Jan-Feb is always the slowest season at the winery. If you want to feel like you're getting personal attention, there's no better time to show up at the tasting room than now. Be careful though, almost all of the wineries in the area cut back their hours during the cold, dark, snowy months, so give them a call before you drive there. (I believe we are Sat-Sun 12-5pm only right now.)
I appreciate the lull in the activity, though, because it has felt non-stop since the last time I posted. Well, after the drought, watching the grapes was like watching grass grow. I literally mowed my yard a handful of times before having to deal with the grapes at all. We just let them grow and develop the best they could with the little water we were able to provide them.
As Autumn was peeking her head around the corner, we started harvesting. This year, all but one varietal on our property (all except Pinot Grigio planted in 2011) were old enough and mature enough to be harvested. In general the crop may have been a little light due to the lack of water, but the quality of most of our fruit was spectacular. Lack of water slightly dehydrates the grapes so that they're not big and watered down. Instead they're smaller and full of flavor. However, it's a fine line between slight dehydration and killing the vine, a line that we walked way too closely this past summer.
We picked through sun and rain and storm and cold, starting with Moscato and ending with our very unique Petit Manseng varietal. We weighed, crushed, fermented, pressed, racked, and even bottled some of the wines. I'll try and take some time over the slow season to catch you up on the interesting things that have happened to the winery (and to me) over my busy 6-month blog absence.
Happy New Year,
The Winemaker's Apprentice
I appreciate the lull in the activity, though, because it has felt non-stop since the last time I posted. Well, after the drought, watching the grapes was like watching grass grow. I literally mowed my yard a handful of times before having to deal with the grapes at all. We just let them grow and develop the best they could with the little water we were able to provide them.
As Autumn was peeking her head around the corner, we started harvesting. This year, all but one varietal on our property (all except Pinot Grigio planted in 2011) were old enough and mature enough to be harvested. In general the crop may have been a little light due to the lack of water, but the quality of most of our fruit was spectacular. Lack of water slightly dehydrates the grapes so that they're not big and watered down. Instead they're smaller and full of flavor. However, it's a fine line between slight dehydration and killing the vine, a line that we walked way too closely this past summer.
 |
| Harvest 2012. That's me in the maize shirt. |
We picked through sun and rain and storm and cold, starting with Moscato and ending with our very unique Petit Manseng varietal. We weighed, crushed, fermented, pressed, racked, and even bottled some of the wines. I'll try and take some time over the slow season to catch you up on the interesting things that have happened to the winery (and to me) over my busy 6-month blog absence.
Happy New Year,
The Winemaker's Apprentice
No comments:
Post a Comment