The first harvest for Old Wagon Road Vineyards was September 16, 2014!
We were not expecting a very large harvest since the vines were only planted in Spring 2013. Typically, the vines take 3-5 years to produce viable fruit. We were hoping to get enough grapes to play with at home. Luckily, we did!
We had been watching the grapes and the weather for the last week or so. The grapes were getting very sweet which means that it is almost time to harvest. A few days prior to picking the grapes, Chris checked the brix and found a range of 23.25-26. Brix is the sugar content. This is a pretty good range for our grapes.
Chris, Jensen, and I spent a couple of hours on the property walking the aisles to pick our grapes. Most of the Pinot Noir plants had little or no fruit. Occasionally, we found one that had several clusters. The Sauvignon Blanc was a bit more vigorous and the plants had more grapes, but still only a small crop. Next year we anticipate getting a much larger crop from all vines planed in 2013.
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| Pinot Noir |
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| Chris picking Pinot Noir grapes |
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| Pinot Noir |
Our little boy, Jensen, was out to help. He was our quality control. Fortunately, the grapes were at just the right height for him.
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| Jensen picking a grape to try |
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| Hmmm...not sure he liked that very much |
In the end, we filled about 6 inches in the bottom of our bin. We took the grapes home and started the wine making process. Check back soon for the blogs about our first experience making wine.
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| Pinot Noir crop |
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| Sauvignon Blanc crop (covering Pinot Noir crop) |
