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August Ripening and Green Harvest

August Ripening and Green Harvest

Thursday, September 30, 2010

In August ripening ('véraison' in French) was evident. To those of us that live and breathe in the vineyard, véraison starts the count down to harvest.

Now we need to thin out the grapes by doing a green harvest. In French this is referred to as the 'vendanges vertes'. This is a row before we trimmed it back.Vineyard rows showing overcrowded grape clusters before green harvest, with multiple bunches hanging closely together on each vine.

After dropping some, it looks like this. Multiple clusters of deep purple ripe grapes hanging from vine branches, showing excellent color development and full ripeness before harvest.

The green harvest is the removal of immature or non-uniform grape bunches. Also you don’t want the bunches to be crowded upon each other. Now the remaining grape bunches have room to swell and develop nicely.Scattered dark purple grapes fallen on the ground beneath vine rows, showing evidence of the green harvest process.

The aim is to reduce the yield but increase the quality of the wine.

Encore: Autumnal Colors

Encore: Autumnal Colors

Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Ripening Continues

Ripening Continues

Thursday, September 04, 2008
Vieilles Vignes !

Vieilles Vignes !

Sunday, September 20, 2009

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