Harvest 2010
So happy this year's harvest is over. It was a strange year for our white wines. We were plagued with gray skies most of the summer. Here in California we call it June Gloom.... but this year it became July Gloom, August Gloom and late September Gloom. We harvested Late September with our sugar levels just on the border of being right. We were afraid we would loose the grapes to powdery mildew because of the colder than normal temps and moisture in the air.
We were lucky this year to have a loyal group of pickers that seem to want to help every year. (Shades of Tom Sayer and the white washed picket fence me thinks, but shhhh, we need them back next year!)
And an added bonus was Herman, My brother-in-law and his lovely wife Lenny visiting us from Holland during harvest time. They were great help and I appreciated having Chemistry assistance from Herman, a scientist working with Shell Oil. The tricky part at harvest time is getting the correct Total Acid and PH numbers & knowing how to adjust them if necessary.
(2009 Rosé made from Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes)
grapes)
I never really thought about what it takes to make wine until we started in 2007.
It really is an art to get it right.
Here is a slide montage of this years harvest... from picking to pouring the must (grape juice) into a fermentation tank ready for the yeast.
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