Morning ya'll,
The chill is in the air. As we approach the last official weekend of Summer, Fall is making its appearance. It is quite cool this morning. Mother Nature has been quite cooperative in the past several days and promises to be cooperative for next several days coming up. I will take more samples over the weekend and will get a better sense of when the pick will begin. Picking is not far off and something will inevitably will be picked in the week to come. I am thinking that the Pinot Grigio will be one of the first varieties to come off the vine.
Deciding to pick is one of the toughest things to do as a winemaker. There are many factors involved in picking. The main factors include the weather, the vineyard, the science and flavors. There are times when the weather will force you to pick and this time of year Wojtek and myself are watching the weather very closely. The vineyard will also give you signs. We want to make sure that we have a good healthy canopy (fancy way of saying the leaves). The canopy is integral for turning sunlight into sugars. The science which are the numbers that I get from grapes being analyzed at the winery will tell me how ripening is moving along. The science will give me precise numbers, but the other major important factor is flavor. Flavor is judged by just getting into the vineyard and tasting berries. This time of year the grapes are starting to develop amazing flavors. Our Sauvignon Blanc has exquisite flavors developing as does our Gewurztraminer and Pinot Grigio.
Last weekend was a busy one here on the farm. The weather held out beautifully for our Oktoberfest and the weddings that were hosted here on the farm and the feedback was that we had many people enjoying the Fest. On Sunday I was able to host the Hotel and Restaurant Management Program from St. John's University. It was a pleasure spending time with this group here on the farm. Professor Heidi Sungh from St. John's brought her group out to the vineyard. We walked through the vineyard, winery, tasted wines, and discussed many facets of the wine industry. Once again this a great group asking great questions and for many it was there first time out here on the Eastern End. There was a lot of fascination and true excitement that this was going on right in there own backyards.
On Wednesday I was able to partake in filming of a show called Dining with Mastro hosted by Tom Mastriani. We filmed three different shows. The first show featured wine making and the techniques involved. The second show featured a cooking segment along with the pairing of our wines. The third show featured third generation chocolate maker Tad Van Leer of J. Emanuel Chocolates and his artisan chocolates. We paired many Martha Clara wines with his exquisite chocolates. Wine and chocolate...does life get any better?
I learned that there is a lot involved in filming these cooking shows. Joseph Ciminera and his crew made the magic happen around us. Tom, Tad, and myself just had to talk, eat, and drink! This will be airing on WLIW 21 and I will keep ya'll informed when it will air.
Well, that's the news from the farm. Enjoy this nice weather, because I know the grapes certainly are! Talk with ya'll soon. Eat and drink good stuff!
Cheers,
Juan.
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