Vigneron’s Journal

September 6, 2024

“When is harvest??” That question is on everyone’s minds right now here at Roberts Ranch! We have enjoyed a timely spring bud break, summer with consistently warm (but not too warm) days, our expected cool down at nights and an absence of weather related drama. All of this causes vineyard owners and winemakers alike to be optimistic about a soon and steady stream of macro bins filled with good quality fruit heading to crush pads here in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. (Keep an eye out for these hard working folks as you’re out and about in the coming weeks and give them a wave!)

Here at Roberts Ranch our Estate pick is still a week or two away - how do we know, you ask? Well, towards the season end we take weekly readings of a generous sampling of grape clusters throughout the vineyard so as to get a good sense of the ripening of the vineyard as a whole. Pictured, you will see one test we run after we crush our sampled clusters. The tool shown, a refractometer, measures the brix (dissolved sugar amounts) in the juice. Here is a sample shot of some Hawk Ridge Pinot Noir readings. With Goldilocks weather, our brix will rise between .5 and 1 degree per week. These readings help us to forecast our estimated harvest date (we’re still a few weeks out for the HR vineyard.) Sugar levels at harvest are directly related to alcohol levels in the finished wine. So as you may guess, white wines are usually picked at lower brix than reds.

Other ways we estimate the readiness of the grapes is through testing the pH levels of the juice. Wine needs to have enough acidity to protect it through the winemaking process and then in storage to keep its complexity and also longevity in bottle. If the fruit stays too long on the vine, it can begin to lose the acidity - so is a key part of the equation, too. We also taste the grapes and look at the seed color - moving from green to brown shows ripening. The last photo shows some Pinot Noir seeds from yesterday-still a bit green! All these things taken together with weather forecast, pick crew availability and landing space at the crush pad, help us to discern just when that exciting first harvest day will be.

We’ve made some educated guesses that we will still have the Crush Pad at Roberts Ranch available for our September 14th Wine, Charcuterie and Crushpad Concert with Stone Circle - so come if you can, as we will be hunkered down with the crush, press and winemaking shortly thereafter! (Next Winery Open Day will not be until October 26th for our Family Harvest Party with Sugar By the Pound!) Keep your eyes out for Fall Wine Club opening soon, too! We have some new releases in store - so watch this space!

Yours in Gratitude,

Joshua Stewman
Roberts Ranch Vineyards and Winery

Lavender Olallieberry Ice Cream