Autumn updates, part 2

With recent abject failures (a.k.a. learning experiences), I turned to an expert for wisdom and further learning experiences. You may have seen Jake Busching on "Vintage: The Winemaker's Year" or tasted his award winning wines at Pollak Vineyards. Since early this summer, Jake has worked as vineyard manager for Mount Juliet Vineyards near White Hall, VA. I asked if I could volunteer labor for him for the low price of gleaning bits of grape wisdom. What a great deal for me!

Lugs for viognier harvest at Mount Juliet Vineyards.

Viognier on harvest day at Mount Juliet Vineyards.

My view ;)
I loaded full lugs on the Gator. Hard work, but quite rewarding.

Jake loading viognier onto the trailer.

I had a great time learning from Jake, hopefully the first of many days like this. Not long after, I spoke with Jake about the harvest. He stated that he overfilled his tannat, and extra must would soon spill over the side in primary fermentation. He offered some must, ready to inoculate with yeast. Awesome!

Eventually, more grapes would fall into place. A little malbec here, a little petit verdot there. I purchased merlot and cabernet franc from Nelson County.

Good looking merlot in the crusher/destemmer.

These carboys represent the current test batches. Oak chips were added. Blending will commence in late December, and bottling will occur in early summer 2012. 

The best part of 2011 is that it is over. However, I expect some stars to present themselves with elevage. We now prepare for the 2012 growing season. I look forward to posting an exciting development for this next growing season as soon as final details conclude. 

Autumn updates, part 1

In early September, I cut my losses. I dropped fruit from petit verdot. There was too much sour rot and too much hornet damage to even think about *pressing* on. However, with further investigation into local vineyards, I noticed there wasn't much difference between my fruit versus the professional vineyards. 2011 was a very tough year.
I learned that I need a better spray mechanism. My fungus burden was exceptionally high. My backpack sprayer just isn't sufficient to penetrate the canopy. I need overall better pest control.
In early September, I was not sure if I would find any fruit for crush. This was the low point of the 2011 season.