HARVEST

The grapes are finally just about ready and the ominous weather forecast for next week had us calling our picking crew and polishing the rust off our own secateurs.
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc in two days--could we do it?

Well, we gave it a good shot.
The grapes were in very good condition, although there were some patches of Pinot Noir that the birds had ravaged. They like to peck the grapes and suck out some juice, leaving the punctured berry behind which opens the way for mould, vinegar flies and other undesirable things.
Here's a bucket of Sauvignon Blanc, waiting to be picked up:

As you can see, beautiful clean fruit, ready for the trip to the winery:

 It's a challenging and interesting season. The cool, humid weather has allowed the grapes to retain high natural acidity. This is great because it means we don't have to add any and I have no doubt that natural acidity tastes better (and "softer") than added acid. I can't explain why this may be so but it is in keeping with our desire to interfere as little as possible in the winemaking process. As we are fond of saying, we like to let the grapes do the talking....