Sunday, September 27, 2009

wall of fruit

Things are getting crazy at the winery.  We are expecting a wall of fruit on Monday.  Due to a quick heat wave, the estimated yields have been severely reconsidered.  Average cluster went from 137 grams to 110 grams in a matter of a week!  The brix are at 128!  they should be at 124!!!  (google it, I don't have time to explain everything)  Reports of vines with single grapes literally popped out of the cluster and onto the ground have been rampant!  That means that a week ago, clusters were so fat and juicy that there was no longer enough room for all of them, so some got squirted out.  That is an indication that grape skins might have cracked within a cluster, creating a breeding ground for a variety of molds.  Then, with the heat wave, shit is really fucked up.  Raisons!  The sugars are concentrated as the juice is diminished!  That means the alcohol content is going to be higher which puts the vino in a higher tax bracket.  So we have to add water  (which is a secret )  Oh Monsieur!  le monde du vin D'Oregon c'est foux!
I apologize for the excessive exclamation points but I am not able to convey the dire reality of the situation with words alone.

Fortunately I am but a lowly cellar rat.

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