VASCM: Ripening Question

[John Benedetti]

Yes, the others are right. Heat like this in the early part of the ripening window will push sugars past the acids. The grapes aren’t really fully “ripe” in many cases this year, but they’ll be raisins if we don’t pick. If there was fog coming soon, there would be a chance things would come back— I’ve seen brix drop after a heat wave with a combo of water and cold weather. But not this year. 

If you pick it now, that will make a great Chardonnay at that pH after a little MLF.

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This message was poorly autocorrected by my iPhone
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John Benedetti
Owner/Winemaker
Sante Arcangeli Family Wines
831.406.1262
www.santewinery.com

> On Sep 6, 2022, at 2:38 PM, Kenneth Challenger <ironrosevineyards at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I have something unusual going on. Our Chardonnay appears to have ripened quickly and it is at 23 Brix now but the pH is very low for this Brix - about 3.1. My normal issue is pH too high when the Brix is around this level. Seeds are still mostly green so I don’t believe that the grapes are ripe. There is no sign of dehydration and I watered (5 gal/vine) just before this heat wave hit. I normally harvest about a month from now.
> 
> Anybody with an idea of what is happening?
> 
> Thanks for your input.
> 
> Ken Challenger
> Iron Rose Vineyards 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
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