The Grapes Are In The Winery

Grapes filled every available container in the winery, including harvest lugs, harvest buckets, pots, pans and even two small fermenters. Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah in the harvest  lugs, Cab Franc in everything else on the floor.

No Container Left Unfilled

The 2020 harvest came in a rush when the weather convinced me to harvest everything in the vineyard on Aug. 23. Following two months of hot dry weather and a mostly dry first two weeks in August, the forecast turned gloomy with expectations of rain nearly every day. Brix hit 19 on Aug. 16 and never improved.

The Syrah looked beautiful, with big berries, tight clusters and not a sign of fungus or insect problems. The Cabernet Sauvignon was not quite as perfect as the Syrah, but was still very clean and on a par with 2019. The Cabernet Franc, the first harvest from vines planted in 2018, was a disappointment; 62 percent of the vines are infected with Pierce's disease and will need to be pulled up and burned at the end of the season. The grapes on the disease-free Cab F. vines had the highest Brix of the three varieties. I did not pick the diseased vines because they were doing a very poor job of ripening the grapes. I left them for the birds.

We picked 405 lbs. of fruit: 135 lbs. of Syrah, 192 lbs. of Cabernet Sauvignon, and 78 lbs. of Cabernet Franc, the last of which were picked with the aid of headlamps.

We sorted, crushed and destemmed by variety, and ended up with 15 gallons of Syrah, 22 gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10 gallons of  Cabernet Franc must. The Syrah filled a single 20-gallon plastic fermenter. The Cabernet Sauvignon was split between two 20 gallon fermenters, and the Cab Franc put in a 17 gallon stainless fermentation tank.

The Syrah (lower left) and two fermenters of Cab S. The Cab F. is in a stainless fermenter not shown. My concerned about overfilling the Syrah fermenter was resolved when it did not overflow the container after fermentation was underway. 

Syrah

The Syrah tested 19 degrees Brix, with a pH of 3.51. I added enough sugar to bring the Brix up to 24 degrees. The color is the most intense, deep purple color, of the three varieties.

Cabernet Sauvignon

The Cab S. came in at 19.2 degrees Brix and a pH of 3.48. This is marginally lower than what I would have liked. The book says 3.50 to 3.80 for red wines. I will test again after pressing and make necessary adjustments to get it up to the desired level. I added enough sugar to bring both fermenters up to 24 degrees Brix. The color was a pale rose in the sample.

Cabernet Franc

although there is great disappointment in the health of the high number of vines, there is none in the first crop from the healthy vines. The clusters were smaller than the other two varieties, which was not unexpected for their youth. The berries contained more sugar at 20.2 degrees Brix, with a pH of 3.54. Sufficient sugar was added to bring the must up to 24 degrees Brix. the Cab F. juice was a pale pink with a greenish tint.

Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc (l-r) juice just prior to testing. After a week of fermentation, the Syrah is still the most intense, but there is little difference between the two Cab varieties.

I am following the same recipe used on the 2019 grapes, but did not co-inoculate with malolactic bacteria as I did last year. I will inoculate after primary fermentation as I did in 2018. This change is due to operator error on my part. I simply forgot about it until yesterday.