Winemaker Journal: October 2009 Jeff Herinckx What's going on at the winery The big news here at the winery is that harvest has officially begun! We have finished bringing in the Niagara, which amounted to 52 tons this year from Sheppard Vineyard and Wren Vineyard. We started bringing in the Pinot Gris at the very end of September, and then it began to rain and cool off. According to the forecast, there will be some more showers this week and then the temperatures will head back into the 70s, which is where we want them this time of year. We'll soon acquire the rest of the Pinot Gris for this year, which will total 25 tons of grapes from the Dion Vineyard. We are not working with Chardonnay at all this year. We are currently selling our 2007 and 2008 vintages, and we'll reevaluate whether to work with it again next year. Right now, there is absolutely no warehouse space. We have had to move wine out of the winery and into the warehouse. We will probably start bottling again mid-month, in order to alleviate this problem. The 2008 Pinot Gris is probably what we will bottle next. October also means the end of our fiscal year, so, in addition to harvest and bottling activities, we'll also be busy with paperwork. Why rain is problematic during harvest If there is significant rainfall when the grapes haven't seen rain for a while, they soak up some of the water that lands on them. They can then swell and split, or they stay wet for too long and begin to rot from the inside out. There are steps that can be taken to counteract the rain, but continued rain is a difficult battle to fight. The grapes can be sprayed or they can be blown dry. Another approach is to pull leaves from the vine in order to create spaces so that the breeze can dry the fruit; of course, there must be a breeze in order for this to work.
A new project We're working with a variety this year that we haven't worked with before. We recently got in some Marechal Foch, from Sheppard Vineyard, which is an early-ripening red grape variety that is well suited to colder climates. We cold soaked it on the skins for two days and then pressed it. We're using the same technique that we use with our white - press and ferment without the oak. The color of this wine will be very dark, but the wine will have less fruit and fewer tannins than the typical big, beefy red wine. It has been fun to experiment with this fruit while we've been waiting for the rain to stop. Pinot Report We will receive grapes from Beran's Vineyard during the first week of October. The field samples have looked great. The sugars are between 23.5 and 24, which is exactly where we want them. We are hopeful that the rain won't affect these grapes very much. So far, this looks like it will be an excellent crop. That's it for now...talk to you next month. Jeff Herinckx Home | Our Story | What's New | Wines
|