Rain and the Impending Harvest

Last Wednesday, September 9th, we were keenly aware that a rainstorm was headed our way, so we had to make a decision on whether to harvest our Chenin Blanc or not. The problem with rain this close to harvest is that it can promote disease problems especially for botrytis and other late season rots (bitter, ripe and sour).
The Brix on the Chenin Blanc was about 17 degrees, and via a rather biased sampling and tasting, we knew that we had the flavors but the seeds were still on the green side indicating that ripening was not yet complete. We made a conscious decision not to harvest and to ride out the rainstorm, which brought us 2-1/4 inches of rain.
We consulted an excellent article that can be found online written by Mark Chien titled Rain at Harvest: finishing the end game. Mark Chien begins the article by explaining how the proper site selection, choice of variety, clone and rootstock, as well as vine density, spacing, and trellis and training system choices can all mitigate excessive rainfall close to harvest time. Of all the important factors he considered, Chien mentioned that one of the most important ways to preserve quality in a rainy vintage is to keep your fruit clean and sound by adopting a fruit rot program tailored to the conditions that occur during bloom, bunch closure, and version.
Having made the decision to let the grapes hang a bit longer, now when we go to the vineyard we check for signs of rot. So far so good. Yesterday, we took this photo:

We're hoping that our gamble to ride out the rainstorm will yield us high quality Chenin Blanc grapes.
References:
1. Mark L. Chien, Rain at Harvest: finishing the end game, Viticulture Educator, Penn State Cooperative Extension, September, 2010.