cab, Syrah as varietals that can stand up to the higher brix. If it were Pinot or Grenache, I thinik the decision would be easy.
Our climate in the Sierra Foothills is similar to Paso Robles, hot days and warm evenings. With the exception of Barbera, all the wine I've made has to contend with high pH. Just par for the course and 1 pound of tartaric per 1,000 pounds will move the needle .2 - .3 of pH. I rarely do any adjustments post ferment, as it is too easy to make the wine worse than improve it.

 

[VinesnBines]

I can see having land is work, but rewarding as well.

AMEN! I shake my head when people think/say they wish they had land/acreage/vineyard. I roll my eyes when they say "How wonderful it would be to sit on my porch with a glass of _______ and admire my land/acreage/vineyard." The best remark was "Once you get it planted, that should be most of your investment." If you don't have property, you have no idea the work/expense involved. It is rewarding if you can stay awake long enough to enjoy the results. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[NorCal]

I’m looking forward to your pruning update in winter/spring!

I've cared for and pruned a number of vineyards over the past 10 years, I know what I've taken on.

 

[balatonwine]

If you don't have property, you have no idea the work/expense involved.

When we bought our first vineyard in Hungary, the average person drove Trabants, and the "rich" drove a Skoda. Some people had a personal 2500 sq. m. vineyard to make wine for themselves. We bought one of these 20 years ago. I now in total have a bit more.

In the past two or three years gentrification has happened here at a rapid rate. Property prices have gone up 800% to 1000% in just a few years. If a car goes by, it is now most likely a BMV, Audi, or Mercedes. Even a Tesla or two around. Such land owners do not care about the work (they have others do it) or the expense (it is all part of social status to have property here now). The only finger they lift, it seems, is their pinky when they drink tea....

 

[balatonwine]

I'm not sure what a normal grape growing season is like anymoreű

In 20 years in owning vineyards in Central Europe, I have never known a "normal" year. Every year is different. Sometimes drastically different. Ergo, a vintage.

But... I was born and raised in CA, so I also know CA weather, and I have to say California has (had) it sweet, as the weather was (in recent memory) reasonably predictable, and the massive irrigation projects mitigated "average" events like droughts for a while -- even at the expense of others (there is no longer an Owens Lake, etc.).

But now, which was predicted, the world is experience more extreme weather. Even I have had more extreme variation in the past 4 years. And CA is no longer immune from this. So not "normal" will be the new "normal" even for CA.

As irrigation becomes more and more expensive, and weather becomes more and more variable, my suggestions are to consider more dry farming methods and making yearly vintage wine. That is, every year will not be "the best wine you like", but you can still make the best wine you can given that year's proclivities.

All IMHO.

Hope this helps.

 

[Snafflebit]

I am surprised how fast my Cab Sauv is ripening this year in San Jose. I already had crunchy brown seeds last week, but also I have millerandage in several clusters which makes me not want to pick any time soon. And I had a lot of shatter, so a smaller yield also. I will irrigate and let the fruit hang

 

[user 38734]

A bit strange in SLO / Paso / Santa Barbara as I'm hearing everything from "60% of normal" in Paso to "looks about right" the further south you go (Santa Barbara). Overall, I think 2021 will be very much lower yielding (which sucks for farmers), but that normally means nice concentrated flavors. From three different SLO vineyards yesterday, all PN.

 

[NorCal]

I did the vineyard assessment over the weekend. Overall, the fruit is hit and miss. There are some really nice clusters and other area where the vineyard neglect is reflected in the fruit. This season will be an “it is, what it is” vintage. I’ll be selective on what I harvest and will most likely ferment and make each variety separate, even though I’m guessing I’ll only make one, two, three max carboys of each.

Zin: 60 vines, 75% usable fruit, 25 brix/3.5 pH. Improperly pruned, not sprayed or irrigated early in the season. A mix of fruit load by vine; excessive fruit on some vines, inconsistent ripening, some bird/bee damage. Some signs of mildew.




Cab: 65 vines, 85% usable fruit, 23 brix/3.2 pH. Improperly pruned, not sprayed or irrigated early in the season. Light crop load across the vines, no signs of mildew, some bird/bee damage. Fruit actually looked pretty good, but not a lot of it.


Syrah: 47 vines, 70% usable fruit, 23.5 brix / 3.5 pH. Improperly pruned, not sprayed or irrigated early in the season. Significant mildew (dropped in pic below) on the end vines that look to be getting more water than the other. Like the Zin, it has signs of mildew, excessive fruit on some vines, inconsistent ripening, some bird/bee and other animal damage on the low hanging fruit.



I’ll keep an eye on the fruit over the next few weeks, watching mostly for dehydration, animal damage. The target date would be to harvest everything 2 ½ weeks from now. This will allow the Syrah and the Cab to increase brix and give additional hang time. It also works out logistically with the Labor Day weekend.

 

[ibglowin]

Sounds like a solid plan for this year.

 

[sour_grapes]

I did the vineyard assessment over the weekend. Overall, the fruit is hit and miss. There are some really nice clusters and other area where the vineyard neglect is reflected in the fruit. This season will be an “it is, what it is” vintage.



Syrah: 47 vines, 70% usable fruit, 23.5 brix / 3.5 pH. Improperly pruned, not sprayed or irrigated early in the season. Significant mildew (dropped in pic below) on the end vines that look to be getting more water than the other. t has signs of mildew, excessive fruit on some vines, inconsistent ripening, some bird/bee and other animal damage on the low hanging fruit.

So, you mean, "Que Syrah, Syrah"?

 

[VinesnBines]

I had high hopes for our Virginia crop but the rains have set in from Fred (hurricane). I'm hoping my grapes are going to be late enough to have a hot and dry September. There is very little I can do about the weather.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

This year is certainly a lower yielding year, I have a friend whom I obtain grapes from yearly and this year is the lowest yielding year for the past 8 years about 50% the normal yield. Which is unfortunate because I normally get 2,000 pounds of grapes out of the vineyard but it’s probably 1000-1200 this year. The grapes are also coming in a full week earlier than normal. Brix as of yesterday was 23-25. So I figure maybe 3-4 more days and they will be harvested.

 

[Obbnw]

Improperly pruned, not sprayed or irrigated early in the season. A mix of fruit load by vine; excessive fruit on some vines, inconsistent ripening.

Wait, did you buy my place? ; )

I'm pretty sure that is what any real vinter would say about my grapes.

 

[Snafflebit]

I am surprised how fast my Cab Sauv is ripening this year in San Jose. I already had crunchy brown seeds last week, but also I have millerandage in several clusters which makes me not want to pick any time soon. And I had a lot of shatter, so a smaller yield also. I will irrigate and let the fruit hang

maybe I worry too much. It seems that one vineyard has Cab all in 18-21 Brix, but the Merlot is hitting 24. I think the Merlot is dehydrated—I’m turning on the water. Merlot has been dry cropped all year.

some good some bad Cab clusters.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

maybe I worry too much. It seems that one vineyard has Cab all in 18-21 Brix, but the Merlot is hitting 24. I think the Merlot is dehydrated—I’m turning on the water. Merlot has been dry cropped all year.

some good some bad Cab clusters.
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Nice grapes, I’ve got some cab that’s coming in probably first week of September right now the Sangiovese from about 50 miles north of me is in and I’m harvesting tommorrow. This has been a weird year because a lot of growers are seeing grapes early and lower than normal yields some vineyards are seeing just half of what they normally would expect.

 

[4score]

FWIW, I had an email chat today with a vineyard in Fiddletown. They said they have never picked (Barbera) before Sept 1st.

The vineyard I source Barbera from has consistently hit ripeness and harvested Labor Day weekend....at least for the last three years. This year things are running a little earlier. Measurements from 8/13 had Brix of 24.5 - 25.0, pH of 3.2. We want to get pH up to 3.3-3.5 and can water back the Brix. With the weather we've had, pH increases of .1 per week and Brix increases of .5-1.0 per week are expected. Target harvest is 8/24 or 25.

 

[JustJoe]

Amazing! Here in Minnesota I am harvesting grapes at the same time as California. My Marquettes were at 24.5. These are new vines and this is the first year that they produced fruit so I pruned off all but 1 cluster per vine. I don't know if that could have affected ripening time but this spring, I was hoping they would reach 21 or 22 before the first frost hit is.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

The vineyard I source Barbera from has consistently hit ripeness and harvested Labor Day weekend....at least for the last three years. This year things are running a little earlier. Measurements from 8/13 had Brix of 24.5 - 25.0, pH of 3.2. We want to get pH up to 3.3-3.5 and can water back the Brix. With the weather we've had, pH increases of .1 per week and Brix increases of .5-1.0 per week are expected. Target harvest is 8/24 or 25.

That’s a good brix, the Sangiovese I harvested hit 25-26 brix ph of 3.6. Good stuff, pretty much textbook for what it’s supposed to be.
Also huge fan of barbera it’s a good grape!

 

[user 38734]

This overheated blue marble is warmer than it used to be, so expecting current wines to age the way the wines in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s did is a bit crazy. Burgundy had 5 vintages in 20 harvests this century where picking began in August. After averaging 1 per century for 6 centuries.