Posts Tagged“harvest”

Weekly New York Wine News — September 28, 2015

Image: Leon Millot harvest at Hid-in-Pines Winery’s Bordeaux Family Vineyard. Harvest has been in full swing and the wineries are now producing prodigious amount of carbon dioxide…don’t hold your breath though, most ferments have a long way to go. In the meantime, check out some recent news about the New York beverage scene from a lowly apple press to his high holiness. NEWS Seacoast Online – 9/24/2015 JoAnn Actis Grande touts riesling to her coastal constituency and her examples from Gunderloch Estate and Dr. Loosen in Germany were joined by Ravines and Dr. Konstantin Frank in the Finger Lakes. Cornell Extension…

The Niagara 2012 Vintage in Their Own Words: When We Stopped Measuring Our Brix

It’s the same story that plays out every year. Winemakers are forced to evaluate the complexities of a growing season in a consumer-friendly pitch meant to inflate or dampen expectations of a particular vintage. I tend to believe the dance that Mother Nature, grower and winemaker perform every year and the expectation of resulting quality can hardly be simplified by rehashing the weather but this look back on our young region’s season will suggest the potential of the vintage. Grower Tom Tower of Youngstown — like most everyone I spoke to this year — agreed that there was plenty of…

The Long Island 2012 Vintage in Their Own Words: A Grower’s — and Sorter’s — Year

Writing harvest and vintage reports is always — shall we say, interesting? I hope that none of my winemaker or winery owner friends take offense, but I know that — nine times out of ten — what they tell me about the current growing season or most recent harvest cannot be taken precisely at face value. Not that anyone would flat out lie to me, mind you, but there is little benefit to lowering expectations or panning a vintage. No matter the quality of the vintage, wineries need to sell those wines to stay in business. The NYCR has a distinct advantage over most…

Community Matters: What’s 5 Hours of Hand Sorting Between Friends?

Almost a week later, I still have purple stains under my finger nails and my back still spasms a bit if I stand just so. It’s simple math, really — take a 6’3″ out-of-shape guy, make him bend over a sorting table for five hours and you’re virtually guaranteed these sorts of short-term annoyances. But, standing at that table, hands cold and sticky with sweet cabernet franc juice and pulp, plucking green stems (and a little rot here and there) from the belt, talking about everything from the latest presidential debate to school lunches to harvesting chickens, with a group…

Harvest 2012: Pinot Noir at Bellwether Wine Cellars

Kris Matthewson, winemaker at Bellwether Wine Cellars, sends this report from their September 7 pinot noir harvest: [quote]We harvested pinot on Friday, September 7 from Sawmill Creek Vineyard on the East side of Seneca Lake. The brix were right around 23 when we picked. The grapes were in really good condition. We ended up picking most of the acre ourselves, and did some pretty heavy field sorting while we picked, and then table sorted again when we brought the grapes in from the vineyard. After all the sorting was said and done, they were some of the best grapes I…

Harvest 2012: Riesling at Peconic Bay Winery

Peconic Bay Winery general manager Jim Silver sent this harvest report yesterday: [quote]Harvest of old-vine riesling underway at PBW since 7:30 a.m., and will continue tomorrow (pickers welcome!) Yields not determined yet (about 2T/ac), brix above 19 degrees.  Nearly rot-free, hand sorted in the field by an experienced crew.  Very slight desiccation of some grapes. Top quality vintage similar in style to a blending of 2005, 2009 and 2010.”[/quote]