2010 Merlot Harvest is Complete

Yesterday we harvested out 2010 Merlot crop and had a great time doing it. Thanks to the people who came out to help because again we turned in another clean crop. Pictures are on their way.

2010 Merlot Results
2955 lbs
21 Brix
3.57 Ph

Checking the Merlot

Well our Brix's are now 20 with a Ph of 3.57. We are exactly 8 days ahead of schedule. If it was up to me we would be harvesting this weekend but the wine maker wants us to be 22-23 before we harvest so it looks like we will be harvesting next Saturday, 8/28.

Golden Muscat/Niagara Wine

Alright we harvested the Golden Muscat/Niagara this past week and man it took all of 5 minutes. We had a handful of clusters this year but enough for jelly, juice and a little wine. Well this past week I took what we had of both varieties and blended them all together for about 2.5 gallons of juice to make some wine. I am not sure how it will turn out but thought I would give it a try. The brix were only 18 (which I think is normal) so I had to add some sugar to make the brix 22. Keep you posted on the results.

Side note-I will be bottling the '09 Merlot in the next couple of weeks to make room for the '10 Merlot. I can't believe I have had the patience to let this wine age for the past year but now I can't wait to bottle and drink. Oh yeah...it is ok. It won't win any competitions.

Getting Close to Merlot Harvest

Well this past Tuesday I went and checked the vineyard out and to see where our Brix were at. The Merlot, eventhough we netted, are getting some bird damage. I guess it is a good thing we netted because if not we would have no grapes. Overall vineyard looks good but what is weird is the last row of Merlot just don't seem to produce grapes, not sure if there is something in soil or what but the Merlot on the right and Cab Sauv on the left have nice looking clusters on them. Hey it's nature.

As for the Brix in the Merot...well we are ahead of schedule by one week. Our Brix was 19 and our Ph was 3.59 (a little high). I spoke with our winemaker about where we stood, thinking that I would harvest next Saturday and he said that he wants us to try to get our Brix up to 22-23 this year. I am not sure if we can chance that or not but our seeds are still a little green so we have a little time on our hands.