Wines I'm Making: 2021 Harvest

Harvest time. Yesterday and today, we harvested the backyard vineyard (about 26% Sangiovese, 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc) of 34 vines, which have now been in the ground for going on 21 years (this was our 18th harvest).

We took in 20.6kg (45.4lbs) of Sangiovese and 108.3kg of Cabernet (238.8lbs). That yielded five gallons of Sangiovese must (the juice with all the skins and seeds still in it) and 22 gallons of Cabernet must. The Sangiovese tested at 23.5 degrees brix (a measure of the sweetness of the juice and therefore its potential alcohol). This is perfect for the rosé I usually make from the Sangiovese. The Cabernet must tested at 25.8 degrees brix, fine for making a red wine, although a little on the high side.

I usually harvest closer to 24 brix. This was the first year the grapes were completely dry farmed (that is, they received no supplemental watering at all). Despite the drought, they fare pretty well as I have always watered them very infrequently (no more than three times a year) and always very deeply to encourage deep rooting. There were more raisins than usual, though, which probably accounts for the higher-than-usual sugar reading. All the fruit was clean, with no mildew and we lost very little to critters either.

Assuming the ratio of unfermented must to finished wine is about 60% (typical), we should get about 15 bottles of rosé and about 66 bottles of finished Cabernet around this time next year, which is a pretty normal yield from the vines behind the house.