Looks like I am going to have harvest

[nucjd]

Well, due to a ridiculous amount of rain in my area that does not look to be letting up and the state of my chardonnay, I will be harvesting this weekend. The brix is about right but I am tasting vegetal notes in the grape which I am afraid will be transferred to the wine. The seeds look nice and dark and the vegetal note is coming from the skins. I am afraid if I wait any longer I will loose the crop to fungus. It has been a bear in the southeast this season secondary to our really wet summer. I will try to get some pics up of my chardonnay harvest once I get rolling. Wish me luck.

 

[Sammyk]

We are worried about our Muscadine grapes!

Here too, we had 4 times the amount of rain than any other July here in NC. In the 13 years we have lived here we have NEVER had green grass in the month of July. I think it is a first ever for green grass in July.

 

[WI_Wino]

From what I have read, oak in the primary might help clean up some of the vegetative flavors. Worth a shot I would think.

 

[nucjd]

Thanks WI. I will give it s shot. I was actually thinking that when I was sorting this morning.

Just finished harvest, crush, and press and now sitting in primary getting ready. sg=1.094, ph 3.4. I spent quite a bit of time discarding the not quite ripe and ones damaged by bugs and mold ( which was a lot ).

LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!

 

[Sammyk]

Our Muscadines don't start to ripen until September here. Please rain gods, no more rain!

 

[nucjd]

I have noticed Chardonnay in this area works well because it ripens pretty darn quick which lets me account for the fungus and wet summers.

 

[spaniel]

I've been there. A couple years ago we had drought then a huge amount of rain....one day all is fine, the next I can smell rot walking into the vineyard. Had to pick everything ASAP, the Cayuga turned out OK after picking out 1/3 that went bad in 24 hours but my red (Foch) was simply not ready and I could not get the bite out of it....but it was better than letting it rot on the vine.

Hopefully all will be okay for you.

 

[WI_Wino]

Here's a good thread on untoasted oak and its effects/benefits.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f74/untoasted-oak-31731/

 

[seth8530]

You have chard growing in Bama? How does that normally turn out?

 

[nucjd]

Pretty darn good Seth. The big problem ( besides the obvious fungus, pests and rain) is we do not have cool nights which will help drive up the acid levels that work so well in Chardonnay. The heat drives up the sugar though so it is a balance to hot ETOH levels for a balanced chardonnay and not enough acid ( which can be adjusted though). I would have liked to push it out another 3 weeks to one month and it would have been about right. The biggest issue is Pierce's disease which luckily I have not run into. I am hoping I have researched out enough to get the correct clone of Chardonnay. So far it is working out that way.

Thanks for the link WI! I will definitely being using oak on the front end for primary.

 

[nucjd]

Well pitched the yeast this AM and I used french medium toast in the primary since I had no un toasted oak. I will keep you guys up to date.

Seth, here are some pics of one of my chardonnay vines ( I have about 25 vines). Also I have Merlot and Mourvadre as well ( about 15 vines each) grwoing amazingly well. I should see production of the reds next year hopefully based on my growth I am getting.




This was at the beginning of the growing season before veraison

 

[seth8530]

Wow, that is really interesting. I did not know they could grow in the bama. Not to knock your vines because they are beautiful, but I wonder how they would compare to a California chard or Merlot. I can guarantee you getting them semi locally would be cheaper than getting them from cali.....

 

[nucjd]

No offense taken Seth. there is a good reason a world renown winery is not from Alabama. I just really love projects and it is fun to experiment. And heck, you never know until you try.

 

[seth8530]

That is certainly true, I am interested to see how wine from these guys ends up turning out!