morn',
Well Al, by now you have caught up on all your sleep and rearing to go again.
Rich, sounds like you had a fine harvest too.
And us, we still have 5 varieties to go - negrara; nebbiolo; barbera; charbono and forestera. They all were brix 20-21 yesterday. SO, still have some time to go. Since we had a cool spell they slowed way down. But warm again this week. We either have to pick by Thursday or they wait until the 7th of October. YES FATHER AL, I leave on the 1st until the 6th for a High Sierra fishing trip for trout!!! The grapes are all netted and are resting nicely. Hopefully, if we do not pick, they will be at 24-26 brix when we return. This is where we would like them to be anyway. This fishing trip is an annual men's trip from church. I have to go since I invited another (for his first time) and I am driving too. This is about 6 hours away and will be on the June Lake Loop out of Bishop, Ca. Yes, dear, I will take pictures too!!!
The earlier wine is all done with fermentation and is or will be racked into secondaries or carboys today. I still need to test the TA again but the ph's are all 3.25-3.68 so should be ok. I will post pictures later on these.
Hope all that are growing their own grapes are having a good time and a good harvest too!!! Especially Mike, after doing his destem/crush by hand - part of the learning curve. Next year, equipment for sure. But, remember, he is just a kid - so this is all easy for him!!!!
later
rrawhide