Wine 2024 – Update #02

12 July 2024

My friend Beth reported that the grapes in the Glade Springs VA vineyard have started veraison and she’s netting the vines.

• Veraison is the first stage of ripening for grapes, where they start changing color. The represents the transition from berry growth to berry ripening.
• Wise grape growers put netting over the vines to keep birds and animals from eating their crops.

What this means to me is that we will need to finalize our plans regarding what we are buying from Beth & David.

Not much has changed since my last post in April. It’s too early for Gino Pinto to publish a grape & juice price list for Fall 2024, so there’s no decision to make yet.

Barrel #1: Either Pinotage (South African grape) if it’s available, otherwise a Zinfandel-based blend based upon the recipes that I can recall that were used by some of the guys I knew in the late 80’s. Regardless of what we purchase, it will be eight 36 lb lugs, e.g., 288 lbs. This produces enough wine to fill a 55 liter barrel along with a year’s amount of topup wine.

Barrel #3: This is most likely 300 lbs of Chambourcin, and may (or may not) have 30 to 60 lbs of other grapes substituted in. This will depend on what other grapes are picked at the same time as Chambourcin.

Barrel #2: This one is undecided. We plan to buy a couple of 23 liter juice buckets to ferment with the pomace from Barrel #1. Except … I also considered buying a juice bucket of Pinot Noir to ferment with the Chambourcin pomace. However, since the primary goal is to fill a barrel AND we are reducing production, we have a conflict.

Another consideration is that the CA grapes and the Chambourcin will arrive at different times, so I’d have to freeze the Chambourcin pomace for a week or three.

Besides that the CA grapes and the juice buckets arrive at the same time, so I need to keep the juice chilled enough it won’t ferment.

It may be that we can’t do anything with the Chambourcin pomace.

White: The plan is 150 lbs of Vidal, which will be fermented on the skins. This will produce 2 carboys, so Eric & Shannon will each get a case, and I’ll get two.

Beth & David also project having enough Chardonnel to sell, and I’m planning on making a carboy of it as well.

Note: I make a lot less white than red, as I drink primarily red, as do Eric & Shannon. Two to four cases of white are sufficient for a year, and I use a large portion of that as cooking wine.