Marquette starting veraison......

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
1EBFB42C-8B50-41A6-8DDB-CFBE4C3A749A.jpeg
My Marquette hasn‘t started to turn yet. Probably about 2 weeks out and then I will net them. Looks like a good crop. Last year I was on vacation and the birds had a feast before I netted. We started out with a dry spring, but we’re having a wet humid summer. Japanese beetles are active, but I’ve been able to prevent any mildew with periodic fungicide applications.
 
We had a late frost post bud break this year (like usual) and then we have had some light hail during spring right round bloom. Not the prettiest clusters this year. Contrast the Marquette with the Noiret which is always several weeks behind and look at the difference.......

1627131600434.jpeg

Looks like a well tended vineyard especially compared to mine. Did you have extreme weather during flowering? Your clusters are quite loose. I wonder what caused that.
 
I’m a little confused as to where I am with mine. I took a sample on 7/23 and was at 21.5 Brix and 3.02pH. I checked again today and was at 24 Brix and 3.12 pH but the pH meter’s batteries were fading so I replaced them, recalibrated and the juice was at 3.02. Guess I’ll check again this weekend with some fresh buffer solution. They taste pretty good.

6DBBD2A9-03EA-4697-A9AD-991473BC18BE.jpeg
C10BD94C-3CE2-49B0-80CD-9B2859B053C3.jpeg
 
You want to pick around 25-26 Brix if you can get there.


I’m a little confused as to where I am with mine. I took a sample on 7/23 and was at 21.5 Brix and 3.02pH. I checked again today and was at 24 Brix and 3.12 pH but the pH meter’s batteries were fading so I replaced them, recalibrated and the juice was at 3.02. Guess I’ll check again this weekend with some fresh buffer solution. They taste pretty good.

View attachment 77042
View attachment 77044
 
You want to pick around 25-26 Brix if you can get there.
Thanks, I was hesitating as to whether I should harvest this weekend or hold out until my pH readings are closer to 3.3 but I’m a little worried about Brix getting away from me. The juice, skins, and seeds all taste good and not too acidic or bitter like the few clusters I let ripen last year. With your encouragement I might go ahead and pull them this weekend.
 
You want to pick around 25-26 Brix if you can get there.
I had another question for you: I exchanged some messages with a winery in Virginia that grows Marquette and they were saying that in their vines’ early years the fruit ripened early though the chemistry was often screwy but as the vines got older they started ripening later in the summer/fall and the chemistry has stabilized and become more consistent. Has that been your experience where you are?
 
I have a unique growing situation. I live at high elevation (6700ft) and live in a high mountain dry desert climate. Our soils are thin and volcanic with tons of basalt rock underneath the soil. This creates a terroir that mimics a "rocks funk" in most wines. Our water is basic in pH as well as our soil. Because of these conditions I can get a high brix due to our heat and dry climate and due to our soil the grapes turn out with an unbelievable pH and TA. I usually have a pH around 3.6 and a TA around 6g/L. No adjustment in chemistry is needed. I seem to be ripening a few weeks earlier the last few years but I attribute that to warmer weather in the summer and less rains during our summer monsoon season.
 
I have a unique growing situation. I live at high elevation (6700ft) and live in a high mountain dry desert climate. Our soils are thin and volcanic with tons of basalt rock underneath the soil. This creates a terroir that mimics a "rocks funk" in most wines. Our water is basic in pH as well as our soil. Because of these conditions I can get a high brix due to our heat and dry climate and due to our soil the grapes turn out with an unbelievable pH and TA. I usually have a pH around 3.6 and a TA around 6g/L. No adjustment in chemistry is needed. I seem to be ripening a few weeks earlier the last few years but I attribute that to warmer weather in the summer and less rains during our summer monsoon season.
Wow, those are nice numbers. Have you not noticed any difference in the ripening parameters between when they were young and first producing to now or have they been consistent from the beginning?
 
Pretty consistent over the years. I planted my vines back in the Spring of 2010. Mostly I see that th grapes are ripening earlier than back in 2012 when I got my first crop. Back then they would hang till the end of August or early September. Now they are doing good to make it till mid August at best. This is for the Marquette. The Noiret is always weeks behind since they break bud weeks later.

Wow, those are nice numbers. Have you not noticed any difference in the ripening parameters between when they were young and first producing to now or have they been consistent from the beginning?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top