Destemmed grapes

We finished destemming the grapes and decided that next year we are getting a destemming machine. We have a yield of about 2L white grapes (Solaris - 5+vines) and 16L red grapes (Rondo - 5 vines).  That's a lot of destemming. As we didn't have any white last year, this will be our first try at white wine. We only had about 2L of red grapes last year, so this is definitely an improvement. 

Next step, I will crush the grapes using a Moulin and/or potato ricer/masher. And then we ferment. Wish me luck.

D-Day for Harvest

17 Sep 2021, grape harvest

Yesterday was harvest day. We celebrated Alex's mom's 88th birthday in the morning, then got to work in the vineyard in the afternoon. It took several hours of persistent snipping but we ended up with a laundry basket plus a tote basket full of red Rondo grapes and half a laundry basket full of white Solaris. That's far more than last year. 

There was very little indication of disease and almost no mould. The Solaris leaves are already turning yellow and dropping. The Rondo are still green. Many of the 4-year-old Solaris had at least one bunch of grapes and a few had multiple bunches of very sweet and tasty nuggets.

There was no indication of any grapes on the newest vines (Pinot Noir and Albarino) but there is one bunch on a Chardonnay vine that is not yet ready to sample. 

I sterilised the equipment when we finished picking. We then started de-stemming on the porch until a cold wind came and forced us indoors. It will take another day to destem the red grapes, but I managed to finish the white grapes last night. We even got a harvest moon rising in the evening. 

Now for the winemaking. 

Lovely bunch

Lazy helper

Some were not ready and will be picked later

Heavy load

Juicy little morsels

Filled the RTV

Not a bad harvest

Hanging CDs helped with the birds

Destemming is hard work

Not quite

We were planning to harvest today. There are birds stealing grapes daily. We had to wait until the afternoon as we had heavy rain in the morning and other responsibilities.

But Alex did something to his back and he's in agony. So I went up to start picking on my own, but I realised they are not ready yet. Perhaps tomorrow, if the birds don't pre-empt us. 

Alex hung old CDs in the vineyard to keep the birds away. I brought in one of my herons to stand guard. The bags we tied on last year worked well but were such a pain to put on and take off.  We'll take our chances for one more day. 

There are many red Rondo to pick and far fewer white Solaris. But the Solaris are very tasty. Next year, we should have more. 

Here are a few inventive ways of protecting grapes from birds. 

Almost there

 

Veraison is progressing very quickly now. We may be harvesting in the next few days. The kite is flying nicely and seems to be doing its job. Let's hope that between the cats, the donkeys and the kite, the birds will be kept away. 

Today it rained a lot

The forecast was pretty reasonable. Warm and humid, with some models predicting light rain for a time in the morning with a short burst of heavy showers. Instead, we got a long day of heavy showers, with thunder and lightning scaring people off the Bay. And heavy rain is coming in overnight and into tomorrow. I hope it doesn't dilute the grapes too much. Veraison is moving along quickly now. 

The wine news out of France is desperate though. French vineyards have suffered the worst damage in decades with heavy frost coming after an early spring warm spell and some regions getting lots of rain causing mildew fungus. Champagne yields may be down by more than 35%, and other regions will be down close to 30%. Burgundy-Beaujolais could be down by 50%. Horticulture is a crap shoot. 

It finally rained

The vineyard was quite dry

We have had a long dry spell and yesterday it finally rained. And it rained quite a lot in Mayo. You can hear the trees breathing a sigh of relief. They had already started dropped their leaves. With the ash dieback disease, forestry is suffering in Ireland. We don't need more pressure on the canopy.

We have been watering the gardens but not the vineyard and not the rewilding area. Our rain catchment and pond were getting very low and now have been topped up. The grapes had not increased in size since the last time I posted but now I expect them to plump up. We've got another dry spell coming over the next few days, so I am hoping they won't get too diluted. The Azores high has been parked solidly over Ireland for weeks. 

During the rainy weather, we went to work on the polytunnel again. We still have not found a suitable eating grape for the tunnel. We did, however, manage to install the third and last raised bed. Still need to fill it with compost, but I've got a layer of seaweed at the bottom. Alex is planning a strawberry bed as well. It's all coming together. 

Climate change wreaking havoc quickly

Sunrise with blue skies

July was the earth's hottest ever recorded. Here the average temp in July was 17.5 - warmer than the prior 4 years by 1-2 degrees.  

In fact, scientists have said that the record heat in the Pacific Northwest was thought to be impossible yet it happened. Fires, floods, rain at the summit in Greenland - all historically significant events. And it's happening much faster than anyone thought. In fact, it feels like we've passed the tipping point. Heaven help us if we have. 

Our rainfall total for August was relatively normal although it felt like we had weeks without rain which we did. When it rained, it rained more heavily so the patterns have changed. 

Hurricane Ida which made landfall at New Orleans still caused catastrophic flooding in New York and New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The subways in NY had to all be shut down due to flooding. Thousands lost power and Ida was only a TS when it reached that far. But it held more water than hurricanes used to.