Boedecker Cellars Harvest 09 Day 4 (Cont)

I spent the morning and early afternoon out sampling a few more of our sites. Shea and Cherry Grove Vineyards are generally early sites, so I wanted to ensure that I stayed on top of ripening curves at both places.

Cherry Grove Vineyard:

Nice serenades from the bird screamers today as I walked through.

Block 3, Pommard Clone: dark-ish pink color. Very tart cherry flavors. 22.8 Brix
Block 8, 667 clone: Purple color. dilute purple cherries & tea notes. 23 Brix
Block 8, 777 clone: Dark pink/red. Straw notes mixed with cherries. 23.6 Brix
Block 6, 114 clone: Pink. Rich green strawberries/straw. 21.2 Brix
Block 7, Wadenswil: Pink. very tart. 20.4 Brix

Tentative Pick Dates:
Friday, Sep 25th: Pick Block 8W & 8E. Pick every other row of Block 3
I'll go to the vineyard on Wednesday, Sep 23rd to confirm
Tues, Sep 29th: Pick rest of Block 3

Block 6 -- Don't know yet. 10+ days
Block 7 -- Don't know yet. 14+ days

Shea Vineyard:

Block 30, West Hill, 777 clone: 24.0 Brix, Purple juice, brown stems and seeds, green tea notes on rich cherry fruit. Nice brightness in the acid structure still to lengthen flavors.
Tentative Pick: Wed or Friday
Block11, East Hill, 115 clone: 24.0 Brix, dark pink juice, rich cherry and tea flavors, bright acidity.
Tentative Pick: Sun/Mon

Anderson Family Vineyard:

Chardonnay: 21.6 Brix, dark green juice, honey-soaked hay flavors Probably 2 weeks from picking

South Block Pinot Noir: 19.8 Brix, very well-developed flavors for such low sugar levels. This should be spectacular once it ripens. Probably 2 weeks from picking.

First White Grapes?

On top of all this, I got a call from Stirling Fox, whose Buttonfield Vineyard Pinot Gris makes up our Old Vine PG. He's pretty sure his Pinot Gris will be ready to pick by mid-week. I need to get up there now to check it out. This is a bit earlier than I anticipated for white grapes, but it's all good. If the fruit's ready to go, it's time to fire up the press.