Grape Chemistry

 

Varietal                   Date                     Sugar (Brix)                 pH                                TA (% )
Barbera                            8-23-09                              21.6                                2.86                               1.80

                                            8-30-09                              23.8                                2.95                               1.69

                                            9-05-09                              25.4                                2.98                               1.41

                                            9-11-09                               25.8                                2.97                               1.31

                                            9-18-09                               25.5                                3.02                               1.11

                                            9-24-09 Bl 1,3,4              27.6                                 3.14                               1.13

                                            9-24-09Bl2                        26.4                                 3.13                               1.29

 

 

Primitivo                         8-23-09                            21.0                                  3.08                              1.04

                                             8-30-09                            23.6                                 3.17                               0.98

                                             9-05-09                            24.1                                  3.21                              0.84

                                             9-11-09                             23.8                                  3.39                             0.72

                                             9-18-09                             24.3                                  3.44                             0.69

 

Tempranillo                   8-23-09                            21.5                                   3.18                              0.68

                                             8-30-09                           23.8                                   3.25                              0.54

                                            9-05-09                            24.8                                   3.41                               0.48

 

Touriga Nacional         8-23-09                             18.5                                   2.84                              1.10

                                             8-30-09                            19.9                                   2.90                             0.89

                                             9-05-09                            21.0                                   3.00                            0.78

                                             9-20-09                            22.9                                   3.07                            0.66

      

Barbera (Bl 1/Bl 3 Experimental)

CONTROL                        9-05-09                             25.6                                  3.00                                1.40

                                             9-20-09                             28.1                                  3.11                                 1.10

HEDGED                           9-05-05                             23.6                                  2.95                                1.58

                                             9-20-09                             25.6                                 3.07                                1.20

Grape Chemistry

 

Varietal                   Date                     Sugar (Brix)                 pH                                TA (% )
Barbera                            8-23-09                              21.6                                2.86                               1.80

                                            8-30-09                              23.8                                2.95                               1.69

                                            9-05-09                              25.4                                2.98                               1.41

                                            9-11-09                               25.8                                2.97                               1.31

                                            9-18-09                               25.5                                3.02                               1.11

 

Primitivo                         8-23-09                            21.0                                  3.08                              1.04

                                             8-30-09                            23.6                                 3.17                               0.98

                                             9-05-09                            24.1                                  3.21                              0.84

                                             9-11-09                             23.8                                  3.39                             0.72

                                             9-18-09                             24.3                                  3.44                             0.69

 

Tempranillo                   8-23-09                            21.5                                   3.18                              0.68

                                             8-30-09                           23.8                                   3.25                              0.54

                                            9-05-09                            24.8                                   3.41                               0.48

 

Touriga Nacional         8-23-09                             18.5                                   2.84                              1.10

                                             8-30-09                            19.9                                   2.90                             0.89

                                             9-05-09                            21.0                                   3.00                            0.78

                                             9-20-09                            22.9                                   3.07                            0.66

      

Barbera (Bl 1/Bl 3 Experimental)

CONTROL                        9-05-09                             25.6                                  3.00                                1.40

                                             9-20-09                             28.1                                  3.11                                 1.10

HEDGED                           9-05-05                             23.6                                  2.95                                1.58

                                             9-20-09                             25.6                                 3.07                                1.20

Grape Chemistry

 

Varietal                   Date                     Sugar (Brix)                 pH                                TA (% )
Barbera                            8-23-09                              21.6                                2.86                               1.80

                                            8-30-09                              23.8                                2.95                               1.69

                                            9-05-09                              25.4                                2.98                               1.41

                                            9-11-09                               25.8                                2.97                               1.31

                                            9-18-09                               25.5                                3.02                               1.11

 

Primitivo                         8-23-09                            21.0                                  3.08                              1.04

                                             8-30-09                            23.6                                 3.17                               0.98

                                             9-05-09                            24.1                                  3.21                              0.84

                                             9-11-09                             23.8                                  3.39                             0.72

                                             9-18-09                             24.3                                  3.44                             0.69

 

Tempranillo                   8-23-09                            21.5                                   3.18                              0.68

                                             8-30-09                           23.8                                   3.25                              0.54

                                            9-05-09                            24.8                                   3.41                               0.48

 

Touriga Nacional         8-23-09                             18.5                                   2.84                              1.10

                                             8-30-09                            19.9                                   2.90                             0.89

                                             9-05-09                            21.0                                   3.00                            0.78

 

Barbera (Bl 1/Bl 3 Experimental)

CONTROL                        9-05-09                             25.6                                  3.00                                1.40

HEDGED                           9-05-05                             23.6                                  2.95                                1.58

Grape Chemistry

 

Varietal                   Date                     Sugar (Brix)                 pH                                TA (% )
Barbera                            8-23-09                              21.6                                2.86                               1.80

                                            8-30-09                              23.8                                2.95                               1.69

                                            9-05-09                              25.4                                2.98                               1.41

                                            9-11-09                               25.8                                2.97                               1.31

 

Primitivo                         8-23-09                            21.0                                  3.08                              1.04

                                             8-30-09                            23.6                                 3.17                               0.98

                                             9-05-09                            24.1                                  3.21                              0.84

                                             9-11-09                             23.8                                  3.39                             0.72

 

Tempranillo                   8-23-09                            21.5                                   3.18                              0.68

                                             8-30-09                           23.8                                   3.25                              0.54

                                            9-05-09                            24.8                                   3.41                               0.48

 

Touriga Nacional         8-23-09                             18.5                                   2.84                              1.10

                                             8-30-09                            19.9                                   2.90                             0.89

                                             9-05-09                            21.0                                   3.00                            0.78

 

Barbera (Bl 1/Bl 3 Experimental)

CONTROL                        9-05-09                             25.6                                  3.00                                1.40

HEDGED                           9-05-05                             23.6                                  2.95                                1.58

Current Grape Availability

 

 

Varietal

 

Amount Still Available for Sale

 

Expected Optimal Harvest Time

Barbera

 0 tons

Late September

Primitivo

 0 tons

Mid September

Touriga Nacional

0.5 tons

Late September

Tinto Cao

250 lbs

Late September

Tempranillo

350 lbs

Early September

 “Buy the Quinta”*

~0.8 tons

Early September-Mid October

*Touriga nacional, tinto cao, tempranillo, souzao, and tinta amarella package deal. See “Pricing and Services” for details.

Grape Chemistry

Varietal                 Date                     Sugar (Brix)                    pH                                TA (% )
Barbera                            8-23-09                              21.6                                2.86                               1.80

8-30-09                              23.8                                2.95                               1.69

9-05-09                              25.4                                2.98                               1.41

Primitivo                         8-23-09                            21.0                                  3.08                              1.04

8-30-09                            23.6                                 3.17                               0.98

9-05-09                            24.1                                  3.21                              0.84

Tempranillo                   8-23-09                            21.5                                   3.18                              0.68

8-30-09                           23.8                                   3.25                              0.54

9-05-09                            24.8                                   3.41                               0.48

Touriga Nacional         8-23-09                             18.5                                   2.84                              1.10

8-30-09                            19.9                                   2.90                             0.89

9-05-09                            21.0                                   3.00                            0.78

Barbera (Bl 1/Bl 3 Experimental)

CONTROL                        9-05-09                             25.6                                  3.00                                1.40

HEDGED                           9-05-05                             23.6                                  2.95                                1.58

Vineyard Diary

 

Harvest Update

Grape chemistries taken on 8/30/09 show incremental progress in ripening across all varietals. 

Acid has come down but remains quite high in the barbera, while sugar begins to creep up.  We continue to anticipate a late September harvest.  The fruit is generally in excellent condition; we see some wrinkling suggestive of  dehydration in a very small minority of clusters.  We continue to irrigate the barbera proactively in light of the hangtime that will be required, and Mother Nature–at least per current weather forecasts–is actually cooperating this year by providing moderate temperatures (low 90’s) into the foreseeable future.  Seconds have been dropped in all of block 1 and most of block 2, and the plan is to drop as many of the remaining seconds as possible in the coming 2 weeks.

The primitivo vines look especially tired early this year for reasons unclear, so we called an audible and conducted a second round of cluster thinning this past week to ease the burden of ripening, dropping clusters that were visibly behind the ripening curve.  The fruit is generally in excellent condition, with no signs of dehydration at this point.  It would appear from the chemistries as well as the relatively light color of juice in samples that we are still approximately 2, or at most 3, weeks from optimal harvest time. 

The Portugese varietal grapes are looking very good.  We have managed to largely keep the birds away from their favorite grape, tempranillo, which is on track for harvest in 1 to 2 weeks.  In the past 10 days, we cluster thinned both the tinto cao and touriga nacional grapes, which it became obvious (with full veraision) were carrying more fruit than we thought they should. 

Where Do the Grape Chemistry Data Come From?

If you think that the grape chemistry data at Shaker Ridge are delivered by a stork or left by the grape chemistry fairy, think again!  About once a week as harvest time approaches, we attempt to get a snapshot of ripening in our vineyard by gathering objective data.   One of the first things the co-proprietor at Shaker Ridge learned in graduate school laboratory is that one can either do an experiment right the first time, or spend a bunch of time trouble-shooting why it didn’t go right, then repeat it.  It quickly became obvious that it was more efficient to do it the right first time.  And doing it right the first time in scientific endeavors often comes down to careful attention to detail and following a set protocol.  Our grape chemistry data is accordingly gathered in 3 systematic steps:  sampling of the vineyard, processing of the samples, and testing of the samples. 

Grape sampling is arguably the hardest and most important step.  For sampling, we walk up and down vine rows the entire length of a given vineyard being sampled, alternately taking bunches of grapes from the top, middle, and bottom of plants chosen at random.  We try to visually identify the bunch to be sampled while still some distance from the plant so that we end up getting a representative sample of what’s out there, rather than what we’d LIKE to be out there.  Unless a bunch is so visibly unripe or overripe (shriveled) that it wouldn’t reasonably be taken by a crew in a real harvest, we take it.   We sample entire bunches, rather than individual berries, since it’s ultimately the whole bunch that would be harvested, and picking individual berrries would open us up to many potential sources of bias.  We end up with 10-15 pounds of grape samples, which when carried around in a bucket up and down hills on the typical 100-degree late summer Foothills day turns into a decent workout….This is repeated separately for each varietal being sampled.

The next step is sample preparation, and for this we use a stainless steel fermentation punchdown tool to crush and squeeze the grapes in the same buckets in which they are collected.  The tool is cleaned between each sample.  Once the grapes are well crushed and juice is abundant, we pour about a cup of juice through a stainless steel wire mesh filter (to catch pulp, seeds, etc.)  into labelled plastic containers, one for each variety or block sampled. 

In the third step, the juice samples are tested, typically immediately after their preparation, or at most a few hours later.  The samples are first tested for sugar using a hydrometer.  The raw values are manually corrected for juice temperature, which is collected simultaneously with the brix reading.  Using a digital pH meter that we calibrate with appropriate standards immediately before each session, we then record the pH of each sample in turn.  Finally, we perform a a manual acid titration, fastidiously cleaning syringes and vessels between samples, to determine the total acid content.  Tests aren’t repeated unless a  known technical error is made, or an overt inconsistency is noted. 

While we reserve the right to root for particular outcomes (!), we record and report the data that we get.   Besides the objective measures of brix, pH, and total acidity, which we post on this website, we also record more subjective but valuable information about taste and color of the juice samples that help confirm that we are testing the varietals that we think we are, and provides a useful cross-check/sense check against the numeric data.

The entire process of sampling, processing, and testing takes upwards of 2.5 hours, depending on the number of samples, which hopefully explains why we don’t provide daily updates!  We hope that our attention to detail in the generation of the grape chemistry data translates into better harvest decisions for our clients.

Grape Chemistry

 

Varietal                 Date                     Sugar (Brix)                    pH                                TA (% )
Barbera                            8-23-09                             21.6                                 2.86                               1.80

                                            8-30-09                              23.8                                2.95                               1.69

 

Primitivo                         8-23-09                            21.0                                  3.08                              1.04

                                             8-30-09                            23.6                                 3.17                               0.98

 

Tempranillo                   8-23-09                            21.5                                   3.18                              0.68

                                             8-30-09                           23.8                                   3.25                              0.54

 

Touriga Nacional         8-23-09                            18.5                                   2.84                              1.10

                                             8-30-09                            19.9                                   2.90                             0.89

Vineyard Diary

 Hopes for a farmer’s miracle of sorts with a very late budburst and normal harvest time (=short growing season)  have now officially been dashed with the collection of our first grape chemistry readings of the year, as posted earlier today.  While we would gag to call this a “cool” summer by the common understanding of the term, it has been a summer of moderate heat by Foothills standards that got off to an unseasonably cool start in June.  Perhaps this is the reason that, despite veraision at a fairly normal time in July, ripening has taken its own sweet time.   We are now looking for harvest of our primitivo in mid-September and barbera in late September.  The Portugese varietal grapes should reach optimal ripeness in a range spanning from early September (tempranillo) to mid-October (souzao).

Earlier this month, we did a round of fruit dropping in the primitivo that we may supplement with some fine-tuning given the extra time till ripening and vines that are beginning to look tired.  We have dropped seconds in a portion of Block 1 of the barbera and will likely do more of this, as the abundant green seconds stand out readily against the blue-purple main fruit. 

We have deployed bird netting on the bookends of the primitivo vineyard that are closest to trees and ever-hungry, marauding birds, as well as in Block 4 of the barbera.  The port vineyard is completely enclosed in permanent overhead netting that is keeping all but a few enterprising birds off the fruit.  Birds have already done a number, via daylight attacks, on our back hilltop primitivo grapes that ripen earlier than the rest and are closest to trees.  Thirsty rodents, meanwhile, have begun eating holes in distant driplines by night in the same section.  We often get the latter late in the season, but apparently the rodents missed the memo about the later harvest, and they have chowed down already.  On the positive side, temperatures have moderated after a recent heat spell and are expected to remain that way for another week, which should promote ripening without dehyration in the near-term.