MATHIS

If you've been following our progress during the early harvest, everything is already in from Mathis Vineyard and it's only a bit past mid-September! Past videos have shown the pickers moving quickly to bring in my Grenache. I also showed you the crush process. And now, here's a bit about the 2014 Grenache, currently fermenting in a big tank:

 

Winning gold is a nice way to start off the week. The Rosé de Grenache was quite a hit at yesterday's harvest tasting event at the Press Club in San Francisco. Come by for a taste if you attend the harvest fair in Santa Rosa, CA, in a couple of weeks!

Harvest is always a wild rush. This year it's also two weeks early! Grapes have been ripening so quickly there hasn't been time to post a blog about its progress. Today, we'll do a little catch up. First up is a sneak peek of the pickers at work about a week ago, hustling in the 300 block:

Next, a look back at getting ready for harvest: I go primarily by taste more than anything. But I will check the brix (measure of the sugar level) on a refractometer to double-check that my guesswork is accurate. Guess what? I'm usually right! Here's how the refractometer is used:

In the next video, I provide a brief introduction to where they're picking in Mathis Vineyard:

Finally! Harvest day arrives. And, oh! Does the picking crew hustle to harvest my Grenache! Enjoy their lightning speed:

Once the grapes are picked the next phase of the "race" is only. The truck full of my grapes is driven to our crush facility to press the Grenache which will be made into my rosé. Here's an introduction to my Grenache grapes, which are harvested specifically to make my rosé, being carefully turned into the press. My grapes are gently pressed whole cluster -- stems and all:

I'll show you the fermentation process a little later...

Drumroll, please! If you haven't tried it, or are wondering what it's like, take a look:

Véraison is the sign that ripening is beginning in the vineyard. There's a fancy chemical change happening within the fruit. But the short story is that it's outward appearance of the grapes beginning to turn purple in color from green. Take a look:

It's noisy. It kicks up a lot of dust and dirt. And it's a key element to fostering and developing healthy, vigorous Grenache grapevines. Meet my spader!

 

Now that the mowing is complete, it's time to incorporate the trimmings into the soil. The result will return valuable nutrients to the soil for the vines to make use of during the 2014 growing season. Here's how the spader works:

The Tractor Chronicles continues with episode #7 introducing my flail mower. This is a bit heftier than your average home mower, tackling trimmings and cover crop from last year's growth. Take a look:

 

Here's my introduction to the grown legume cover crop at Mathis Vineyard. It's served its above-ground purpose. Now it'll provide nutrients to the developing grapevines in the vineyard.