Harvest Update!
With Beaverstock in the rearview mirror, it is now much easier to focus on harvest and we are still in the heart of it! As many of you know, the week of Beavertstock was hot, in fact, it was really really hot and as a result lots of grapes were ripening in a short period of time. As Niels put it, “strange things were happening, we were picking Cab before Chard, which never happens, and overall it was just crazy.”
We were starting to think all of our grapes were going to come in at once, which puts a lot of stress on the winery, and then the heat subsided, literally halting the ripening process in many of our vineyards. Luckily, this gives the winery a chance to catch up and get ready for the next round of grapes, which should be coming soon based on the hot weather we’ve got in the forecast along with a full moon!
As far as the quality of this year’s fruit, we are seeing great acidity that is very balanced and also great color. As a whole, the fruit is looking very good and will make very flavorful wine with distinct Paso Robles characteristics. As I mentioned in the last blog, due to the drought many of the grapes coming in are very small in size, which means we are getting less juice on average per cluster. With no rain in sight we should have no major obstacles between us and a successful harvest, and believe me, there is no better feeling than knowing all of your grapes are picked and processed!
In other news, Max has been busy learning the ways of our still and has spent the last few days making small batches of Grappa! Watching the still do its thing is very impressive and quite a sight to see!
Stay tuned for more updates and please come visit us for Harvest Festival the weekend of October 17-19 for live music, barrel tastings, yoga in the vines and more! https://www.castorocellars.com/Events
Cheers,
Luke
