All of our grape varieties are in veraison now. That means that all varieties are in the final stage of development before harvest where they change color from a milky green to either red or yellowish-green depending on the variety. They are also starting to produce sugar which we will use to provide the fuel for fermentation. But, it doesn’t mean that the grapes are ready to eat. On Saturday, I tried a dark purple Marquette grape. At first, it seemed sweet but within about a minute, I had this scratching, uncomfortable feeling in the back of my throat. It was the very high Malic Acid that is typical in all of the grapes we grow but it was especially unpleasant on Saturday.
We have already seen some bird damage in our Foch. In fact, the Foch in front of the Winery has been mostly stripped of grapes. We’ve netted our Foch and plan to net the Marquette this week.
We will also continue to do routine vineyard maintenance. Including removal of grow tubes, spraying of fungicide, and mowing.
