We were supposed to sail off on the evening rising tide and overnight on Aleria in Clew Bay, but my Brix readings of the Solaris juice prompted a change of plans. Alex double-checked my readings and had two readings of 18 and 24. So instead, we spent the day harvesting. We got it all done in one day. Tomorrow we start the winemaking. The Rondo will have to wait.
Some observations.
- Some of the nicest grape bunches were those that were left uncovered indicating that the kites were doing their job.
- The green mesh bags were okay but a pain because the strings kept getting tangled up in the vines and grape bunches. We may ditch the bags next year.
- The grapes in the white bags did the poorest -- the smallest, least healthy-looking bunches. I'm going to throw away the white bags.
- The grapes on the vines closest to the hedge at the top looked like they'd been eaten by birds along the far edge. We may add one more kite.
- No signs of mildew this year. Several vines had clusters with evidence of Botrytis. We'll need even better management of the leaf canopy next year.
Our yield was better than expected. We picked three bushels which we will weigh tomorrow.
Alex suggested trying vino verde with this year's crop. Every year, we learn something new. So why not?
 |
| One of the bigger clusters |
 |
| Possible Botrytis cinerea |
 |
| Variable size grapes |
 |
| Pretty cluster |
 |
| Small but sweet |
 |
| Donkeys kept us company |
 |
| Lots of mesh bags collected, a real pain |
 |
| Three bushels, more than expected |
No comments:
Post a Comment