Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Grape Harvest September 2012
Here are the notes from this weeks grape harvest. Just the three of us this year, me Graham and Mary. Again we have been very lucky with the weather, up to mid 20's, peaking at around 28 degrees yesterday. Dry and sunny.
The weather this summer has been very very dry and hot, and as a result the yield on all grapes was very low.
Pecorino
Picked Saturday 22nd September at 6pm.
A very mixed crop, with lots of fruit brown and overripe, some fruit still green. I think there is just too many bunches, and next year we should try pruning to leave less fruiting shoots. All the fruit was very small, bunches were small, and the picking took us a lot longer than previous years even though the yield was low. Even as we left the worse looking bunches, we picked only 119 Kilos. Crushed and sulphited at 2grams per 23 Kgs, 3 of us destemmed for 25 minutes then left on skins overnight. Next day medium press at 9am to give approx. 60 litres of Juice. 3 sachets of Lalvin D47 added. The juice was tested at 22 Brix, with hydrometer reading at 1.09, PH 3.2, TA at 6.0 We added 15 grams of mixed acid to try and raise the acid to 6.3, as a result of which PH dropped to 3.1. Yeast nutrient added on Monday.
Sangiovese
Picked Sunday 23rd September at 4pm.
This fruit looked a lot healthier than the Pecorino, good ripe black fruit, although again the berries were very small. Yield was low, we picked only 76 Kilos. Crushed and sulphited at 2grams per 23 Kgs, 3 of us destemmed for 10 minutes then left on skins overnight. Next day medium press at 9am to give approx. 30 litres of Juice. 1 sachet of Lalvin D47 added. The juice was tested at 23 Brix, with hydrometer reading at 1.09, PH 3.3-3.4, TA at 4.4. We were shocked at the TA level,. and tested again and again to check it. I think maybe that the fruit ripening has somehow been impeded by the dry hot weather, whereas acid levels have dropped sharply.
We added 45 grams of Tartaric acid to try and raise the acid to 6.0, as a result of which PH dropped to 3.2.
Montepulciano
Again this fruit on the whole looked very healthy although again the berries were very small. Yield was low, we picked only 106 Kilos. Crushed and sulphited at 2grams per 23 Kgs, 3 of us destemmed for 20 minutes then left on skins overnight. Next day medium press at 10am to give approx. 50 litres of Juice. 2 sachets of Lalvin D47 added. The juice was tested at 19.5 Brix, with hydrometer reading at 1.082, PH 3.2-3.3, TA at 4.8. Again we were shocked at the TA level,. and tested again and again to check it.
We added 56 grams of Tartaric acid to try and raise the acid to 6.0, as a result of which PH dropped to 3.1.
On a very positive note, we tasted last years red, the 100% Montepulciano, and were very happy with it. Bottled 89 bottles. Also tasted last years Pecorino and it tasted better than expected, this is quite drinkable. More notes to follow.
The weather this summer has been very very dry and hot, and as a result the yield on all grapes was very low.
Pecorino
Picked Saturday 22nd September at 6pm.
A very mixed crop, with lots of fruit brown and overripe, some fruit still green. I think there is just too many bunches, and next year we should try pruning to leave less fruiting shoots. All the fruit was very small, bunches were small, and the picking took us a lot longer than previous years even though the yield was low. Even as we left the worse looking bunches, we picked only 119 Kilos. Crushed and sulphited at 2grams per 23 Kgs, 3 of us destemmed for 25 minutes then left on skins overnight. Next day medium press at 9am to give approx. 60 litres of Juice. 3 sachets of Lalvin D47 added. The juice was tested at 22 Brix, with hydrometer reading at 1.09, PH 3.2, TA at 6.0 We added 15 grams of mixed acid to try and raise the acid to 6.3, as a result of which PH dropped to 3.1. Yeast nutrient added on Monday.
Sangiovese
Picked Sunday 23rd September at 4pm.
This fruit looked a lot healthier than the Pecorino, good ripe black fruit, although again the berries were very small. Yield was low, we picked only 76 Kilos. Crushed and sulphited at 2grams per 23 Kgs, 3 of us destemmed for 10 minutes then left on skins overnight. Next day medium press at 9am to give approx. 30 litres of Juice. 1 sachet of Lalvin D47 added. The juice was tested at 23 Brix, with hydrometer reading at 1.09, PH 3.3-3.4, TA at 4.4. We were shocked at the TA level,. and tested again and again to check it. I think maybe that the fruit ripening has somehow been impeded by the dry hot weather, whereas acid levels have dropped sharply.
We added 45 grams of Tartaric acid to try and raise the acid to 6.0, as a result of which PH dropped to 3.2.
Montepulciano
Again this fruit on the whole looked very healthy although again the berries were very small. Yield was low, we picked only 106 Kilos. Crushed and sulphited at 2grams per 23 Kgs, 3 of us destemmed for 20 minutes then left on skins overnight. Next day medium press at 10am to give approx. 50 litres of Juice. 2 sachets of Lalvin D47 added. The juice was tested at 19.5 Brix, with hydrometer reading at 1.082, PH 3.2-3.3, TA at 4.8. Again we were shocked at the TA level,. and tested again and again to check it.
We added 56 grams of Tartaric acid to try and raise the acid to 6.0, as a result of which PH dropped to 3.1.
On a very positive note, we tasted last years red, the 100% Montepulciano, and were very happy with it. Bottled 89 bottles. Also tasted last years Pecorino and it tasted better than expected, this is quite drinkable. More notes to follow.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Brix Readings
We have now introduced a more formalised measure of Brix readings, the idea being that this will help us track and monitor grape ripeness and help anticipate future year picking dates;
The table below will be updated every 7 days;
8th 15th 22nd 29th 5th 12th 19th 26th
Aug Aug Aug Aug Sep Sep Sep Sep
Montepulciano 12 12.5 16 17.5 17.5 20.0
Acid % 10
Pecorino 16 15 20 20.5 20.0 22.0
Acid % 9.0 7.0 7.5
Sangiovese 14 15 18 21 19.5 21
Total Acid % 7.5 6.7 5.0
Temperature 'C 36 36 36 21 18 21.0
It is worth noting that the summer thus far in Italy has been very hot and dry, as a result the grapes look very dry, and fruit is still small. But the crop looks healthy and sizeable.
Note; Brix readings have not been adjusted for Temperature.
8th 15th 22nd 29th 5th 12th 19th 26th
Aug Aug Aug Aug Sep Sep Sep Sep
Montepulciano 12 12.5 16 17.5 17.5 20.0
Acid % 10
Pecorino 16 15 20 20.5 20.0 22.0
Acid % 9.0 7.0 7.5
Sangiovese 14 15 18 21 19.5 21
Total Acid % 7.5 6.7 5.0
Temperature 'C 36 36 36 21 18 21.0
It is worth noting that the summer thus far in Italy has been very hot and dry, as a result the grapes look very dry, and fruit is still small. But the crop looks healthy and sizeable.
Note; Brix readings have not been adjusted for Temperature.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
PRUNING AND RACKING SPRING 2012
The wines have been racked once 1st week of December 2011. They were racked again on te 16th and 17th March, a small amount of sulphite added to the White and Rose, all wines look great except the experimental malolactic Pecorino which was discarded due to bad flavour.
The vines were pruned; it took me, BrendyH and GrahamF a good 1.5 days, the weather (again!) was very kind to us.
Montepulciano; 8 spurs of 4 buds each per vine
Sangiovese; 2 or 3 canes of 6 buds each per vine
Pecorino; 2 or 3 canes, 8-10 buds each per vine
We also fertilised the Pecorino and Montepulciano.
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