MCV FARM NEWS - 8/22/08 - Nothing But Net

Morning Ya’ll,

Well, another week has passed. Things are looking great in the vineyard. Veraison is well under way almost all blocks. The only variety that is not showing color change yet is the Petit Verdot, but this variety is stubborn and takes a bit more time. In addition to changing color the fruit begins to soften during veraison. This is what the Merlot looks like right now.






The birds have been buzzing around the vineyard. As a result of bird pressure we put nets on the vines to help protect our fruit. Below you can see some pictures of nets going on the vines. Once the nets have been applied we have to tie the nets at the bottom. The nets help reduce bird pressure, but do not eliminate it. Birds are just some of the critters that are interested in our tasty grapes! Here are some photos of the guys netting Pinot Noir.










This time of year winemakers begin making necessary preparations for harvest. I have been spending some time reviewing the types of yeast that I will use in our ferments this year. Yeast are fungi. Without yeast, wine would not be. Yeast consume the sugar that was stored in the grapes and convert it into three main by-products: alcohol, carbon dioxide, and heat. Yeast are involved and/or responsible for many things that we consume; Bread, Beer, Wine, Spirits, etc. (Pretty much all of the good stuff in life.)

However, like many things in winemaking there are choices to be made. What kind of yeast do you want to use? What temperature do you ferment at? How long do you stay on the yeast after fermentation? What quantity of yeast do you add to the juice? What type of nutrients do you provide for the yeast? Etc…

There are many “commercial” types of yeast that winemakers can choose from. Commercial yeasts come in a dried form exactly like what is used for baking. Commercial yeast are yeast that were identified in nature as being suitable for winemaking and were isolated down to a single cell and then propagated.

A winemaker can chose to allow “natural” yeasts to ferment the wine. All yeast are natural, but when we say natural yeast we mean the yeast that come in with the grapes. As I mentioned earlier yeast are every where in our environment. Well, cheers to yeast and all things fermented!

- Juan.

MCV FARM NEWS - 8/15/08 - Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Morning Ya'll,

Well, I again apologize for letting two weeks get away since I have last written. The business continues on the farm. The guys in the vineyard continue to do some touch up work in the vineyard with leaf pulling. In addition to leaf pulling, the hedging of the vines continues. Wojtek and his guys have been doing a great job keeping the vineyard tidy. The vines are getting there last "haircut" before we will be putting nets on the vines.

The vines have now reached veraison. Veraison is when the grapes will begin to develop sweetness and change color. Grapes intended for white wine will turn golden yellow. Gewurztraminer and Pinot Grigio develop a bit more of color. As for the grapes intended for red wine they will turn...you guessed it, red. It is actually a pretty cool time to take a walk into the vineyard because you will see some red berries amongst the green berries. If time allows take a walk into the vines just beyond the offices. It is pretty cool to see this natural process of veraison in action. I will take some photos over the weekend and send these out for all to see.

As we all know, it has been pretty wet lately. The rain is not great for us, but it is not the end of the world either. However, in the past week or so the East End saw some hail in spotty areas. In a matter of minutes several vineyards received damage due to this form of precipitation. Fortunately for ourselves we had no hail damage. Other regions of the world such as Mendoza, Argentina see powerful hail storms at the end of the growing season that literally can shred a years work in a matter of minutes. Hail is not typically a form of precipitation that we see here on Long Island, but we have seen it a couple of times this Summer.

As for the rain... we have received it just like everyone else. All of the shoot thinning, leaf pulling, hedging, etc. that we have done in the past couple of months is truly important when we are having a weather pattern such as this. Once again these canopy management techniques are critical for expediting drying of precipitation and for maximizing sun exposure.

Lastly, I would like to make myself for another vineyard walk for those staff that could not attend last week. Would a Friday evening or Saturday morning work best for most? Also, if you have any wine vineyard/questions, let me know. Talk with ya'll soon and remember: Drink what you like, like what you drink!

Cheers,

Juan.

MCV FARM NEWS - 8/1/08 - Cool Climates

Morning ya’ll,

Well the past week on the farm has been pretty busy. Last weekend we hosted Sounds on Sound music festival, The Anything But Chardonnay & Merlot Festival, as well as hosting the Farm Bureau Dinner. The dinner was attended by the Junior Senator from New York, former Presidential candidate and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. In addition to Hillary several other politicians and many of the East End’s Farmers came out to support farming. We really are not a bad looking bunch when we are all cleaned up.

Wine is truly a product of farming. Many wine consumers forget that wine is a product of agriculture. The greatest thing about Long Island wines is that anybody can come on out and visit the farms in which the grapes are grown to make the wine that they enjoy at home. Sure one can visit California, France, Italy, etc. However, in this tough economy folks can come out for the day and enjoy the beauty of the World Class vineyards producing World Class wines right here in their backyards.

In fact the Long Island wine region will be celebrating and holding a symposium at Stony Brook Southampton celebrating Cool Climate Grape Growing. This two-day event will have speakers from cool climate grape growing regions all around the world. It will be an exciting opportunity to spend time and here lectures from prominent grape growers and winemakers. The wine in dustry is a global one, but a small one. I look forward to sharing much of the information that will be learned at this exciting symposium.

Wine is so intriguing to me because although it has existed for thousands of years we have not perfected it. There is always something new to learn and nature is always keeping you on your toes.

Lastly, if you can get a chance it is a good time to take a stroll through the vineyard. In fact I would like to make myself available next Saturday in the morning to staff to take a stroll through the vineyard with me. We can discuss the vineyard and I can answer any questions that anyone may have. Please let me know if anyone is interested in doing so.

Cheers,

M2