Following the Viognier harvest, everyone braced themselves for a bigger day with the Merlot.  Given that we were a few pickers short the previous day, I was right on to stressing with the picking contractor that more bodies were needed to ensure that the fruit is off before the peak heat of the day.  Things did drag on into the afternoon with the Viognier pick.

Sampling the previous week did indicate that the Merlot was ripening nicely, sugars had risen well, seeds were darkening and flavours were peaking.  From a logistical perspective it makes sense for me to harvest both varieties either on the same day or on alternate days.

The harvest team really excelled in the conditions and the whole of the 9+ tonnes was brought in with a 4 x 4 motorbike and trailer.

In order to reduce any chance of green characters in the wine it is vital that leaves and petioles are removed.  You can point out to the pickers as many times as you like to keep vine leaves out, however you have to check every picking box as it comes in.

The day went well, yields were good and the word from the winery was that the analysis could not be faultered.  Beaume, pH and titrateable acid were all as you would want them and at this stage not acid adjustments were needed.  This year we are trying something a little different by allowing the crushed grapes to undergo a cold soak for 4 - 5 days prior to fermentation.  The idea behind this is that the batch will homogenise well, will commence the colour extraction process and also ensure greater fruit intensity in the final wine.

Following this it will then be up to those special little yeast babies to do their thing.  Keep you posted on the progress of the wines.

Vineman

Technorati Tags: viognier, merlot, beaume, petiole, pH

The bunch sampling carried out on Monday 24th March together with impending weather lurking later in the week, all helped to convince me that harvest was to take place later that week.  The aim was to take the Viognier off on Thursday and the Merlot on Friday - much organising to be done.

First job was to find a net machine to remove the nets, then could pickers be arranged as well as transport for bins as well as will the winery be able to process the fruit?  It all fell into place perfectly!  The weather on the day was warm to hot, another great harvest day in Margaret River. 

The Viognier harvest was a surprise with the yield being above expectation and some fantastic fruit harvested. This harvest will see the largest quantity of Viognier picked from the vineyard thus far, indicating that we are close to nailing the growing this precocious variety.

The fruit showed the typical variation from green to golden coloured berries.  The deep coloured fruit was due to those bunches which were specifically exposed to the sun to achieve the required amount of berry shrivel.  Indications at the last sampling were that the Beaumes would be high again with the flavours of apricot, peach and honey suckle peaking.

Winemaking style dictates that the bunches are pressed whole i.e. no crushing so as to reduce the phenolic astringency. You guessed it, the winery didn’t have the ability to “easily” get the fruit into the airbag press.  So, straddled between the press and the forklift, all 5+ tonnes had to be shovelled into the press by hand.

That day started at 5am and finished at 11:30pm fro Vineman but the winery didn’t complete the final press load until 3am the following day!

At this point I am excited at the quality and flavour of the juice.  Bring on the Merlot harvest.

Vineman

Technorati Tags: viognier, merlot, Margaret River, phenolic, airbag press

The past weeks have seen weather conditions range from a run of extremely hot days and nights, rain and currently mild to warm days with cool nights.

Ten days ago when we received 25mm of rain over two days I must say I was looking for the worry beads as I had only just commenced sampling and at that stage harvest looked like being more than 3 weeks away.  Luckily both the Merlot and Viognier have come through that well with only a slight slowing of ripening for about a week.

Initially things were looking very similar to 2007 with harvest possibly mid March.  Since then it appears as though we have slipped into a normal harvest time, if there is such a thing.

Bird pressure appears to have abated as sporadic flowering of the red gum has commenced.  The only issue are the ground feeding magpies finding their way under the nets.  They seem to be kind on the fruit and leave it alone.

Yesterday’s sampling showed the Viognier to be colouring well and exhibiting some of that characteristic shrivel.  Flavours will build in the next week or so.

For this important variety things are looking good and we should be on track for 13.5 - 14.0 Beaume at harvest.

The Merlot is a little behind and ripening steadily.  The crop load is moderate following an extensive fruit drop post veraison.  The remaining fruit has coloured well.

For the Merlot we are looking for around 13.5 Beaume - still 2 weeks away!

Will keep you all posted how the next week or so transpires.

Vineman

Technorati Tags: Merlot, Viognier, Beaume, veraison, red gum