Note: We are following the 2011 grape harvest in Niagara through the writings of several Niagara insiders. This is the third post from Richie Roberts, winemaker at Fielding Estate Winery. This is his report.
Busy days (and nights)!
By Richie Roberts
Wow – it has been a BUSY week! In the cellar, the two wines that will make the base for our sparkling wine are looking very nice as they near the end of their primary fermentation.
On the crush pad we started things off last week (Thursday) with a small block of Riesling here on the Beamsville Bench and a small amount of Pinot Gris from the Niagara Parkway. Each had terrific looking fruit that I am sure we’ll make some great wines from.
On Monday, anticipating the coming rains, we made the decision to harvest a lot of fruit over the coming days. The next three days were extremely busy for us, bringing in some bench Chardonnay, Riesling, Chardonnay Musqué, Pinot Gris (seen on the vine in the top photo from about two weeks ago) and Pinot Noir from the Lincoln Lakeshore.
After a solid few hours of rain on Wednesday night we were back at it Thursday afternoon with another beautiful looking block of Pinot Gris on the twenty mile bench.
With the weather forecast looking pretty wet for the next week or so, I’m pretty happy with the decisions we’ve made so far. Harvesting these tighter-cluster grape varieties early will help us sleep a little better at night during the rain, while their tougher skinned relatives hang in there out on the vine.
So much of what we do is weather-dependent, and having a terrific team of guys here at the winery who are committed to making wines whenever we need to, is great.
Drinking from our cellar this week: 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay – a great wine for the start of fall!
Highlight of the week: This past week has been a bit of a blur, but the Chardonnay Musqué that we harvested from our Jack Rabbit Flats vineyard looked exceptional, and when we pressed it the smell in the air was incredible.
“Can’t live without” item of the week: Coffee maker. One of the most used pieces of equipment in the winery after a couple 16-hour back-to-back days of pressing!
Something to take the mind off harvest: The Niagara Wine Festival wraps up this week, and is always a good time for locals and visitors to the area!
On deck in the next week: Very much weather dependant. A lot of activity in the cellar, where fermentations of our whites are picking up. If we get a good window of opportunity we’ll likely pick some more Pinot Gris and Chardonnay.
Follow along this blog on a weekly basis, where I plan to tell you about all the fun we’re having on the crush pad trying to make great wines!
Cheers,
Richie
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