I usually get Central Valley grapes delivered in the middle of September. Last year's Cab seemed like it was picked too early. What varieties (red or white) are likely to be at their prime at this time?
Thanks, David Denver, CO USA
Syrah usually comes in balanced.
What did you mean by too early? The sugar on mine is always fine, but central valley fruit seems to have high pH issues over the last few years. I just deal with it, the price is really low for the quality I get. It's probably overcropped, but I can't say that for sure either. It's REALLY hot there for grapes.
I usually blend a cab franc and cab sauv to balance the acids at about
1 to 2 or 3 with my central valley cabs. Regards, JoeJoe,
The sugar was pretty low, about 20.5 brix, and color extraction was pretty weak compared to other varieties from the region. Like your grapes, my Cab Sauv had a high pH - 3.8.
I'll try some Syrah this year. Are there any other varieties in the region that you recommend?
Thanks, David
Well, the cab franc never seems to come in on the low acid side, Valdepenas seems to work out well too. I had the color extraction problem once on a Merlot and never made it again so I know what you mean. They must have missed the mark on heating the grapes on those.
I quit making Regina Pinot Noir a year or two ago due to high pH, I used phosphoric acid to bump it last time and decided enough was enough.
I have bottled some reds at 3.8 and not used more than 50 to 60 PPM free SO2 as measured by titrettes with no ill effects, bumping it down to 3.6 made the reds too tart. I think a TA over 6.0 in a red makes for too tart a dry wine, 7g/l is much too too high for my tastes. I start trading off values at that point, I live with the higher pH or leave it in bottle for at least 3 or 4 years, that seems to round off the sharp edges. Regards, Joe
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