Gearing up for Harvest 2017
Mid-August in 2015 and 2016 found us preparing to bring in grapes near the end of the month. This year we are still several weeks away from our first pick date -- a more normal pace, starting in early-to-mid September -- but starting to make preparations all the same.
Picking bins are being washed, last year's wines are mostly bottled, and supplies are emerging from storage.
This is the calm before the storm for us. Veraison is progressing (where the berries turn purple on the Pinot Noir), and we'll be doing our first berry samples before the end of the month. We'll test the sample for sugar, pH and acidity and we'll be visually inspecting color, seed ripeness and more. It will provide that first data point -- a benchmark -- for the rest of the season, however far out it is.
We are relatively lucky here at Foursight and we just have one vineyard to prepare to pick. Of course that does mean that all the fruit comes in, in a relatively short period of time (we only grow three varieties of grapes). So it's a bit crazy while it happens, and then it's over.
This will be our 12th harvest for Foursight Wines, as unbelievable as that is. How life has changed. We went from an ambitious young couple who held down day jobs and launched this project during every moment of free time (nights, weekends, vacation time) to the parents of a 2.5-year-old boy entering our second decade as a winery. Wish us luck with a new vintage, and come taste it when it releases -- let's say 2019!
Picking bins are being washed, last year's wines are mostly bottled, and supplies are emerging from storage.
This is the calm before the storm for us. Veraison is progressing (where the berries turn purple on the Pinot Noir), and we'll be doing our first berry samples before the end of the month. We'll test the sample for sugar, pH and acidity and we'll be visually inspecting color, seed ripeness and more. It will provide that first data point -- a benchmark -- for the rest of the season, however far out it is.
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| Pinot Noir berries turn purple at Charles Vineyard. |
This will be our 12th harvest for Foursight Wines, as unbelievable as that is. How life has changed. We went from an ambitious young couple who held down day jobs and launched this project during every moment of free time (nights, weekends, vacation time) to the parents of a 2.5-year-old boy entering our second decade as a winery. Wish us luck with a new vintage, and come taste it when it releases -- let's say 2019!
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| Evan inspects the growing vines early this summer. |
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