Harvest Update:

We have a policy of posting the data we get, not the data we want to get.  And actually, even the data we got is not so bad.  The forecast for this week just got worse and worse in terms of heat and dryness, such that it became our fourth multi-day incursion into the 100’s of the season, and the second in as many weeks.  While the barbera fared beautifully, continuing their gentle climb toward ripeness, we definitely experienced some dehydration, as judged by a spike in sugars, in the primitivo.  The good news, however, is that ripeness as judged by sugar/acid ratio distinctly improved, such that the grapes are now pretty much text book for harvest.  The juice in our weekly sample was a deep red color, also clearly signalling that “it’s time”.  Moreover, as the dehydration, which is also evident in an increased incidence of shrivel, is quite recent, we expect that the grapes harvested this weekend will have ripe fruit flavors without the raisiny notes that would eventually follow.  The primitivo, in short, is ready.

The barbera looks to be about 2 weeks out, and the cooling weather ahead should give it a fighting chance to come in for a soft landing…we remain optimistic.