Journal | October 21, 2020

Hardscrabble Journal

Patience Rewards

All red wine grapes have now been harvested, sorted and crushed. They are now fermenting and being pumped over once a day.

Yesterday we picked Vidal and will press the grapes today. Later this week we will drain and press some Merlot wine, and then early next week we pick and press Petit Manseng. Then back to pressing reds.

If this seems confusing, well it is. Ripening sequence this year was uncooperative. Typically we can count on each variety ripening in order, always starting with Sauvignon Blanc. This year, in order to capture the best ripeness of each grape, plans had to constantly change. This is not only stressful, but requires a lot more work of reconfiguring crush equipment. White wine processing and red wine processing are very different procedures.

Needless to say, we are quite ready to get those last Petit Manseng grapes off the vines. They just needed to take advantage of this Indian Summer warmth to calm down their acidity. Patience rewards.

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

Hardscrabble JournalJim LawFollow the 2020 Harvest, 2020