Hardscrabble Journal

Focus Turns to Harvest

The vineyard is starting to dry out after a soggy start of the month. A new flush of growth has sent us back into the vines to hedge, mow and weed. Fortunately it looks like harvest will be at least a week late, possibly starting the week of September 7. This will give us more time to get all our crush and fermentation equipment cleaned and prepared.

The presses and crusher have been put in place and turned on. After almost a year of nonuse, it is a good practice to make sure key equipment is operational sooner rather than later. This is very specialized equipment, most of it European, and parts can be hard to come by. This is especially true of our “antique” presses which are German and half a century old. Needless to say, they don’t make them anymore and parts are non-existent.

Cleaning is job one now. Tanks, picking baskets, floors, pumps, hoses. The list goes on. It is a good transition period as our efforts turn from vines to crush.

Next week we take our first berry samples of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Shari will run lab tests on the juice and we will get a more precise idea as to ripening progression and potential harvest dates.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: August 21, 2020