Storm warning

 

The sky at 7:15 this morning was on fire. Red sky at morning, sailors' warning. And so here we are. It's blowin' hard, but from the ESE, a direction from which we have some protection. It's a big storm. 

Alex lit the solid fuel stove for the first time since last Spring because it got quite cold this morning, but now it feels like about 20 C degrees. Still, the warmth feels nice. We'll light a fire tonight for the first time, too. 

The pressure dropped in the course of the day from 1012 to 986 hPa.  We had a gust over 50 knots; that's 98 km/h. We haven't had storms all summer. We're not getting much rain, but the south is getting pummeled again. 

It was the hottest summer on record.  There have been no hurricanes in the Atlantic, but the Pacific is very active, with Cat5 Hurricane Polo making landfall at Baja California. We are about to see one of the largest rain events that’s ever been triggered in the continental United States by a Pacific Hurricane. The saturated remnants of former Category 5 Hurricane Polo are going to inject a massive conveyor belt of deep, tropical moisture up through NW Mexico and into the U.S. South-Central Texas could be at the epicentre of the event, with isolated rain totals potentially reaching up to a FOOT this week.

Met Éireann Summer Stats

Rondo Harvest and Pinot Noir Veraison

Today we harvested the Rondo. We have very little yield. The young plants had lovely bunches that seemed unaffected by Downy Mildew. However, any that were not bagged were eaten. Hares, foxes, and pine martens would have found them very tasty. Some that were eaten had bags lying on the ground next to them. Those cheeky buggers may have removed the bags to get at the tasty morsels. There weren't many, but they were lovely. 

The Rondo from the older vines were severely affected by the mildew, so our take was barely one bushel. Curiously, the old Rondo grapes taste very different from the new Rondo grapes. It broke my heart to see how many we lost. The berries that did survive are bigger than any we've had to date. We destemmed and crushed and got about 4 litres of must. Very little. It measured Brix 20 and so had enough sugar to get to a high enough ABV. 

We added the Brown yeast with nutrient and enzymes. Then Alex had a bright idea. We had 11 bottles   (750 ml) of wine from a few years ago (2021?  we didn't label it 😳😬) that is relatively undrinkable as it is too sweet. We tasted it, and it was highly reminiscent of port -- not bad, just sweet. He suggested we add those bottles to this year's must to increase the volume and ferment together. The wine tested at a Brix of 14. It was from a year that we added a sugar solution because we had very little must. I have a feeling it was the same year we thought the grapes had dried into raisins with the drought. But now we know it wasn't drought. It was mildew. So it was a similar year to this one. Alex measured the alcohol content; it's a respectable 12.4%.

As the situation couldn't be much worse than it already was, if we had had a stuck fermentation back then, we could restart it with this batch. Let's see what happens. 

And then we noticed another major development in the vineyard. Veraison has started in the Pinot Noir. 😀 We did not notice it yesterday, and we had both looked for it. 

Of course, in cool climates, Pinot Noir often requires 55 to 65 days for proper flavour development for still wine. Grapes are picked much earlier for sparkling wines, typically 42 to 50 days after veraison at a lower sugar level (18 to 20 Brix). If the weather continues as it has been, we could make it to harvest. I'll have to start spraying and keep my fingers crossed. 

A new rapid attribution study published today shows that increased temperatures and evaporation levels directly linked to climate change will make for drier farming and land conditions in Ireland. 

Viticulture returns to Poland

 

Bartek Gruszka, President of the Tłocznia Foundation, 
showcasing how an underground cellar was restored in Zielona Góra.

(Image credit: Sylvia Wu)

A story in Decanter magazine caught my attention. Viticulture in Poland dates back more than 1000 years. Still, since the 16th century, winemaking had been declining due to a cooling climate, social changes, wars and the Soviet era, which virtually wiped it out. 

The modern revival of Polish wine began in the 1980s, helped by a warming climate and by more wine-friendly legislation introduced in 2008. From three legally registered producers in 2009, the industry has grown to more than 700 registered wine growers and producers in Poland today. 

The German-bred PiWi grape Solaris is by far the most planted wine grape in Poland. Riesling is a more recent addition to the white plantings. Pinot Noir has recently become the most widely planted red wine grape in Poland. It is followed by the PiWi grapes Regent, Cabernet Cortis and Rondo. As part of the movement, old abandoned wine cellars are being restored and resurrected throughout Poland. 

It will be interesting to see if Ireland's winemaking enjoys a similar growth pattern. In the meantime, I am eager to try some Polish wines. The Polish store in Castlebar has recently added a liquor license, but I didn't see any Polish wines. I'll have to look harder next time. 

Getting there

Measuring Brix today yielded 16, 18, 19, and 20. Rondo is near ready to pick. Tomorrow is a busy day and rainy, so we'll wait till Wednesday. 

Rondo still not ready

 

The berries have grown bigger with the rain we've had over the past few days. But the Brix is still too low for harvest: 17, 15, 15, 19. 

Perfect day for making wine

 

A rainy and blustery day is perfect for making wine. We processed the 4 bushels of Solaris grapes through the destemmer/crusher first, which is always a messy job. We then pressed the grapes (about 1.5 bushels) in the hydropress. It was a murky green coloured must, and we wondered how it would ever turn into that lovely golden nectar. 

Meanwhile, the yeast with nutrient and enzymes was started in boiled water. We added the yeast to the must and poured it into the fermentation tank. We had about 7-8 litres of must, not much, but we are hopeful that the wine will be a match for last year's vintage. 

Then it was time to clean up. What a mess. But at least it's no longer in the kitchen. 

Next harvest -- Rondo. Probably tomorrow or Sunday, depending on the weather. 

Harvest Day: Solaris

 

A rare near-perfect bunch. 

The Brix had surpassed 20, so it was time to pick. The weather was going to be decent on Thursday, with winds gusting to 35 knots, but several models showed no rain while others showed a bit of drizzle. We started by sterilising the winery equipment and washing the floor before setting out for the vineyard.

We had some drizzle, some sunshine, and a whole lot of cool wind, so we managed to harvest it all by 5 pm. Despite the fact that we collected four bushels of grapes, we should have had ten times that. But a combination of factors reduced our yield manyfold. Black rot, mildew, and possibly failure to set fruit all contributed to a dismal take. Had we been successful, we might have had 40 bushels. 

The amount of fruit in bags was equivalent to the amount not bagged that should have been eaten but wasn't. So we are convinced the kites are working and we don't need to bag anymore. Halleluja! The bagging was boring chore. The CDs probably help as well. 

Tomorrow the weather is to be abysmal. Heavy rain means a day of winemaking. You know, if growing grapes and making wine was easy, we'd all be doing it. Oh right. We are, and it's not. 

A common finding

Another perfect one -- take a picture!

Kite soaring over Alex

Almost 4 bushels

Pinot Noir filling out but not ripening

Convenient plastic buckets

Waiting for tomorrow