Véraison

Véraison is a French term for "onset of ripening" in wine grapes. This is really the first year I can readily observe and appreciate the process with sufficient grape berries -- on our 3-year plants. First, the vineyard status on 3-Sep-10. (click any photo for high-res version).

Vineyard Overview

Madeleine Angevine heavy with fruit

Madeleine Angevine

The Mad Ang have a very nice crop - maybe even over-cropped for third year plants. One row (the one pictured above) had no cluster thinning, while the adjacent row was thinned to the best cluster per shoot. I intend to weigh and test resulting must from these two rows separately to see if I detect any notable differences in sugar, acidity or pH. As I say, the Mad Ang, (a white grape) are starting to turn translucent and in the sun you can see the seeds inside each berry.
Mad Ang cluster

Many clusters have nice-sized berries. The Regents (red grape) are not far behind, although the plant vigor, number of vigorous plants, and clusters per plant are all short of the Mad Ang - we will still have a decent crop. I'm guessing there might be 40 to 50 lbs of Regent.

Regent cluster turning

The Pinot noir and Pinot blanc at 3 years are still, for the most part, pretty pitiful compared to the Mad Ang and Regent. I did finally get a full trellis and drip irrigation installed, so that should help considerably. Only 3 or 4 plants of each set fruit this year, so I'll get a sample, but not enough for vinting.

Pinot noir and Pinot blanc

On the right side are second-year Pinot gris, and on the left (barely visible) are the second-year Siegerrebe. They really need better irrigation, as they are not even going to get large enough to reach a first trellis wire this year. Always something...