Hey Ya'll,
Well, it has been dry. We have been irrigating the vineyard to help the vines through this drought. Drip irrigation is a tool that we have at Martha Clara that allows us to get through a drought phase. Not all vineyards have drip irrigation, but it is a nice tool to have. Otherwise things in the vineyard are going well. The guys continue to remove leaves to allow maximum amount of light to penetrate the grapes. The grapes are slowly growing and developing tartaric acid and malic acid. So, if you were to try the grapes now you would notice how tart and acidic the grapes were.
Nature is really pretty clever. The reason that the grape is so acidic is because the seed has not been developed yet. So, if a bird or person were to eat the grapes now there would b e no seed to pass on, because it has not been developed yet. Nature as a result makes the grapes really acidic and keeps them the same color as all of the foliage. It really is genius. The grapes are camouflaged and really acidic. So this means they are difficult to see and if someone or something did taste them they would be in for an unpleasant surprise. Acidic! Ick!
So, while nature is developing the seed it keeps the grapes unpalatable. Once the seed is fully developed and ready to pass on the genetic code, veraison begins. Veraison is when the grapes begin to change color. Red wine grapes start turning red and white wine grapes start turning a golden color. (All grapes start out as green.) In addition to a color change the grapes start softening and developing sugar. As they get sweeter the amount of acid decreases. Now they start to become more tasty to eat. When the sweetened grapes are consumed the now fully developed seed may be passed and as a result a grape vine may successfully pass on its genes. Genius.
In any event this week we received some information from the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua, NY that our 2007 Pinot Grigio was selected to be poured in there tasting room. This is an honor because they select the best wines of New York State to be poured at their tasting room. We were one of only three Long Island wineries to be selected. So, this is a pretty nice honor.
Cheers,
Juan .
Friday, July 18, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
MCV FARM NEWS - 7/5/08 - Kermit is Not Green?
Good afternoon ya'll,
Well, Independence Day has come and gone. Things here on the farm continue to motor on. Wojtek and the guys continue to leaf pull. Once again we pull leaves in the vineyard to maximize the amount of sun that we can get on the clusters. A vine will produce many leaves in a season of growing. However, some of these leaves will make access to sunlight for the fruit more difficult. So, this is where we come into play.
Removing leaves is critical in cool climate viticulture (fancy way of saying grape farming). In hot region viticulture farmers may want to encourage shading as this will slow down ripening. It is ideal to have slow even ripening versus fast and furious ripening because the former encourages maximum flavor development. I have said this before, but flavor development and sugar development happen separately.
Flavor development in grapes requires a slow progression, sugar development on the other happen can happen quickly. In many hot regions sugar development out paces flavor development. Vineyards are forced to pick because if they do not, then sugar will be very high and the resulting alcohol will sky rocket. Long Island which is a cool climate can develop lots of great flavors, but we have to do things like leaf pull to help us attain maximum sugar development.
Cheers,
Juan.
Well, Independence Day has come and gone. Things here on the farm continue to motor on. Wojtek and the guys continue to leaf pull. Once again we pull leaves in the vineyard to maximize the amount of sun that we can get on the clusters. A vine will produce many leaves in a season of growing. However, some of these leaves will make access to sunlight for the fruit more difficult. So, this is where we come into play.
Removing leaves is critical in cool climate viticulture (fancy way of saying grape farming). In hot region viticulture farmers may want to encourage shading as this will slow down ripening. It is ideal to have slow even ripening versus fast and furious ripening because the former encourages maximum flavor development. I have said this before, but flavor development and sugar development happen separately.
Flavor development in grapes requires a slow progression, sugar development on the other happen can happen quickly. In many hot regions sugar development out paces flavor development. Vineyards are forced to pick because if they do not, then sugar will be very high and the resulting alcohol will sky rocket. Long Island which is a cool climate can develop lots of great flavors, but we have to do things like leaf pull to help us attain maximum sugar development.
Cheers,
Juan.
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