Harvest 2007

Our first harvest began with our Cabernet Franc, Sept 24th at 7:00 am. Although we had record heat that day (95 degrees), we had a very smooth harvest.  The late spring freeze along with cluster thinning at veraison removed over 50% of our potential crop, so quantities were small.  However, quality is our main concern, and this year looks very promising.  768 lbs of Cabernet Franc were brought to the winery, a short walk from the vineyard.  The fruit was crushed and destemmed.  A sample was drawn from the fermentation bin to test the numbers.  The sugar level was 24 brix (potential alcohol 13.5%).  Based on a yield of 150 gallons of wine from 2000 lbs of fruit, we should yield about 57.6 gallons of wine.  Our upcoming harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon should give us enough wine to make a barrel.

Due to the severe drought conditions this year and extreme ripeness of the fruit, the acid level and ph of the must were out of line.  Ron Barrett of Kinkead Ridge suggested a heavy dose of tartaric Acid (3 g/l) to bring things back in order.  What resulted was an intensely colored must.  With the small berry size and beautiful color, this should make a nice wine.