*The values shown are the mean of two independent samples from the whole primitivo or barbera field.

**Chemistry of separate clones of remaining barbera with over 80% picked.  M2=Montevina clone, rows 36-37; 1B=clone 02; rows 21-27.

Comments:

We got hit with some unexpected and measurable rainfall on Monday, which may have partially undone our efforts to not irrigate our remaining grapes in the last week.  However, we still saw a general rise in brix in the face of that, which was welcome if unexplained.  We’re still waiting for the day that the data makes perfect sense…

Most of the barbera was picked in the last week, so the apparent rise in TA in the remainder we’d have to attribute to some combination of 1) the fact that we picked what we assumed to be the ripest fruit first, thus biasing this week’s sample with the less ripe balance; 2) net dehydration since the big rain of the prior week, which would tend to inflate brix and TA.  What is clear is that the 02 clone sample had notably higher brix and slightly lower TA than the Montevina clone sample, which is typical of what we observe when we have looked at the two clones separately.  The pH of the samples was similar and slightly higher than last week’s whole vineyard sampling. We generally try to get our clients a blend of the two clones, though with the remaining rows at the current time, the 02 looks riper. 

The Quinta touriga nacional gave us a pleasant surprise on brix, making back the lost ground of the prior week and adding more to just reach 25.0.  The TA ticked up slightly, while the pH made progress to 3.30–a similar pattern as the barbera.  The brix progress could not have come at a better time, as this fruit should make up the backbone of the Quinta harvest on Saturday. 

We did some berry sampling (~15 berries) of the supporting cast of varietals in the Quinta, with the following outcome on brix as measured by refractometry:

Tempranillo:  22.4 +/- 1.7

Tinto Cao:  24.7 +/- 1.0

Tinta Amarella:  23.2 +/- 2.1

Souzao:  22.4 +/- 1.3

Particularly surprised by the tempranillo, which had registered higher before, we did our first and only cluster sampling of this fruit given the limited quantities, with results as shown in the table above.  The 23.5 brix reading as measured by hydrometer was a little more like it, and the TA low (0.38) and the pH high (3.60) as we’d expect at this late juncture for tempranillo. 

The touriga (09) added 1 brix of sugar with practically no change in TA or pH.  This represents progress, but we’re still going to need help from Mother Nature in the form of some warm, dry weather in the next few weeks to get the brix where we want. 

 *The values for 9-9-11 are the mean of two independent samples from the whole primitivo field

**These values are the mean of two independent samples from the whole barbera field.

The first big rain of the season had been widely anticipated and, unfortunately, it finally came on Wednesday.  We have received almost 2 inches of rain at Shaker Ridge in the last 36 hours, and an intermittent drizzle continues.  Temperatures have been relatively cool for several days, though conditions were mostly sunny this past week until Tuesday. With the vast majority of this rain behind us, we performed our weekly sampling this morning (Thursday), being careful to drain rain water from the sample buckets before crushing.

Anticipating that this would be a critical week for our barbera, we collected two independent samples of the whole vineyard–good exercise for the sampler and, we hope, good science.  The data showed no net change in sugar–still holding in the mid-25’s brix, no change to a surprising slight decline in pH, and another healthy drop in TA to a mean of 0.95.  We suspect that our grapes took up some water from the considerable rain, likely contributing to the drop in TA, but the increased ratio of brix/TA ratio suggests further real progress in ripening.  This is consistent with the flavors of the juice, which are no longer overtly tart but mostly sweet-tasting.  We think this is the most in balance we’ve seen our barbera of any vintage.  In the coming week, we plan not to irrigate, and with sunshine, warmer temperatures, and mostly green foliage we should be able to bump the brix a little.  However, the wet, relatively tight and large barbera clusters are at risk for mildew/rot with the rain, so there is some risk in waiting to harvest.  We would suggest that the fruit is ripe and that the time is right for harvest in the next week. 

The Quinta touriga nacional showed an apparent slight decline in sugar, which we attribute to water uptake from the significant rain–we have barely irrigated this block in the past week.  However, like the barbera, a disproportionately large drop in TA was observed, again suggesting some real ripening.  The pH was baffling–we can’t account for the slight decline.  The Quinta will receive no irrigation in the coming week, and we’ll see if we can get the brix up by harvest on the 15th.  Given some large clusters particularly in the very ripe tempranillo and ripe tinta amarela and the risk of rot from the recent rain, we wouldn’t hazard harvesting any later than planned.

The touriga nacional (2009) showed no siginficant change in brix, but a sizable drop in TA, and managed a slight rise in pH, suggesting nice ripening progress.  This fruit is coming along, and with sunshine and no further irrigation in this block, we can hopefully get the brix to a respectable level with time.

 *The values for 9-9-11 are the mean of two independent samples from the whole primitivo field.

Comments: 

In what we expect to be the final primitivo sample of the year, very good ripening progress was observed across the board, with the total acidity finally getting to a respectable point.  The juice looks and tastes ripe.  Our primitivo harvests are currently ongoing and will be completed by next week.  We’ll post the availability of additional fruit, if any, once the committed orders are filled.

The barbera also showed very good ripening progress, with another large drop in TA that was coupled with a much smaller rise in sugar.  This is exactly what we hoped for in this varietal that we are seldom able to pick shy of the high 20’s in brix.   Could this be the year?  The pH rose nicely, though not as much as would have liked.  We see harvest in this field as about 1-2 weeks out depending on client preferences, the weather, and logistics.

The Quinta’s tourgia nacional showed steady ripening progress across the board, though we were hoping for a little more movement on the brix.  With cooler weather ahead, and possibly even some rain, it’s now clear that we’re going to need an additional 2 weeks, and thus the Quinta will be harvested on October 15.  We plan to irrigate the Quinta little, if at all, in the interim.  Berry sampling for the supporting varietals showed no perceptible progress on brix (refractometry) except for tempranillo, which is looking and tasting fully ripe.  The additional 2 weeks will be particular value for the souzao, the latest ripening varietal that contributes significant color to the blend.  The brix results for the supporting varietals were as follows:

Tempranillo, 24.0 +/- 1.4

Tinto Cao, 22.9 +/- 1.7

Tinta Amarela, 23.8 +/- 1.7

Souzao, 20.6 +/- 1.7

The touriga nacional (2009 graft) made steady ripening progress across the board, though the sugar remains low, and continues a full 2 weeks behind the Quinta touriga.  The vines look healthy, the vines are protected from birds with netting, and substantial fruit was dropped a few weeks ago, so there is nothing left to do but wait and hope the weather cooperates.  We are projecting a late October harvest for this touriga field.

 *The values for 9-9-11 are the mean of two independent samples from the whole primitivo field.

Comments:

The primitivo showed incremental progress in sugar, pH, and TA, though the decrease in acidity has been stubborn and is taking longer than expected.  Qualitiatively, juice color and flavor made incremental progress, but we think not quite there.  We had backed off irrigation this past week, which coupled with the recent heat, might account for some of the increase in brix, and would tend to inflate the TA as well.  However, the ratio of brix to TA continues to rise.  We would now suggest end of September/early October for harvest depending on personal and logistical preferences, which in either case would be our latest ever (for a dry style) for primitivo.

The barbera showed very nice progress across the board.  We think this is due to a good week of ripening, coupled with a complete pass of selective fruit dropping that we recently finished in this vineyard.  The goals of the fruit dropping were to decrease crop load in a small minority of plants that were overcropped and to selectively remove less ripe clusters, including “seconds”, from any vines needing this.  This operation should result in a more homogenously ripe crop at harvest in a few weeks.  The 2-brix increase from last week was achieved in the face of increased irrigation, which we are undertaking through at least this current heat wave to stave off raisining.  We remain in great shape for harvest by mid-October.

The touriga nacional from the Quinta also showed very nice ripening progress across the board.  We backed off on irrigation somewhat in this vineyard and will likely continue to do so, as the relatively thick-skinned port varietals can handle this without excessive raisining.  In addition to the touriga nacional cluster sampling results shown above, we did random berry sampling with refractometry to gauge brix levels for the supporting cast of port varietals, with the following results:

Tempranillo:    22.4 +/- 1.9 brix

Tinto Cao:  23.0 +/- 0.7 brix

Tinta Amarela:  24.1 +/- 2.5 brix

Souzao:  21.2 +/- 1.5 brix

Based on these results, we are looking at October 8, 9, 15, or 16 as the harvest date for the Quinta.  A final date will be announced to Quinta shareholders as soon as possible to facilitate planning.

The first touriga nacional sample from our 2009 touriga vineyard suggests that it is behind the Quinta in ripening by about 2 weeks.  Fruit has been dropped, the vines are netted to protect from birds, and we will decrease irrigation to facilitate concentration of this fruit.  It now looks like a mid- to late-October harvest for this field.