grape growing adventures at Salado Vineyard

Cabernet Sauvignon Harvest–August 22

is that YOU in the big hat, picking grapes?

is that YOU in the big hat, picking grapes?

Saturday, August 22nd at 7:00 am, this is the last bunch for the 2015 season, and we welcome you to join us! The vineyard is at 21724 Hill Road, Salado, TX, 76571.

Wear sunscreen, bug spray and a big hat. If you have a favorite pair of pruners then bring them, but we’ll have plenty for you. Dress for heat, but be prepared for anything. I recommend shoes and socks because sometimes there is pigweed that stings or a hidden ant mound and I prefer a little protection for my toesies, but you can wear sandals if you like. Sometimes folks like to wear light cotton gloves, that might help prevent wasp stings, but there are no thorns, so gloves not required.

Families are welcome, the work isn’t hard, just the heat can be a bit discouraging. We will pick until all grapes are harvested, usually around 11 or 12 noon.

If you’re coming, text your RSVP to 254.466.5813, and I will let you know if the plan changes. Otherwise, see you there!

Then join us in the afternoon at the winery to witness the last crush of the season.  The cab sauv grapes will be destemmed, crushed and then I’ll add some yeast and let them start the fermentation.  The air conditioning is set to “cold” and this is the best time of the year to come check it all out.

Harvest will (probably) continue Saturday, August 22, 2015

notice the sprinkling of green grapes

notice the sprinkling of green grapes

The most important wine making decision is “when to harvest?”

At this point we have harvested 75% of the vineyard.  All that remains is the cabernet sauvingnon.  I went out and took a random sample yesterday, and what did I get?  Well, by the #’s, it looks fantastic!  Brix 24 degrees and pH 3.76, woohoo!

But, the truth is that about 15% of the grapes are still green, and that is no good for the quality wine we make at Salado Winery.  The photo with this post was taken on August 12, 2015.  The weather is not going to change much in the next 10 days, so?

So when will it be ready?  Well I am hoping for Saturday the 22nd.  I am trying to keep an eye on the pH, which will rise quickly, because I don’t want it to go sky-high.

I had this problem in 2013, and I compensated for a little under ripeness by blending with the 2012.  Another common technique is to use delestage to remove green seeds before they add any stringency.

Check back for an update next week!

Harvest 2015 update

this is 153 gallons of chardonnay about to ferment!

this is 153 gallons of chardonnay about to ferment!

NO harvest on SUNDAY, AUG 9th

So many fabulous friends showed up on Saturday, AUG 8, that we picked all of the merlot and sangiovese. All that remains is the cabernet sauvignon and not sure yet when we will harvest it as it is not quite ripe.

Harvest 2015 starts Aug 6

picking grapes is easy

picking grapes is easy

Harvest begins at our vineyard on Thursday, August 6th at 7:00 am and we welcome you to join us! The vineyard is at 21724 Hill Road, Salado, TX, 76571.

Wear sunscreen, bug spray and a big hat.  If you have a favorite pair of pruners then bring them, but we’ll have plenty for you.  Dress for heat, but be prepared for anything.  I recommend shoes and socks because sometimes there is pigweed that stings or a hidden ant mound and I prefer a little protection for my toesies, but you can wear sandals if you like.  Sometimes folks like to wear light cotton gloves, that might help prevent wasp stings, but there are no thorns, so gloves not required.

Families are welcome, the work isn’t hard, just the heat can be a bit discouraging.  We will pick until all grapes are harvested, usually around 11 or 12 noon.

If you’re coming, text your RSVP to 254.466.5813, and I will let you know if the plan changes.  Otherwise, see you there!

We expect to harvest again on Saturday, August 8th and Sunday, August 9th, at 7 am so stay tuned!

Mid-May 2015 in the vineyard

lots of rain and healthy grapes!

lots of rain and healthy grapes!

There was a break in the rain yesterday, so I went out and worked in the vineyard for a few hours.  I tucked vines up into the trellising, I pulled leaves in the fruit zone to improve air circulation, and I removed shoots that had little to no grapes on them as they are not needed.

Spring 2015 has been the wettest one in many years.  I am having flashbacks to 2007 when there was local flooding.  Other than hail, the main threats to our winegrape crop are downy mildew and grape berry moth.  We are managing both so far, but the forecast is for more rain, so we are crossing our fingers!

April 2015 in the Vineyard

look at these Mommy!

look at these Mommy!

Me and my helper, #wineryboy are keeping a close eye on the grapes as they develop this spring.  We have received plenty of rain, so the vines are growing like crazy.  The grapes are just tiny little balls, preparing to bloom.  In another week or two, they will be tiny blossoms. Domesticated grapes self-pollinate, so if the bees are on vacation, no big deal.  This is not true for wild mustang grapes which have a male and a female plant which have to be nearby for pollination to happen.

The biggest salvo that Mother Nature can throw at me right now is in the form of mildew.  I refer constantly to the chart at winegrapes.tamu.edu to keep up-to-date with a good fungicide program.  The next biggest threat is springtime hail.  There is nothing we can do for that, so we hold our breath and gulp our wine when the skies get dark.

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Halfway–more harvesting this Saturday August 23!

free run--the best!

free run–the best!

This is a picture of free run wine coming out of the press from yesterday.  I thought it would take one long day to press all the wine, but instead it TOOK 3 DAYS.  Yikes!  We start all over again pickin’, fermentin’ and pressin’ so come by and smell the brewing’ and wine makin’!

Sangiovese harvest is Saturday morning, August 23 at 7 am!  These are the most photogenic grapes, so come on out and join us and pose for lots of pretty grapevine-lovin’ pictures.

Harvest continues Saturday with MERLOT!

yes, picking grapes is so easy that #wineryboy has been doing it since he was #winerybaby

yes, picking grapes is so easy that #wineryboy has been doing it since he was #winerybaby

Harvest continues on Saturday, August 9th at 7 AM in our vineyard at 21724 Hill Road, Salado, TX.  Vineyard is very close to I-35, exit 279.  Everyone is welcome to join us!

We recommend sunscreen, bug spray and a big hat. If you have a favorite pair of pruners then bring them, but we’ll have plenty for you. Dress for heat, but be prepared for anything. I recommend shoes and socks because sometimes there is pigweed that stings or a hidden ant mound and I prefer a little protection for my toesies, but you can wear sandals if you like. Sometimes folks like to wear light cotton gloves, that might help prevent wasp stings, but there are no thorns, so gloves not required.

Families are welcome, the work isn’t hard, just the heat can be a bit discouraging. We will pick until all grapes are harvested, usually around 11.

If you’re coming, text your RSVP to 254.466.5813, and I will let you know if the plan changes. Otherwise, see you there!

——->>Oh yeah!  Even if you don’t come out to the vineyard, this is the best time to stop by the winery and see the wine making in action! Hear the noise or the crusher and destemmer and see the yeast do their thing.  Also this weekend has plenty to do in Salado, see www.salado.com.

Chardonnay Harvest on Wednesday, August 6th, 2014

picking grapes is easy

picking grapes is easy

 Harvest begins at our vineyard on Wednesday, August 6th at 7:00 am and we welcome you to join us! The vineyard is at 21724 Hill Road, Salado, TX, 76571.

Wear sunscreen, bug spray and a big hat.  If you have a favorite pair of pruners then bring them, but we’ll have plenty for you.  Dress for heat, but be prepared for anything.  I recommend shoes and socks because sometimes there is pigweed that stings or a hidden ant mound and I prefer a little protection for my toesies, but you can wear sandals if you like.  Sometimes folks like to wear light cotton gloves, that might help prevent wasp stings, but there are no thorns, so gloves not required.

Families are welcome, the work isn’t hard, just the heat can be a bit discouraging.  We will pick until all grapes are harvested, usually around 11 or 12 noon.

If you’re coming, text your RSVP to 254.466.5813, and I will let you know if the plan changes.  Otherwise, see you there!

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-02o0vnPdOhE/U9exu-ko7XI/AAAAAAABjPY/wSbnMfLr3fY/s144-c-o/CAM01843.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/102153593012294996679/201407302?authkey=-J8BIktSVaQ#6041492845769583986″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”CAM01843.jpg” ]

 

When is Harvest 2014

merlot & chard from our Salado vineyard

merlot and chard from our Salado vineyard

I am getting anxious for harvest!  The yeast is on order and I am ready to start soon, but when!?!

Tested Chardonnay yesterday and got pH 3.45, Brix 19.5, tastes like a pink lady apple!

So here goes the tentative plan…

I’m expecting activities to kick off on Saturday, August 2nd.

Right now I’m expecting Belle Crest to harvest tempranillo on Saturday, August 2.  I would like to test their grapes again on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon, July 26 or 27th to verify that they have been ripening as projected.  Right now the 10 day forecast has a significant chance of rain for Friday, August 1st.  This could be a bad thing because the grapes tend to soak up the water quickly.  Last year it rained 48 hours prior to picking our merlot and I was very disappointed as the resulting wine was too watery.  So this may throw a monkey wrench in the plan, or the 10 day forecast could be wrong (but I sure would welcome the cooler temps).  Journey Vineyards will bring their grapes as well for processing, so I must remember to keep them informed.

I am likely to also pick the chardonnay in our vineyard the same time, August 2nd.  I am torn because the flavors are getting to where I want, but the Brix isn’t quite there.  So they could easily hang a little longer than that.  If we get rain, I will definitely push that harvest to during the week.

On Saturday, August 9th we’re expecting Belle Crest to harvest malbec.  We may harvest our merlot as well.  The malbec will be the biggest amount coming at one time, so we may push the merlot off so that we don’t have too much to process.  I want to process the chardonnay and have it out of the way prior to the malbec arriving.

The cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese still have a while to go in my vineyard, so maybe the 16th or 23rd.

Stay tuned!