More from the Vineyard

The 2009 grape harvest in Virginia and around the world marches on.  Many tons of grapes (mostly white at this point) have been sorted, pressed, fined or fermented.  I have spent a number of hours in the vineyard doing whatever they will let me to learn more about the process.  To date, I have sorted grapes, (Merlot, Chardonnay and Viognier) washed lugs, (way too many to count), picked Chardonnay, heaved around more lugs, hung out in the tasting room, pumped juice, pressed wine and cleaned up after everything.  Throughout the whole process so far, I have learned a great deal.

As far as the grapes are concerned, from what I understand from the wine makers, the whites are off to a fantastic start.  The grapes looked pretty good to me but more importantly, their chemical composition is perfect.  The PH balance is correct and there is more than enough sugar to potentially make good wine.  I am told that this does not necessarily mean that the Virginia whites of 2009 are GOING to be great, just that they are setting up so they CAN be great.  Sampling the lipsamckingly sweet juice from the Chardonnay and Viognier, it’s hard to imagine these as dry, white wines but it sure is great grape juice and that is the magic of winemaking.

Roughly half the harvest is complete.  I assisted in the processing of some 50 tons of mostly white grapes.  Now there is a lull in the action, the proverbial eye of the hurricane is passing over vineyards if you will as they tweak their white juice and begin the painful, anxious game of chicken they must play with mother nature.  The weather is the enemy at this point.  Riper fruit means higher sugar and, generally speaking, better wine.  The cost of ripeness is the potential for rain causing rot…rot does not taste good.  There is also the risk of waiting too long and picking over ripe grapes producing monstrously alcoholic, difficult to tame wine.

Winemakers across Virginia are taking a deep breath for a moment, yet they feel compelled to hold it as conditions unfold.  2009 has been described as a difficult vintage already with several weather irregularities.  The grapes are so close to the bottle at this point everyone has their fingers crossed that Bacchus is kind over the next few weeks and blesses this harvest.  Roughly half the harvest is in and folks are getting some much deserved rest after long days that spanned well into evening.  The pace will redouble however as soon as the first winemaker blinks in their staring contest with the weather and starts to pick the red grapes.  Whatever happens, it’s going to be a lot of work but I have no doubt it’s going to be fun.