IT’S great that the wet and humid weather has cleared out to let the grapes continue in their ripening process – and with a reduced risk of spoilage.
The early varieties are now being harvested, and our cooler summer has allowed for the fruit to mature at a steady pace, preventing the ripening process from being rushed and the fruit being out of balance.
The end result will be higher quality wines.
The winemaker who received our first batch of sauvignon blanc has reported back as being “very pleased” with the flavours in the juice, once pressed.
It had sat on skins for two days to better release the flavours which are contained in the skins.
So let’s hope the good comments continue.
I’m using a different harvester this season, so that brings a whole new bunch of challenges (including me being in the middle of a run of at least seven nights harvesting on the trot.)
A neighbour rang, interrupting what I was doing, so he could ask if there were any after-effects following a dose of constant concentration and lack of sleep.
I said none that I can recall, and after hanging up I put the phone in the pocket of pink tutu, picked up my butterfly net and continued to prance around the vineyard, swish, swish.
At the same time, I reckon I’ve also solved the question of where all these cabbage moths have come from.
There is a term when moths come from a person who is widely considered a tight arse when they open their wallet.
With most wineries offering awful prices for red wine grape varieties this season, when they finally did open up for intake, millions of moths flew out.
Even the orbs are sick of the cabbage moths clogging up their webs.
The orbs are pretty big at this time of year and have altered their web constructions to let the moths get through and are concentrating on more favourable meals such as low flying ducks, high jumping roos and any driver on a tractor without a cabin.
