All right… Some quick Info...
Couple Weeks back we worked in the vineyard, thinned out any extra shoot growth and clipped off all secondary clusters and primary clusters that did not meet visual inspection… All of this on two of our three rows up at the Quartz Block. So, for the little experiment we went up on the 7th and sampled fruit from all three rows with the two, “pruned,” rows coming in a full degree Brix higher then our third row, wow, the magic of proper viticulture.
Row 1: 24.5 – Row 2: 24.8 and Row 3: 23.7… From those numbers we were looking about a week or two out (Remember, ~1.5 Brix gain/week). Well, I got back from Tennessee on Monday (9/13/10) morning, I proceeded to the Quartz Block straight from the tarmac and into Zinfadel flavor town. *Of note the Ducks killed the Volunteers, 48-13 Go Ducks!!
Now, the Juicy Stuff!
When it comes to deciding to pick a vineyard there’s the scientific way (look at the numbers, pick when they seem appropriate for the style you want), there’s the “gut way” (boy, this sure does taste good, lets pick), and there’s the intelligent way (boy, this sure does taste good, but the weather and the numbers say I can get a bit more flavor and still have a micro biologically safe wine). In this case I chose the latter, the grapes had held their level of sugar (roughly 25’s across the board), and the weather pattern was showing temperatures in the lower 80’s for the next week (this is the perfect temperature range for slow even ripening). Since then I have returned to the Quartz and am happy to report back that the flavors are there, the sugars are in range, the acidity has held and we have chosen a pick date.
On Tuesday, the 21st of September, Everybody Happy Wine Company will be picking their first Zinfandel of the year. Wednesday we will be processing the fruit after an overnight cold soak (followed by 6 more days of processed cold soak *explanation of these topics forth coming), and I would like to elicit the help of anyone out there in the interwebs that live in the Northern California area to come up and help us sort the fruit on the 22nd. So to all of you would be winemakers, come one come all and bask in the warmth of manual labor while we listen to Kings of Leon, sort fruit, and who knows maybe imbibe in some fresh brews or cold Sauvignon Blanc.
Regards,
Timothy Keith
Everybody Happy Wine Company
Call me direct 971-218-6363