*The values for 9-9-11 are the mean of two independent samples from the whole primitivo field.

Comments: 

In what we expect to be the final primitivo sample of the year, very good ripening progress was observed across the board, with the total acidity finally getting to a respectable point.  The juice looks and tastes ripe.  Our primitivo harvests are currently ongoing and will be completed by next week.  We’ll post the availability of additional fruit, if any, once the committed orders are filled.

The barbera also showed very good ripening progress, with another large drop in TA that was coupled with a much smaller rise in sugar.  This is exactly what we hoped for in this varietal that we are seldom able to pick shy of the high 20’s in brix.   Could this be the year?  The pH rose nicely, though not as much as would have liked.  We see harvest in this field as about 1-2 weeks out depending on client preferences, the weather, and logistics.

The Quinta’s tourgia nacional showed steady ripening progress across the board, though we were hoping for a little more movement on the brix.  With cooler weather ahead, and possibly even some rain, it’s now clear that we’re going to need an additional 2 weeks, and thus the Quinta will be harvested on October 15.  We plan to irrigate the Quinta little, if at all, in the interim.  Berry sampling for the supporting varietals showed no perceptible progress on brix (refractometry) except for tempranillo, which is looking and tasting fully ripe.  The additional 2 weeks will be particular value for the souzao, the latest ripening varietal that contributes significant color to the blend.  The brix results for the supporting varietals were as follows:

Tempranillo, 24.0 +/- 1.4

Tinto Cao, 22.9 +/- 1.7

Tinta Amarela, 23.8 +/- 1.7

Souzao, 20.6 +/- 1.7

The touriga nacional (2009 graft) made steady ripening progress across the board, though the sugar remains low, and continues a full 2 weeks behind the Quinta touriga.  The vines look healthy, the vines are protected from birds with netting, and substantial fruit was dropped a few weeks ago, so there is nothing left to do but wait and hope the weather cooperates.  We are projecting a late October harvest for this touriga field.

 *The values for 9-9-11 are the mean of two independent samples from the whole primitivo field.

Comments:

The primitivo showed incremental progress in sugar, pH, and TA, though the decrease in acidity has been stubborn and is taking longer than expected.  Qualitiatively, juice color and flavor made incremental progress, but we think not quite there.  We had backed off irrigation this past week, which coupled with the recent heat, might account for some of the increase in brix, and would tend to inflate the TA as well.  However, the ratio of brix to TA continues to rise.  We would now suggest end of September/early October for harvest depending on personal and logistical preferences, which in either case would be our latest ever (for a dry style) for primitivo.

The barbera showed very nice progress across the board.  We think this is due to a good week of ripening, coupled with a complete pass of selective fruit dropping that we recently finished in this vineyard.  The goals of the fruit dropping were to decrease crop load in a small minority of plants that were overcropped and to selectively remove less ripe clusters, including “seconds”, from any vines needing this.  This operation should result in a more homogenously ripe crop at harvest in a few weeks.  The 2-brix increase from last week was achieved in the face of increased irrigation, which we are undertaking through at least this current heat wave to stave off raisining.  We remain in great shape for harvest by mid-October.

The touriga nacional from the Quinta also showed very nice ripening progress across the board.  We backed off on irrigation somewhat in this vineyard and will likely continue to do so, as the relatively thick-skinned port varietals can handle this without excessive raisining.  In addition to the touriga nacional cluster sampling results shown above, we did random berry sampling with refractometry to gauge brix levels for the supporting cast of port varietals, with the following results:

Tempranillo:    22.4 +/- 1.9 brix

Tinto Cao:  23.0 +/- 0.7 brix

Tinta Amarela:  24.1 +/- 2.5 brix

Souzao:  21.2 +/- 1.5 brix

Based on these results, we are looking at October 8, 9, 15, or 16 as the harvest date for the Quinta.  A final date will be announced to Quinta shareholders as soon as possible to facilitate planning.

The first touriga nacional sample from our 2009 touriga vineyard suggests that it is behind the Quinta in ripening by about 2 weeks.  Fruit has been dropped, the vines are netted to protect from birds, and we will decrease irrigation to facilitate concentration of this fruit.  It now looks like a mid- to late-October harvest for this field.

 *The values for 9-9-11 are the mean of two independent samples from the whole primitivo field.

Comments:  The primitivo showed nice progress in ripening in terms of brix and pH.  The relative lack of movement on TA may be related (we speculate) to the fact that we waited an extra day plus to analyze the 9-9-11 sample for TA, waiting for a reagent.  Potentially the acid level was not completely stable in the sample, resulting in a lower value than might have been obtained in a fresh sample.  In any event, we are very confident in the most recent TAs, all conducted on fresh juice samples.  The data suggest optimal harvest in 1-2 weeks, again depending on personal preferences and logistical considerations for individual clients.

The first barbera reading showed an expected high level of acid (and low pH), though not the most extreme we have seen for a first sample of the season.  More hang time is clearly needed, and the reasonable brix reading at this juncture gives us plenty of runway.  A mid-October harvest is still in reach.

The first touriga nacional sample (Quinta) showed lower brix than we expected, but the lowest TA of three varietals sampled.  We are targeting a Saturday harvest to accomodate all the Quinta shareholders, and though it’s too early to set this date based on the one data point, we would currently suggest no earlier than October 8, more likely October 15, and probably no later than October 22.

 *Given field heterogeneity, two independent samples–each from the whole field– were collected and processed. 

Comments:  The two samples–despite coming from the same “population” of vines–show some differences, especially in the brix values, thus providing some measure of the potential sampling error in our approximately ~10 lb samples of grapes.  There is heterogeneity in ripening between vines and between clusters, so some sampling error is inevitable, and one should keep this in mind. Nevertheless, the overall picture is of a primitivo vineyard well on its way ripeness, though not quite there.  This is evident in all the values above, as well as on juice color and juice taste.  The juice is a little lighter than we like to see in fully ripe primitivo. The juice is delicious to drink, which in our experience marks a point a little before the ripeness is ideal for primitivo (at the latter time it tastes a little overly sweet).  We would estimate about 2 weeks to harvest, depending on the weather and depending on the tastes of individual clients.  Some might like it a little earlier, and some might like it a little later, but a September harvest still looks very likely.