A sunrise test.

On the hill early before the sun showed its face.

Nothing says Labor Day like, well, labor. The August heat has pushed the ripening of the fruit and it’s time to start paying close attention. We got up early to take grape samples from all the blocks. It is best to do this while the grapes are cool for a more accurate reading of the sugar content of the grapes.

Samples from each block collected. Next the grapes will be crushed in the bags and the juice extracted for measuring BRIX.

After the fruit is collected and crushed, the juice is extracted and a refractometer is used to measure the sugar content in the fruit. A taste of the juice is a nice reward for tromping all over the vineyard and walking through the countless spider webs between rows. I could do without that. I tell myself each year to just wave a stick in front of me while I walk but I always forget. Maybe next year.

The extracted juice.

Notice the juice from the older vine Cabernet Sauvignon (blocks one through three) are lighter in color than the younger Cabernet vines from the upper blocks (five and seven). It’s like grey hair I suppose.

That green Albariño juice will become a beautiful light golden color by the time it is done with vinification. The red wine grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon and Primitivo) are still several weeks away from being ready.

The Albariño, however, came in at 21.3 BRIX so we’ll plan on harvesting it early next week. When tasting the Albariño it was reassuring to taste the acidity that the varietal is known for.

The Sauvignon Blanc will also be ready, but this year we are not sure we will have enough fruit from the Sauvignon Blanc to produce wine. Time will tell.