08-12-05 - Verasion on Vine !

One of the truly amazing parts about maintaining a blog of this nature is the dramatic differences that I get to witness between the mountain-top vines and the valley-floor vines. Next year, I think I will make a concerted effort to find two vines on different elevations to show those dramatic differences. What is happening valley floor is even written about in the local newspaper: Here Comes The Harvest.

While our grapes are primarily still quite green, those on the valley floor are dark purple and in the case of the sparkling Pinot Noir grapes, are already being picked. At the rate we are going, there is every likelihood that we won't even start picking grapes until late September, when many wineries are entirely finished. But this is quite the standard for higher elevation vineyards so our worries now are simply that the heat holds out and that we don't have an early fall.

There is a buzz of excitement in that we have verasion. You have to look closely to see them, but there are two or three grapes deep within the cluster beginning to show faint hues of purple.  As I looked around throughout the vineyard, I didn't see any other signs of color, but here it is - on our special Vine 1!

Verasion is that point in a grape's life when it begins to ripen and change color. Now is a critical time in the plant. Irrigation is tricky for if the vine is over watered, the grapes themselves can plump up too much. Also, excess water can cause the vine to produce new shoots or leaves.