Bagging it

 

We've been bagging the grapes for days to protect them from the birds and insects. The verdict is that the green drawstring pull bags are the best. I had to cut away a few of the white drawstring bags that failed. 

It's quite a stretch but you do get to know your vines and grapes well when you bag. There are a few cheeky birds that defy all the scary things we've installed.  

Note to self: Next year, make sure you go through the vineyard, remove the less desirable clusters and make sure the good clusters are free to hang down. Many were trapped in between leaves and vines and not hanging down for accessibility. 

We've completed a first go at the vineyard and after double ordering more green bags, are quickly running out. There are many more clusters than I expected and they are getting very tasty. It's quite exciting. 

I measured BRIX yesterday and got two readings of 15 from Rondo samples, and a reading of 10 and 18 from Solaris. So not ready yet. Next week I will take 50 grapes of each, mash them, and read the combined BRIX to see what the overall sugar content is and where we are relative to harvest. September here we come. And the weather forecast for the next couple of weeks is superb. This is very exciting! The grapes are very tasty.

News Flash! The courier called and our first batch of equipment is in country and due to be delivered in a couple of days! 

Failed bags

National Red Wine Day

28 August is #NationalRedWineDay in the US! Here's a graphic with detail on the chemistry that gives red wine its colour, flavour, and more: https://wp.me/p4aPLT-hz 

Not to be confused with National Wine Day which is May 25. Is there a National White Wine Day, you ask? But of course, and it's August 4. 

National Rosé Day is on the second Saturday in June each year, and National Bubbly Day takes place on the first Saturday in June. 

If we went as far as naming varietals, every day could be a National Wine Day! 

A hive of activity

Like a parking lot up there

We have three teams of workers here today to complete the winery and other work in the shed. One team is installing the electrics, another the plumbing, while the third tackles a cradle for the Black Demon. To shape the cradle, we had to flip the Black Demon onto its deck. It took the entire crew to carry that off. 

Off the trailer and over on its deck.

Sasha and Dmytro eyeing the curvature

Meanwhile, back in the vineyard, I continue tying bags onto the grapes. It seems to be working with the multiple kites, CDs and bags. Fewer birds are evident amongst the vines. I have tried all three types of bags and the green mesh with two drawstrings is the best by far. The one with the attached tab with single drawstring is suitable for the dump. 

Alex was tying up the vines that had broken loose in the big wind we had the day before yesterday. It appears to have dried out some of the vines, with the Chardonnay looking the most affected. 

Chardonnay showing wind damage

The equipment has been ordered and should be en route from Croatia or somewhere. The rest -- bottle cleaning and filling stuff -- is coming from the UK and we don't have to order it yet. 

I have my desk for the winery - the one from the library at Ross House. We need a refrigerator for the yeast and other supplies, including beer. :)

More bagging being done. Green mesh bags are the best!

Pretty rose flowered today.

Alex installing the new stands for his beehives. 

Cradle complete

The Black Demon on rollers

Desk and file cabinet for winery

The old wine rack from Ross House

And just like that, our winery is ready for action. Pretty amazing actually. 

We've brought all the old papers from Ross and the German 1700s dowry trunk to the shed as well, and Alex will spend the winter going through it all to decide what to keep. Some of the papers will be going back to Germany. 

ESB is coming Friday afternoon to install the new Smart Meter so we'll be able to install solar panels after that. It's all coming together now. 

More stormy weather

 

It's a lot windier than I expected today. I thought the weather was supposed to improve but looks like not. Showers periodically. The new bags have come in and I wanted to do some tying up of grape clusters but it's rather boisterous out there with gusts of 47.5 knots - that's 88 km/h, nothing to sneeze at. Let's venture out and see.

I love the new drawstring green bags. They are SOOOO much easier than the bags we bought two years ago with twist ties. I was able to do twice as much in 2 hours than I could have with the others, with much less strain. Well done, Alex, finding those. And you can see inside to see how the grapes are doing. Far better. 

More tomorrow. 

Pinot Noir -- like steel pellets

No need to protect these

All four protectors at work: bags, CDs, heron and kites

Storm Betty

 

Video

We in Mayo were spared the worst of Storm Betty. We had wind and rain but not the worst. It appears that Cork and Wicklow were most affected - Cork with flooding and Wicklow with wind taking down trees and power lines. 

Alex added a couple of kites this week. I am glad they survived Storm Betty. The highest gust was 42.7 knots at 0800h today. We got 2.9 mm of rain overnight. Now for a bit of sunshine.

The Atlantic Hurricane season seems to be coming to life with four disturbances being tracked by the NWS. They are all going to head east to west according to projections. Hopefully, we won't get one coming our way this year. 

As an aside, Alex moved the Century Black Demon from the garage into the shed today. The garage is becoming manageable territory. 

Bagging the clusters

 

It rained lightly overnight and an easterly gale blew in in the morning. So rather than painting again, I took to the vineyard to try to save some grapes from the avian airforce. I started bagging thinking I'd have enough to at least do the oldest ten vines. I used up all the bags without even getting close to protecting a good portion of the crop. Amazon to the rescue. We'll have lots more bags on Monday. 

We have a lot of grapes this year. All are looking healthy except for one cluster of Solaris that I cleaned a few not-so-healthy grapes from. I hope that's not the beginning of something bigger. A cheeky little bird flew out from the center of the vineyard as I was working. I figure their dose will be the quantity of grapes we should have removed to direct vigor to the more limited crop. 

We are to get a good bit of rain overnight tonight and there are four tropical disturbances NOAA is watching in the Atlantic. It's been quiet until now, but I think mother nature is going to make up for it. I hope they don't come this way just as we near harvest.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Hillary in the eastern Pacific has become a Cat 4 storm and it's heading up the Baja California coast and right up into the SW US, with potential landfall in LA. Hillary has intensified by 65 knots in 24 hours. Since 1900, only two still-tropical storms have hit California, one by direct landfall from offshore and another after making landfall in Mexico. No tropical cyclone has ever made landfall in California at hurricane intensity in recorded history.

They are expecting massive rain and flooding which may wreak havoc with the harvests in California. They expect flooding in the desert regions including potentially as far east as Nevada. Could Las Vegas be flooded? Sure, anything is possible these days.