Veraison Begins
Golubok and LaBelle are showing the first signs of the grapes turning color.
That means harvest is expected by Mid September, maybe earlier.
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Harvest has Begun
We're on the cusp of two months of frenetic work. Between juice making and winemaking we'll see very little down time until the end of the harvest season. It has been an especially bad year for powdery mildew for the two no-spray vineyards we work
Vivezza Vineyard
I had the distinct pleasure of spending the day with Paul Troop of Vivezza Vineyard. I'm impressed with someone who can make delicious wine or grow vines well or graft grapevines or install a professional looking vineyard. They have done ALL of these things AND selected more than
Golubok Nearly Fully Dark
Golubok clusters are now almost entirely black. From now on I will use taste and other tricks to try to determine full ripeness. One good indicator that we're really close is when a gentle finger and thumb squeeze causes a slight deformation of the grape, which still bounces
Veraison Progress 2 weeks on
Labelle grapes are ripening startlingly fast. The darkest colored berries are close to plausible as juice grapes, though still a little tart even for that. The Leon Millot, which started the season, is progressing slower, perhaps because it is relatively over cropped vs the Labelle. In the picture above, if