my Cab Sauv numbers

[Snafflebit]

The 100 lb. of Merlot is fermenting and I picked 200 lb of Cab Sauv yesterday. The weather, smoke and other hurdles keep the 2020 season interesting. Who knows what's next, locusts? I have Cab from two vineyards.
Batch 1: 25.5 Brix, 3.75 pH, 0.875 %TA <-- surprised the TA is high and also pH high
Batch 2: 24.5 Brix, 3.71 pH, 0.68 %TA

I am going to make wine without adjusting to a lower pH and see what happens.
I always felt that having the grapes in the 3.4pH to 3.6pH range was like a sacred requirement for good wine. Now I am reading some harvest studies in Napa, hang time is highly prized and picking of Cab Sauv is not based on reaching a particular Brix, but on sensory perception of seeds and vegetative flavors. I am emboldened to go big on my future wines.

Anyone else have info to back up this approach?

 

[AaronSC]

Wow, I'm surprised the TA is that high given the pH and Brix. Both high pH and TA is not uncommon in hybrids (one of their many joys...) but I haven't experienced this with CS, personally. Is it possible the TA reading is off on batch 1? Could be it's 2020, too...

Just out of curiosity which vineyard did you source these from? I'm also a resident of San Jose, part time, but working from the Sierra Foothills during the pandemic.

 

[Snafflebit]

The test results from petiole analysis showed very high potassium in these vines. I wonder if that is buffering my juice and raising the pH. Or making measurement difficult.

I manage two vineyards for friends and get the grapes as payment. So far, this has been more about learning to tend and fix a vineyard because I have put more work into the vines than I received in grapes. There are quite a few backyard vineyards in Almaden valley and Santa Cruz mountains. I have toyed with the idea of starting a business as a consultant, but I see how it would require an army of laborers to keep on top of things. Every vineyard is different and scattered

 

[Snafflebit]

moved