Harvest is almost here in Nevada County,
Sierra Foothills. Winemaker and owner Jacques
Mercier of Solune Winery, Grass Valley, is getting ready. He writes:
“I was busy dropping fruit and pulling leaves over
Labor Day weekend. You can see some very
flavorful Sauvignon Blanc in this picture which could be ready pretty soon
(next week ?).
Two weeks ago, most of our varietals started
véraison (except Cabernet Franc), with Tempranillo, true to its name
(Tempranillo means "a little early" in Spanish), completely turned. Although that might have seemed early
compared to last two (cool) years, we
are actually back on track versus pre-2010 harvests.
The 100-degree-ish heat wave of mid August
slowed down ripening (vines go into survival mode when approaching 100, slowing
down, and sometimes stopping, ripening).
The
big challenge for us will be uniformity, with a completely turned cluster often
next to yet to turn cluster. We might
need to do multiple picks.
Here’s a August 13 photo of a Tempranillo cluster that Jacque followed
since July 31 through its color changing véraison. “Well, it's all purple now, getting softer
& fruitier every day (and gradually erasing any vegetal character of its
younger days),” he wrote on his Facebook
page. Jacques has done a great job on his
Facebook page of keeping his fans updated on the progress of veraison. Have a look:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Solune-Winery/410148490012
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