Marquette ripening issues

[wood1954]

My vineyard is on a north south slope and has large oaks shading the upper NW corner until about 9am, then in the afternoon a large cherry tree shades the same area. I checked the Brix yesterday and the shaded area is 15-18 while the sunny area is 23. The weather the next 4 days will be sunny and close to 80, then cools off to 60s, with night temps in the 40s. I’m ok with some grapes going to 26 Brix, but wonder how much more the shadier areas will increase. Maybe I should harvest the ripe grapes next week and wait for the rest to catch up and make rose out of the unripe berries.
BTW, the cherry tree is coming down this winter as well as several red oaks.

 

[Obbnw]

I've got similar issues and just pick them as they ripen, crush and freeze till everything is ready then start off with a "cold soak". I've only got 20 vines and everything is done by hand so it is manageable. It makes the picking and crushing less daunting if I spread it out over 6-10 days of picking over 2-3 weeks.

 

[wood1954]

Nice that you can do that, I don’t have room, I may pick the ripest vines this weekend and do hand crushing the flavor drops as they get over ripe.

 

[wood1954]

I did a berry sample in the vineyard today. The Brix went from 18 to 24.5 as I moved down the slope. The combined Brix of all samples was 22. The ph is 3.3. I’m letting the juice settle overnight to see if the Brix drop as it clears. So, looks like I’ll be picking Labor Day. Next three days are to be warm and sunny.