90% and Counting: Harvest Update #5
Last time I wrote we were about 70% through harvest and now that 70 has turned into 90! We are now roughly 90% through our harvest and should be 100% done by the end of the month. For us to be through with harvest before Thanksgiving let alone November is almost unheard of, but we’ll take it considering how good of a year it has been.
As of now we are about a week out from having all of our grapes picked. There is, however, a slight chance of rain next week, which could slow things down a little, but it doesn’t look like it will linger so we should be right back on track. It’s always a relief to have all of the fruit picked, because from that point forward the ball is in our court and we can focus on producing the best wines possible.
Another reason we are ready to get the last of our grapes picked is the cold morning weather we have been experiencing. A couple days ago we had a 67-degree temperature swing in our Whale Rock Vineyard from a morning low of 28 degrees to a high of 95! We are known for temperature swings here but that takes the cake! Luckily, our frost fans have kept us from having any significant damage during these cold spells but we are all ready to be able to shut them off, as they are a bit noisy.
Overall, as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, the colors in our fruit have been very good this year and we have had our highest sugars yet from the Whale Rock Vineyard. This means the wines will be richer in color and flavor and more accommodating from a winemaking standpoint.
This past weekend we celebrated and survived another Harvest Festival Weekend, and thanks to all of you who came, it was a great success. We had one of our best turnouts in years and hundreds of people got their feet wet and sticky in our grape stomping bins. Another big hit were the grape samples on display for tasting and the live music by Soul Sauce!
Next time I write we should be all done with this crazy 2013 harvest, in the mean time, Keep Calm and drink Castoro wines!
Cheers,
Luke
