Brix @ 5.5

All there is to say at the moment.  This has been the slowest fermentation I've experienced with these grapes, and the only thing different this year was the application of sulfur to the vineyard for the powdery mildew, so that is the only thing I can attribute to the slower ferment.

The morning after...brix @ 23.5

Well, this was a first.  In years past I've had to add sugar to get the brix to 22, and this year, with no significant signs of raisins on the vine, I got a brix of 23.5!  It seems to me to be a combination of better trellis management and the vines getting a little more mature.

Inoculated once again with Assmanshausen yeast (its done very well in years past).  I think I will be adding something to keep ML from getting stuck like it has every other year, but we shall see.

Harvest and Crush 2012

We got 63 lbs this year.  Considerably better than last year, but still less than two years ago.  We had some decent loss to rodents and to powdery mildew, plus two Pinot Noir vines that normally produce didn't give anything this year and may need to be replaced.  But with some trellis changes in the works for next season, and some help from our friends at Hydrex to deal with the mice/rats, hopefully next year will break records!