It is an odd grape harvest, here in Sonoma County, this year. Vineyards
are producing large grapes, and large clusters. The flavors being in the
skin, some wineries are "bleeding off" some of the juice to increase the
skin to juice ratio, and concentrate the flavor.

Unlike recent years, nature has been mild this year. There haven't been
any heatwaves to burn the grapes, or rain to dilute their sugar, and set
mildew. Sugars aren't going up very fast, but the acidity is plunging.
The acidity is important for the fruitiness of the wine, and the
suppression of some micro-organisms during fermentation. We probably
will be using a lot of tartaric acid this year.

The long hang time (more than 100 days) for the grapes is good for
developing flavor, but because of a number of foggy mornings, and the
large size of the grapes we are at risk of an outbreak of powdery
mildew, which would be a disaster for those grapes still in the
vineyards.

For us workers, this season, with its slow ripening means that we aren't
being confronted with large amounts of grapes to process in a short
time, and the grapes are coming in at a leisurely pace, which has cut
into our overtime. All this could change with the arrival of storm
clouds, but so far there are none on the horizon. If rain does start to
come soon, everyone will try to save their harvest by picking everything
that they can, and we will return to our normal "bedlam".

--
Welcome to the New America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg
or
E Pluribus Unum
Green Party Nominee Jill Stein & Running Mate, Cheri Honkala
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/13/green_party_nominee_jill_stein_running

On Monday, September 24, 2012 12:02:11 PM UTC-4, Billy wrote:
It is an odd grape harvest, here in Sonoma County, this year. Vineyards are producing large grapes, and large clusters. The flavors being in the skin, some wineries are "bleeding off" some of the juice to increase the skin to juice ratio, and concentrate the flavor. Unlike recent years, nature has been mild this year. There haven't been any heatwaves to burn the grapes, or rain to dilute their sugar, and set mildew. Sugars aren't going up very fast, but the acidity is plunging. The acidity is important for the fruitiness of the wine, and the suppression of some micro-organisms during fermentation. We probably will be using a lot of tartaric acid this year. The long hang time (more than 100 days) for the grapes is good for developing flavor, but because of a number of foggy mornings, and the large size of the grapes we are at risk of an outbreak of powdery mildew, which would be a disaster for those grapes still in the vineyards. For us workers, this season, with its slow ripening means that we aren't being confronted with large amounts of grapes to process in a short time, and the grapes are coming in at a leisurely pace, which has cut into our overtime. All this could change with the arrival of storm clouds, but so far there are none on the horizon. If rain does start to come soon, everyone will try to save their harvest by picking everything that they can, and we will return to our normal "bedlam". -- Welcome to the New America. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg or E Pluribus Unum Green Party Nominee Jill Stein & Running Mate, Cheri Honkala http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/13/green_party_nominee_jill_stein_running

Nice report. Years ago I was in the South Land in September when harvest was coming in. I recall a bad raisin problem due to rain as apparently grapes are sun dried on paper and rain can splash dirt on them. I also recall seeing large trucks full of grapes.

Billy wrote:

It is an odd grape harvest, here in Sonoma County, this year. Vineyards
are producing large grapes, and large clusters. The flavors being in the
skin, some wineries are "bleeding off" some of the juice to increase the
skin to juice ratio, and concentrate the flavor.

can't they sell that off to the juice makers
anyways?


Unlike recent years, nature has been mild this year. There haven't been
any heatwaves to burn the grapes, or rain to dilute their sugar, and set
mildew. Sugars aren't going up very fast, but the acidity is plunging.
The acidity is important for the fruitiness of the wine, and the
suppression of some micro-organisms during fermentation. We probably
will be using a lot of tartaric acid this year.

The long hang time (more than 100 days) for the grapes is good for
developing flavor, but because of a number of foggy mornings, and the
large size of the grapes we are at risk of an outbreak of powdery
mildew, which would be a disaster for those grapes still in the
vineyards.

what? no, noble rot?


For us workers, this season, with its slow ripening means that we aren't
being confronted with large amounts of grapes to process in a short
time, and the grapes are coming in at a leisurely pace, which has cut
into our overtime. All this could change with the arrival of storm
clouds, but so far there are none on the horizon. If rain does start to
come soon, everyone will try to save their harvest by picking everything
that they can, and we will return to our normal "bedlam".



feast or famine farming...


songbird

In article ,
songbird wrote:

Billy wrote:

It is an odd grape harvest, here in Sonoma County, this year. Vineyards
are producing large grapes, and large clusters. The flavors being in the
skin, some wineries are "bleeding off" some of the juice to increase the
skin to juice ratio, and concentrate the flavor.

can't they sell that off to the juice makers
anyways?

Juice is cheaper from Thompson seedless growers in the Central Valley.
These grapes cost $2 to $4 thousand/ton. Some wineries are experimenting
with "white Zinfandel" type wines, that don't require skin contact. To
be sure, no one is going to pour the separated juice down a drain.


Unlike recent years, nature has been mild this year. There haven't been
any heatwaves to burn the grapes, or rain to dilute their sugar, and set
mildew. Sugars aren't going up very fast, but the acidity is plunging.
The acidity is important for the fruitiness of the wine, and the
suppression of some micro-organisms during fermentation. We probably
will be using a lot of tartaric acid this year.

The long hang time (more than 100 days) for the grapes is good for
developing flavor, but because of a number of foggy mornings, and the
large size of the grapes we are at risk of an outbreak of powdery
mildew, which would be a disaster for those grapes still in the
vineyards.

what? no, noble rot?
"Noble Rot" has specific requirements including very warm, dry days, and
grapes that haven't cracked. Once they crack, you are looking at "common
rot".



For us workers, this season, with its slow ripening means that we aren't
being confronted with large amounts of grapes to process in a short
time, and the grapes are coming in at a leisurely pace, which has cut
into our overtime. All this could change with the arrival of storm
clouds, but so far there are none on the horizon. If rain does start to
come soon, everyone will try to save their harvest by picking everything
that they can, and we will return to our normal "bedlam".



feast or famine farming...
Wineries are having problems of not enough work for their pickers, and
cellar crews to keep them busy. They can't afford to let them go,
because they may lose them for when they need them.


songbird

--
Welcome to the New America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg
or
E Pluribus Unum
Green Party Nominee Jill Stein & Running Mate, Cheri Honkala
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/13/green_party_nominee_jill_stein_running

Billy wrote:
songbird wrote:
Billy wrote:
....
For us workers, this season, with its slow ripening means that we aren't
being confronted with large amounts of grapes to process in a short
time, and the grapes are coming in at a leisurely pace, which has cut
into our overtime. All this could change with the arrival of storm
clouds, but so far there are none on the horizon. If rain does start to
come soon, everyone will try to save their harvest by picking everything
that they can, and we will return to our normal "bedlam".



feast or famine farming...
Wineries are having problems of not enough work for their pickers, and
cellar crews to keep them busy. They can't afford to let them go,
because they may lose them for when they need them.

flash freezing is out of the question? to take
care of too much too quickly times so they could
get by with a smaller regular crew to process...

liquid nitrogen bubble bath.


songbird

In article ,
songbird wrote:

Billy wrote:
songbird wrote:
Billy wrote:
...
For us workers, this season, with its slow ripening means that we aren't
being confronted with large amounts of grapes to process in a short
time, and the grapes are coming in at a leisurely pace, which has cut
into our overtime. All this could change with the arrival of storm
clouds, but so far there are none on the horizon. If rain does start to
come soon, everyone will try to save their harvest by picking everything
that they can, and we will return to our normal "bedlam".



feast or famine farming...
Wineries are having problems of not enough work for their pickers, and
cellar crews to keep them busy. They can't afford to let them go,
because they may lose them for when they need them.

flash freezing is out of the question? to take
care of too much too quickly times so they could
get by with a smaller regular crew to process...

liquid nitrogen bubble bath.


songbird

It is possible. Flash freezing has been done, most notably with grapes
from Chile to California, but those are fairly inexpensive grapes. Here
we are talking about grapes that already cost $2000 to $5000 per ton
(and up. Only marijuana growers make more money.). Where I'm working,
the winery is over staffed, the wine over scrutinized, and the wines
sell from $40 to $120 per bottle. I agree, it's crazy, but they have
people standing in line to buy it. To you, or to me, it is a beverage.
To other people, it is status symbol. I can't afford it, even with my
50% discount for being an employee.

Flash freezing has the additional benefit of breaking the cell walls in
the grape, and it gives more juice when pressed. The real problem is
lack of fermentation tanks to put your grapes into. Normally, for a
short term problem, we use dry ice and SO2 in the picking bins, or
tanker trucks with cooling units, but if everybody needs them, it
becomes impractical.

Presently, we are having a 3 day hot spell, in the 90s,
and the grapes are producing more sugar. Today was the first day that it
felt like the harvest to me. I had an 11.5 hr. day. Yee ha.

--
Welcome to the New America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg
or
E Pluribus Unum
Green Party Nominee Jill Stein & Running Mate, Cheri Honkala
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/13/green_party_nominee_jill_stein_running