Wines I'm Making: 2025 Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc

I was away the entire month of September, which made it impossible to monitor the vineyard at a fairly critical time – the period during which the critters have decided the grapes on the vines, even if not fully ripe, are ripe enough to eat. Despite being fully netted and an electric fence around the perimeter, something, probably raccoons, managed to get inside and completely stripped one of our two rows of vines of fruit. Zero fruit. Two vines at the front door, with no protections, were completely stripped as well. Had I been here, I might have prevented some of the damage. The second row was intact, however, and the fruit, despite some incursions and damage from yellow jackets, was in remarkably good condition with virtually no mildew or other rot.

I harvested the Cabernet on October 10. I got 104lbs of grapes from the single row of grapes, which is a very good yield and more than I expected judging from the state of things on my return from overseas. The grapes are now crushed and resting. The must (the crushed grapes, juice, skins, seeds, and all) tested at 22º Brix, which is at the low end of the acceptable range of sweetness (and may require a slight adjustment). Ideally, I would have waited another week or two in the hope of seeing the sugar levels rise a little more, but at some point it becomes a question of balancing the potential for additional ripeness with the potential for more animal damage. 

In the next day or two, I'll inoculate the must with yeast and the 2025 Cabernet will be off to the races. Almost no Sangiovese grapes were left on my return. I glean a couple of handfuls of berries (literally) from the stripped vines and chucked those grapes in with the fermenting Cabernet. We usually make rosé from the Sangiovese, but there will be none this year. And so it goes...

[Edit] Circumstances have prevented me from getting to the vineyard supply store to pick up yeast. As of today, Monday, the crushed Cabernet grapes have been sitting for three days. While I've kept them cool in the garage, they have spontaneously begun to ferment, as grapes will do, yeast naturally present on the skins starting the process. Vineyards sometimes promote their wines as natural and authentic because fermented with "wild yeasts," but I've never in 21 years of making wine tried to just let the fermentation go. The conventional wisdom is that using a commercially available yeast strain developed specifically for winemaking is more consistent and reliable. At the same time, I've read that the "wild" yeasts hanging around in winemaking areas are often the very same yeasts sold commercially, having become present in the air from decades of their introduction and use in making wines. Without analysis, it's impossible to know what strain of yeast is now working on my gape juice, but, everything else this year having been left to chance because of various circumstances (mainly my absence in September, but then being unable to go out on Saturday and Sunday because of my participation in the ArtTrails open studios event, the store being closed today, on Monday), perhaps it would be appropriate to just let the 2025 wine go and see what the result of the fermentation is. Tomorrow I'll try to confer with the experts and see what they suggest. 

Wine I'm Making: Harvest likely to be late in 2023

When wine grapes start to take on their mature color, they begin to ripen. Red wine grapes go from green to pink to whatever color they will end up being – anywhere from a pale red to a deep purple-black. The French call the start of the color change veraison. In my little backyard vineyard (34 vines – 21 Cabernet Sauvignon, four Cabernet Franc, and nine Sangiovese), veraison is usually in mid-July. In a normal year, the grapes have taken on their full color usually by the end of July or early August at the latest. This year, reflecting the very long, cool spring season we had, veraison is still not complete in the middle of September. I usually harvest the grapes in the last week of September in an early year, in the second week of October in a late year. This year I suspect the grapes may hang until early November. 

Wines I'm Making: Harvest 2020--Sangiovese

I decided to harvest the Sangiovese grapes today. The berries appeared to be mature, judging from the seeds, and some were already turning to raisins. With a heat wave predicted for today and the next couple of days and the next opportunity to harvest likely next weekend, it seemed the time was right. We got a total of 53.2lbs of grapes, which is roughly normal. We've harvested anywhere from about 40lbs to over 70lbs in the past. 

A juice sample before harvest showed a brix of 19.5 degrees, which, corrected for the temperature, is around 20.25 degrees. The crushed grapes tested at 20.25 brix and a specific gravity of 1.080. As I often do with the Sangiovese grapes, from which we make rosé, I bumped up the specific gravity with a small addition of corn sugar (450 grams or so), which raised the specific gravity to 1.090. That should yield a wine of about 12.6% alcohol. The pH of the must was 3.58. I crushed the grapes a little after noon and will press them this evening after they've had about six hours on the skins--which is less than usual. I frequently leave them overnight, so that they've typically had about 18 hours before pressing, but that would mean pressing first thing in the morning and there won't be time to do that before work starts. The color this year is likely to be a bit lighter than usual. We'll see. 

Wines I'm Making: 2019 Cabernet pressed, 2018 Sangiovese and Cabernet bottled

On October 21, I took advantage of an unexpected day off to press the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc, ending up with 11.5 gallons of pressed wine, which will eventually translate into about 55 bottles of finished wine. This year's Sangiovese had already been pressed for rosé (five gallons, or 25 bottles).

I also finally got the 2018 Sangiovese and Cabernet bottled.

2018 was unusual in that I made no rosé from the Sangiovese (I was so busy that, by the time I got to pressing the grapes last year, they had already taken on too much color to be a rosé, so I let them develop into a full-on red). This will be an opportunity to see how these grapes do as a red wine. We ended up with 29 bottles of 2018 Cabernet, 17 bottles of 2018 Sangiovese, a very small yield. 2019 was the biggest in many years because of a combination of factors. Our neighbor removed small trees shading the vines the year before and they got better light and air as a result. That and a new method of sulfur spraying (dusting rather than spraying) prevented nearly all mildew loss. We also suffered comparatively little damage from critters.

Wines Im Making: Harvest 2019

We picked our grapes this year on Saturday, October 5, which is a pretty typical date. We usually harvest in the first week of October. We took in 77.42 pounds of Sangiovese and 155.54 pounds of Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc, which is rather more than usual because this year we suffered very little damage from raccoons and other critters, losing only seven or eight clusters of low-hanging fruit, and losing virtually nothing to mildew--a first. It made a huge difference to dust the grapes with sulfur rather than spraying them. It is a far easier method and it works much better. That will be the plan in the future. These are perhaps the healthiest-looking grapes we've ever harvested.

The Cabernet must tested at 23.25 brix and a pH of 3.38, which is close to ideal. The Sangiovese tested at 20.25 brix and a pH of 3.7, a trifle low on the brix side, but we usually make rosé from these grapes, so that's well within the range I'm looking for. I added 230 grams of corn sugar to bump up the brix about a degree, as I did last year. After 18 hours on the skins, I pressed the grapes, (the grapes were crushed at about 4PM on the 5th, pressed at about noon on the 6th). Ten gallons of must yielded five gallons of pressed juice. On the evening of the 6th, I added yeast, this year using the Prise de Mousse variety again, as I did last year, although I've usually used the Epernay II yeast in the past. The yeast doesn't seem to alter the flavor that much. I've had good results with both. The grapes were so healthy looking I did not add sulfite to the Sangiovese must. I lightly sulfited the Cabernet, as that must will soak for a couple of days before it starts to undergo fermentation. So far, off to a good start. Next task--bottle and label last year's wine.

Wines I'm Making: Harvest 2019—Not Quite Yet

Thinking our backyard grapes might be ready to harvest, I did my first full testing of their ripeness today. A sample from the Cabernet vines showed brix at 23.5, which is very close to ideal (24 brix is where I normally like to pick), but with the pH a bit on the low side (pH 3.34). PH squared x brix = 262, which, according to Jeff Cox's From Vines to Wines (Storey Books, 1999), means they are ready for picking (the goal by this measure is 260 for a red wine), but the seeds in many of the grapes are still a touch green and another week on the vines will be perfect, I suspect. The problem is the raccoons—or whatever it is that steals grapes in the night. Ideal ripeness has to be balanced against potential animal losses. Happily, this year, almost none of the grapes will be lost to mildew, so I feel like waiting another week is the way to go. Thus, harvest 2019 is projected for October 5.

The Sangiovese, from which we normally make rosé (and last year used to make a little sparking wine, even), tested at only 19 brix and a pH of 3.31—on the low side (pH squared x brix = 208, again, within the acceptable range, according to Cox's measure (for whites and rosé 200 is the goal), but I think we can get a little more ripeness). I like to pick the Sangiovese for rosé at 22 brix. Although 19 brix would probably be just right for sparkling wine, I'm not equipped with enough of the right kind of bottles to make the whole Sangiovese harvest into sparkling wine, so I will wait to pick the Sangiovese as well. Today, I will check the integrity of the nets and make sure the electric fence is working and hope the animals are deterred as much as possible....

Wines I'm Making: 2018 Harvest

Cabernet grapes, just harvested

Harvest 2018: As rain was forecast for this week (and it's raining right now--first rain of the 2017-2019 rain year), I picked our backyard grapes on September 28, both the Sangiovese and the Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc section of our little vineyard of 34 vines.

Grapes in the crusher

We got 84.5lbs of Cabernet grapes, about 30% more than last year. The must tested at 24.0º Brix, which is just about perfect, although I could have let them hang another week or so. I decided to pick because of the rain and the fact that critters were beginning to discover them (despite being netted and protected by an electric fence). Today, October 2, I pitched the yeast, so they've had a three-day pre-soak, which is in line with my usual practice. The only deviation this year has been that I did not sulfite either the Cabernet or the Sangiovese must, as having more grapes this year allowed me to choose only the best, healthiest grapes.

Crushed grapes--on their way to becoming red wine

We got just over 70lbs of Sangiovese. Normally, I make rosé from the Sangiovese, but circumstances conspired against that. I've been so busy with work and other obligations in the last week that they'd already been on the skins for about 30 hours by the time I got back to them. I could have pressed them and made a deep rosé, but I didn't have the energy, so I left them; this year we will make a red wine from the Sangiovese for the first time in many years. The must tested at 20.5º Brix, which is on the low side. I added 2.5 ounces of corn sugar to the must (all I had on hand), which will raise the alcohol level slightly. This wine probably will be best pressed early to make a lighter wine. We'll see how things turn out....

Wines I'm Making: 2017 Sangiovese Harvest (September 25, 2017)

I picked our Sangiovese grapes on September 25, 2017. The juice from the just-crushed grapes was at 21 degrees Brix and a pH of 3.57 (although the pressed grapes tested much higher--at 26 degrees Brix). I got only 44lbs of grapes, which is a very low yield. I did not sulfite at all, but pitched the yeast (Epernay II) immediately. While the loss to animals this year was zero--proving my belated understanding that the key to preventing animal damage is getting the nets and the electric fence on early, while the fruit is still green and of no interest to four-legged intruders--there was a much more mildew damage than usual. I had to throw away probably a third of the grapes and even in the grapes I used there was more mildew damage than I'd have liked. I'm hoping the wine will not show evidence of unhealthy grapes. Time will tell. Because of the mildew, I pressed the grapes right after crushing them, so there was only about an hour of skin contact. In the past, I've let the grapes sit about 18 hours before pressing, which results in a deep rosé. This year the wine is likely to be a much paler pink. Our Cabernet grapes are still on the vines.

Wines I'm Making: The Waiting Game 2017

It's almost mid-September. The commercial vineyards, growing many varieties in many locations, are in the middle of a harvest that will last into early November in the higher elevations but mostly finish by mid-October. My Cabernet and Sangiovese vines will be ready soon, but the grapes aren't mature yet. They have been netted against critters. The electric fence is on. So far, no damage from animals, but a fair amount of the Sangiovese got hit by mildew earlier in the season and a lesser amount of the Cabernet. The removal of trees in the neighbor's yard right next to the grapes has helped to keep things healthy otherwise--more sun, more light. As long as the animals continue to leave the berries alone, we'll have a harvest at least as big as the very small harvest of last year. Now I simply wait for the grapes to mature while keeping an eye on their sugar levels. Quite a few raisins already, a result of the very high temperatures (well above 100 degrees) we had last week and the week before. I've watered only twice this year, once a deep watering of 7 hours and more recently, following the heat, about 4 hours. As always, we won't really know what's going on until the berries are picked and crushed. That's probably about two weeks away.

Wines I'm Making: Harvest 2014 (September 24, 2014)

We picked our grapes on the 24th of September this year, which is about a week to two weeks earlier than usual. The grapes were looking a little dehydrated and rain was threatening. While rain is good for the plants, a heavy rain on soft, ripe skins could have been disastrous and I was worried about mold. With the sugar levels close to optimal anyway, I decided to pick.

The Sangiovese must tested at 22.8 degrees Brix and a pH of 3.47, the Cabernet at 24.5 degrees Brix and a pH of 3.37, both close to ideal, although these are averages of all the grapes in the vineyard. I would like to have let the fruit hang a little longer, but I'm hoping the wine will be at least as good as it usually is--which is not bad at all.

I pressed the Sangiovese grapes on the following morning. I always make a rosé from the Sangiovese. The juice was about 18 hours on the skins, which has been normal. That amount of skin contact typically produces a wine of a pale salmon hue. The Cabernet is still cold soaking (or cool soaking anyway). I usually let the crushed grapes sit for about three days before inoculating with yeast. The Sangiovese fermentation is already underway. As usual, I have used the Epernay yeast for the rosé, the French Red yeast for the Cab. Soon the house will smell like a winery.

Wines I'm Making: 2014 Harvest Approaches (September 12, 2014)

I did a full sampling of the fruit in our little vineyard on the 12th, the first serious look I've taken at picking the grapes so far this year. The Cabernet vines showed 23.8 Brix at a pH of 3.30, which is fairly close to ideal, but I'm afraid some of the sugar level reflects dehydration rather than full ripeness of the fruit. September 12 is about a month earlier than the usual harvest date. I will continue to monitor the sugar levels. I usually like to pick at about 24-25 Brix with the pH no higher than about 3.5. One theory says that the pH level squared times Brix should ideally be at 260 for picking. My September 12 numbers yield 259--so technically ready, but I will wait at least another week, perhaps two, unless the sugar or pH levels seem to be rising precipitously.

The Sangiovese grapes look a little less ripe, showing 20.8 Brix and a pH of 3.44. I usually like to pick the grapes for the rosé we make from the Sangiovese at about 22 Brix with the pH as low as possible. So, as with the Cabernet, I'll be monitoring the grapes over the coming week or two to see how things are progressing.

Wines I'm Making: Grapes Coming Along Nicely (September 3, 2014)

We're probably still several weeks to harvest, but I tested a couple of berries on the vines today, just to see how things were progressing. A single Sangiovese berry measured 21 degrees Brix, a cabernet berry 20 degrees Brix. In a couple of weeks I'll start taking sample berries from clusters all around our little vineyard to get an idea of the average ripeness of the fruit, but above 20 degrees Brix at this date suggests harvest may be on the early side this year. I like to pick the Sangiovese (for making rosé) at about 23 Brix, the Cabernet at 24-25 Brix. Depending on the weather a one degree increase in sweetness can take a week or more. We may be picking toward the end of September rather than in the second week of October, which has been typical. 2014 will be our 11th vintage. Soon I'll bottle the 2013 Cabernet, which will give us ten years of winemaking in bottle. Time for a vertical tasting soon.

First Home-grown Tomatoes of the Year (2014)

We've been enjoying cherry tomatoes for several weeks now (popping them like candy before breakfast has become a habit), but today I harvested the first full-sized tomatoes from the eight plants we have in the garden this year--mostly heirloom varieties. These pictured are Brandywines and a couple of Dragon's Eyes. They will have been consumed by the time you read this--probably in the form of a caprese salad.

Plants I'm Growing: 2014 "Flavor King" Pluots

The day before yesterday I was standing on the deck behind the house and noticed a large bird in our fig tree. It flew a dozen feet and landed in the little "Flavor King" pluot tree in our back yard, picking at the fruit. That was annoying, but I was glad to see the bird because it was a Black-headed Grosbeak, a species I've never seen in the garden--although I've heard them singing nearby before.

So, birds were taking notice and fruit was beginning to fall: I decided to harvest. I took about 100 pluots off the tree. They're delicious fresh, but it may be time to make jam again.

Wines I'm Making: 2013 Sangiovese Berry Sample

 It's that time of year. I got out my pH meter and my refractometer today to look at the sugar and pH levels of the Sangiovese grapes in the back yard for the first time this season. I collected a sample of berries from each of the plants in the vineyard and crushed them. First the sugar level: The juice is at 20 Brix. I'm aiming for 22-23 Brix, so another week to ten days, perhaps. The pH is at 3.40, which is a bit higher than I would have expected at this stage. I'll test again in a few days. If the pH seems to be rising steadily without the sugars going up much, I may have to pick at a somewhat lower sugar level than is ideal. We'll see how things progress.

[Update: I took another Sangiovese berry sample today, September 29. The sugar is now at 21 Brix, so up a point from the sample I took ten days ago. The pH is higher, too, but not alarmingly so, at 3.45. pH squared times Brix is 249.9. I'd like to get one more degree of sugar, but can probably pick any time. Rain is in the forecast--which may have a bearing on things, depending on how much we get.

I also checked the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for the first time today, taking a similar berry sample. The sugar is already at 25 Brix--right where I want it--and the pH is at 3.42, which is a good level) pH squared times Brix is 292), but I suspect the sugar is where it is in large part because the number of raisins on the vines is greater than usual at this time of year. It's normal for some raisins to form before harvest, but I suspect my attempt to dry farm the grapes this year (I've watered them only once or twice the whole summer) may have something to do with it. Normally I water three to four times. Some of the seeds look quite mature, others are still somewhat green. It's beginning to sprinkle just as the sun is starting to go down. If we get a heavy rain tonight (September 29) or a prolonged rain begins to look likely, it may be best to pick very soon.]

Wines I'm Making: 2013 Cabernet at 20 Brix

Yesterday I got out the refractometer for the first time this year--out of curiosity; we are still several weeks from a normal harvest date--but a random berry I tested from one of our Cabernet vines was at 20 brix. I normally aim to harvest at around 24 brix. As generally it takes about a week of good weather to raise the brix level by one degree, that would suggest we're about a month from harvest. As we usually harvest in the first week of October, everything seems to be on track, despite the rather cool summer we've had. Looking at the grapes, I noticed some that were beginning to shrivel a little. I'd watered only once so far this year. Given the cool weather, I was trying to see if we could go entirely without supplemental water this year, but I decided it would be best to water once before harvest. I turned on the irrigation system for five and a half hours.

Wines I'm Making: 2013 Grapes--So Far, So Good

The 2013 grapes look good so far. The clusters have taken on full color by now. The grapes are netted. The electric fence around them has been on for a couple weeks now. So far, critters haven't shown much interest in them. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to harvest everything that's on the vines. Fruit set was good this year. I expect we'll get a fair amount of fruit. The 32 vines in the back yard have yielded anywhere from about 90lbs to a little over 200lbs over the years. I expect we'll be at the high end of the range this year. We probably have about six weeks to harvest now.

Wines I'm Making: 2012 Grapes Still Unmolested (September 10, 2012)

It's been about 10 days since I last reported on the grapes. I'm pleased to be able to say that there have been no losses so far. The nets have held. The electric fence is pulsing away. I'm hoping that the critters don't even know the grapes are there. It's still early, but I've been sampling a random grape here and there. The Cabernet seems to be already at about 19 brix, the Sangiovese at about 20 brix--both higher than I would have thought. I usually aim to harvest at around 24 brix. The rule of thumb is that one degree of brix takes about a week to develop, which would suggest we'll be harvesting a month from now, at about this time in October, but, we'll see. Ongoing vigilance is in order.

Grapes So Far Unmolested (August 30, 2012)

It's almost September. We haven't lost a single grape yet. So far my strategy has worked. In past years I've usually protected the grapes in the back yard in response to the first depredations of the season, when the grapes have taken on color but are still far from ripe. This year, I determined to net the grapes and turn on the electric fence that surrounds them before the grapes started to turn purple, and the idea seems to have worked. My aim was to make the grapes inaccessible before they became attractive to raccoons etc. Still about six weeks to harvest, if we harvest on a typical date (usually around the second week of October). The summer has been so cool, though, that harvest may be later than usual. We'll see.

Wines I'm Making: Harvest 2011

I decided today was the day to pick our grapes. The somewhat warmer weather of the past few days seemed to be doing little to raise sugar levels and I was beginning to see signs of mildew in a few clusters, so there seemed little reason to wait further. It was a small harvest--having lost a great deal to animals this year. We picked 20kg of Sangiovese, or 44lbs and 43kg of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, or 94.6lbs. This is the latest we've ever picked. I waited in the hopes of getting the sugars up, but it just wasn't warm enough. The unfortunate timing of the rain we had in October complicated things. Some berries swelled with water and split, allowing mold to begin to form. All in all, the grapes look pretty healthy, but mold can take hold very quickly if left unchecked, so better to get the fruit in.

After crushing and de-stemming the grapes, we ended up with 4.75 gallons of Sangiovese must, which I sulfited lightly with three Campden tablets to add about 41ppm of sulfite. The must tested at 20.7 Brix by refractometer and a specific gravity of 1.084 by hydrometer. The pH tested at 3.35. pH squared times Brix equals 232--not at all bad for making a rosé. I took the measurements at 63 degrees F, so I didn't bother to adjust the hydrometer reading for temperature (according to my books, hydrometers are usually calibrated at 59 degrees F, or 15 degrees C).

We got about 10.5 gallons of Cabernet must, which I sulfited lightly with seven Campden tablets (about 43ppm). The must tested at 22.6 Brix by refractometer--somewhat lower than I was hoping for, but respectable, and at a specific gravity of 1.094 by hydrometer. The pH was 3.42. pH squared times Brix yielded 263, which is right about where it ought to be.

I will press the Sangiovese already late tomorrow morning, after about 18 hours on the skins, which has seemed about right in the past. I will then inoculate the pressed juice with yeast and set it aside in a chilly place (either in the garage or outside) for a cool, slow fermentation. The Cabernet will get a soak for a day or two or three before inoculation. And so our 2011 wines start their journey.