Aglianico
Harvest and the family are great.
Everyone
else is just sort of starting.
Because I'm setting less fruit and picking at a phenolic ready 23brix, 3.40-3.50 pH, 0.7-0.85 TA, I'm 80 tons in, 5 or so to go. Lots of extended maceration so there's still quite a bit to be done. Just no panic or stress. I'll be eating ice cream in my underwear watching HeeHaw reruns while every one else cries about bunch rot throughout the Arizona monsoons.
I'm beginning to have a better understanding of "terroir." To truly achieve sustainability and see consistent quality and results we need to identify and work within the friendly spaces presented by her highness.
Nebbiolo
I think that non hostile gap is before monsoons. As mentioned, that requires setting less fruit. 1 cluster per shoot is the sweet spot. Identifying how many shoot positions your vines prefer is the hard part sort of. But 1 cluster helps avoid bunch rot when the rains come. 1 cluster lets the AZ vines efficiently and evenly ripen those clusters in a very reasonable length of time. If seeds/fruit are a bit green, I've been extending maceration to between 8-12 weeks until any angular stuff gets to that lovely polymerized place. The results are surprising and delightful. Its exhilarating and depressing at the same time. Exhilarating because of the epiphany, depressing because no one will know for several years. Insert your favorite Steve Martin/Charles Grodin Lonely Guy quote here.
M J Keenan
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