pick the grapes

Lots of FBV members have been picking grapes.  Chuck went for muscadines in Tyrone, while Alan and I went the more traditional route.  This vineyard is near Hendersonville.  Very nicely manicured as you can see from the pics

I think these grapes are Petit Manseng

Well tended vineyard.  Speakers around the vineyard were producing predatory bird calls.  This keeps the grape eating birds away from the grapes without nets.

Petit Manseng

The brix on these grapes can get as high as 30.  This makes a nice desert wine which is very popular in France.  This particular batch has a brix of only 22.  I am fine with that as I expect to make a dry white with these grapes

I picked some Petit Verdot as well.  After a 48 hour cold soak and 3 days of fermentation I decided to squeeze the berries, even though fermentation was not nearly done.  Taste showed that the tannins were high already and I am not interested in an overly tannic wine that has to age for 3 years to be drinkable.

This juice is dark as india ink

You can see the foam on the top of the fresh squeezed juice.

The brix was only 18 so chaptalizing was in order.  PH is 3.6 to 3.7

T/A is .75 percent