Rain. Rain. Go Away.
Last October, in the midst of Long Island grape harvest, we received over 17 inches of rain in an eight-day period.
Most of the white grapes had already been picked (thankfully) but some wineries lost some of their red grape crops. In fact, a couple lost it all and didn’t make red wine in 2005.
With rain, sometimes heavy rain, over the past several days, you can’t blame vineyard managers, winemakers and winery owners for being a little nervous. And, after a forecasted respite tomorrow, the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto arrive this weekend, bringing more rain.
It’s only the end of August, so there is still time for the grapes to recover before harvest. Let’s just hope these rains stop soon and we get a few days of full, warm sun and high winds.
I’m nervous about Ernesto, and all the late summer thuderstorms around here as well, for my very small lot of grapes that I’m purchasing this year. Already, harvest is predicted for the end of September, but it could be pushed back until the middle of October with all the rain we’ve had. That might lower the acidity some and raise brix, but I don’t know.
Rob - Just one suggestion I learned from my friend the late Gerard Jaboulet when he was presented with a similar problem: Keep your eye on your acid levels, and harvest from that instead of brix.
Good point, Michael, and probably especially true for the East Coast growers.
I haven’t noticed how much it’s been raining in the area where my grapes are coming from over the past few days, but we’ve had some flooding around the southern Piedmont of NC. I think my grapes may be just far enough west to avoid most of the rain, and definitely to avoid Ernesto, now that he went east.