Our 2020 Harvest at a Glance

Last year, I wrote a blogpost called Our 2019 Harvest at a Glance, so I thought that this year I would continue the tradition.

Variety	Harvest Date	Weight - Pounds	Volume of Juice	Brix	pH	TA
Auxerrois*	9/17/2020	1670	120 gallons	19 19	3.06 3.07	7.01 g/L 8.01 g/L
Chardonnay	9/24/2020	1136	75 gallons	23.4	3.0	10 g/L
Chenin Blanc	10/11/2020	8201	655 gallons	23.3	3.09	12.1 g/L
Cabernet Franc	10/22/2020	872	70 gallons	23.5	3.05	10.2 g/L
Cabernet Sauvignon	10/22/2020	888	70 gallons	22.4	3.08	10.7 g/L
Barbera	10/28/2020	110	9 gallons	23.4	3.05	12.0 g/L

The table shows that the Brix for all of the varieties, with the exception of the Auxerrois was very respectable. Our experience with Auxerrois is that if we want to harvest a grape that is in balance with respect to Brix and acidity, we need to harvest the Auxerrois when it is around 19 ^oBrix. This variety is always the first that we harvest. ^*The Auxerrois went into two stainless steel barrels and a sample from each barrel was taken so the numbers differ slightly.
When the grapes were brought into Jonathan Edwards Winery, both the Auxerrois and the Chardonnay were pressed as whole clusters. Since there was a bit more Chenin Blanc, that variety was destemmed and pressed. Our preference as we begin to think about configuring our winery is to do whole cluster pressing for all of our white varieties.
The rest of the varieties have Brix and acid levels that are unusual for our area, reflecting the exceedingly hot summer that we had along with a drought. The titratable acids for the red varieties are also very acceptable and may reflect the use of malic acid as an energy source (respiration) during the hot summer.
We were thrilled this year to have at least one barrel's worth of both the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Cabernet Franc. Currently, it both are undergoing malolactic fermentation.
Our Barbera came online this year with a very small harvest of fruit that we turned into wine. It too is currently undergoing malolactic fermentation.