Time to Check Some Numbers for Our White Varieties

On Friday, September 22, we were looking at the prospect of a rain soaked weekend. Although we were spot checking the Brix (sugar content) of our white varieties, Auxerrois, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay we had not done a thorough assessment. We picked representative berries from all of our white varieties which meant walking nearly 2/3rd of the vineyard.
These are the numbers that we got for our white varieties:

Variety	Sample Date	Brix	pH	TA
Auxerrois	September 22, 2023	18	3.25	6.3 g/L
Chenin Blanc	September 22, 2023	17.5	2.89	13.5 g/L
Chardonnay	September 22, 2023	18	3.12	8.2 g/L

As a comparison, we took some numbers for our white varieties a week earlier last year:

Variety	Sample Date	Brix	pH	TA
Auxerrois	September 15, 2022	19	3.02	12.2 g/L
Chenin Blanc	September 16, 2022	18.8	2.82	13.8 g/L
Chardonnay	September 15, 2022	20.6	2.88	12.1 g/L

The comparison shows that the sugar accumulation in the Auxerrois and the Chardonnay are definitely lagging although the pH and the titratable acids (TA) are where we want it to be. The Chenin Blanc appears to be very similar to last years numbers although a week behind.
We have some decisions to make to determine when we will harvest our white varieties. Hoping Mother Nature brings us no more rain!