Jul 24

Veraison: Changing Colors in the Vineyard

Posted under Veraison

Veraison: Changing Colors in the Vineyard

Veraison is the process of grapes turning from green to purple. To those of us you live and breathe in the vineyard, veraison starts the countdown to harvest. You can pretty much count on it coming about 40 days after all the color turns to purple in the vineyard.

One of the things about veraison is that you can see the progress in the vineyard. Suddenly, within about a week, the grapes turn from green to purple. It’s also great to compare what is happening on our mountain with the rest of the Napa Valley. Typically, we go through veraison later than they do on the valley floor.

We are looking for uniformity in veraison. We’ll do a second “Green Harvest” to thin out the clusters that are clearly behind the main crop. This fruit wouldn’t ripen with the rest of the block and would add unwanted flavor characteristics to the wine. Now, it’s time to make sure all the crush equipment is working!

Do you have a question about Veraison? Let us know.

Post a comment

4 Comments

Markvmarino said...
hello I have a Wine Blog 200 hits in the last day http://winelimo.typepad.com/winery_times/ I like your concept would like to come for a visit a write an article about you? 707 396 7892 Hope your wine is as interesting as your concept!
baseballmdk said...
I think its great what your doing with the adopt a grape concept. I live in Colorado and have always enjoyed wine and I love the prospect of being able to follow the process. Keep it up!!!
winehiker said...
Veraison is, to me, one of the finest times to stroll a vineyard. Autumn, with its varied shades of red and gold in the vines coupled with late blue fruit, can be incredibly dramatic when seen from a moderate distance. I look forward to walking among my adopted vines soon!
cscioli said...
I recently produced a documentary on CA wine called "A State of Vine," http://www.astateofvine.com. I think you've got a novel concept here and would like to include adopt a grape in our upcoming sequel.

You must be a registered user to post comments. Sign Up Now

Wine Country

Wine Country Lifestyle

The Napa Valley exudes a feeling known to many as “an attitude of abundance.” Adopt a Grape wants to share some of what makes Napa unique and special; the people, places, food and wine. Things that make Wine Country what it is.