It was a beautiful summer in the vineyard this year! The vines exploded from their initial budbreak on April 11th to grow long leafy shoots that would shade their future fruit. The first signs of grapes arrived in mid-May with the bloom, and by July first we had the start of the fruit set with berries (the technical term for individual grapes) beginning to develop.
By late August we finally saw signs of veraison, the changing of the colors of the grape’s berries as they ripen. The berries began ripening individually and took around two months to ripen fully. The vines then focused all their energy into ripening the grapes and so they could become dark and sweet.
Harvest begins once the grapes have developed a specific amount of sugar, measured in brix. This year harvest started on September 20th with the arrival of early Muscat grapes to make our Bluebird Sparkling wine. Fruit for sparkling wines is typically brought in first as it will need to have the lowest amount of sugar, followed by fruit for Rosé, white wine, and finally red wine
