Hardscrabble Journal

Home Stretch

Boisseau and Avenius Vineyards are now all picked. Bare vines throughout. No more grapes. No more worries. Bittersweet best describes feeling when walking rows of naked vines. Exhaustion and exuberance.

However there is no time to dwell. Today we de-stem, sort, and crush all those grapes. Next week the cellar will be full of fermenting tanks of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. 

Hardscrabble Vineyard still has several acres of vines ready to be picked. Fortunately the cool, dry weather will allow us to slow the picking pace. While the grapes are fragile after the Delta rains, they will hold up now that it is cool. We are a bit fragile too, but by the end of next week the last vine will be picked.

Usually at the stage I feel comfortable “proclaiming” the vintage. But, this year I’m just not sure about what the wines will taste like. Some of the whites have finished fermenting and I am very pleased with the results. With the reds it is too early. Later the fall we’ll have a better idea.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: October 16, 2020