As the first light of last Saturday showed over the hill we were already beginning the 2017 harvest! We harvested Pinot noir at JSV for a rosé wine. Grapes for rosé are most commonly picked well before grapes from the same variety that are destined for red wine. The result is something more subtle, higher in acid and lower in alcohol. An absolutely delightful product. For reference, we can look back at a previous edition of this blog (Managing Birds) and see that winemakers start picking grapes for red wine at about 25% sugar in contrast, these rosé destined grapes had juice containing about 21% sugar. That may not sound like that big a difference but it is and there are other components of juice chemistry that are also very different. The rosé is closer in chemistry and style to white wine that it is to its red brother.
So we are off to the races. This time of year is exciting in its intensity but the intensity is also exhausting. At this point we are filled with excitement to see to product we worked on all season at the finish line. That feeling will fade with exhaustion.
I’m glad to see you coming, I’m glad to see you go, She once told me
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Most probably there will be a future blog about being happy we are done