Fall Harvest Report

Harvest has begun here in Santa Barbara Wine Country, with the first crisp white grapes and those designated for sparkling wines being clipped from the vines. The hard frosts that the county experienced back in April, combined with cool temperatures throughout summer have delayed the start of harvest a few weeks, but activities are now moving ahead!

SBCVA president and winegrower Michael Larner, states "With one of the longest growing seasons in California, we'll be in harvest mode from now until November. It's an incredibly exciting time for all of us, whether we're in the vineyard or winery or both. The entire county is buzzing in anticipation of the 2011 vintage."

Robléon Vineyard Comments:
La Encantada is a wonderful Pinot Noir vineyard site. This is an organically-farmed vineyard in which exhaustive care goes into the farming.  The vineyard is about 100% colored up and harvest is expected around the first 10 days of October.

Rita's Crown vineyard, from which we will introduce into the Robléon family of wines our first Chardonnay varietal, is a little behind La Encantada, but should catch up quickly.  The temperatures are rising a bit in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, which should result in good fruit set and maturity over the next few weeks.

Robléon Estate vineyard Syrah grapes are ripening nicely, with a lot of color and large clusters.  This vineyard is five years old and is the fruit for our first estate Syrah.  2011 will be a good year for this vineyard barring any unforeseeable negative impacts on the ripening process.  We expect October to be a bustling month around the Robléon Estate.

Judging the Grape Ripeness:
How do winegrowers tell if a grape is ripe? Well, the straight answer is there is no easy answer and no magic bullet - it is very subjective. Although universities and wine labs have worked to quantify grape ripeness through complex algorithms, at Robléon we believe there will never be a single set of numbers that define ripeness for any particular grape varietal.

Winegrape varietals each have different characteristics that determine their time on the vine ("hangtime"). Those, combined with the style of wine that is to be produced, the preference of the winemaker and the genetic makeup of the grape varietal itself all factor into the determination of ripeness.

Winemakers generally have targets for ripeness, depending upon the style of wine being produced. They look at benchmark numbers of pH, total acids, sugar levels (brix) as measurements, but walking the vineyard to taste individual berries, evaluate seed and stem ripeness and some "gut feeling" help determine when to pick.

The ripening process continues as long as the clusters are on the vine with flavors developing or changing, sugar levels increasing and natural acidity decreasing. The decision as to when to harvest is a matter of determining that point along the ripening continuum that best fits the winemaker's objective for the wine. Once picked, grapes do not continue to ripen as with other fruits, so this is one of the most difficult decisions facing winemakers each year.

To pick, or not to pick - that is the question of the day!  We’ll keep you posted.