Sometimes it's the small moments that make us so excited, and this time of year that happens to be veraison! If you haven't heard of veraison, you've probably seen it at a vineyard. The word veraison comes from the French word literally meaning "change of color of the grape berries." It's the onset of grapes ripening, and when grapes begin to change color.
As our grapes change color from green to red, and they are developing sugars, an important
component for producing wine. Check out a picture of our veraison grapes below!
During veraison, vines begin to shift energy into ripening the grapes so that they are sweet for harvest season. For grapes that do not change color and remain green, we will remove these bunches off the vine (or "drop" them) so that the vine can transfer its energy/sugars to the grapes that are changing colors. After veraison, our grapes will grow significantly as they increase in sugars (measured in something called Brix). We will monitor the sugar content very closely as harvest season approaches in September/October to decide when the optimal time to harvest.
Another fun (well, not so fun for us!) fact: Our ripening grapes attract birds. While we love birds, we do not love them snacking on our crops. The next project for us is to begin netting the vines to deter birds and other creatures, which we will start sooner rather than later.
If you want to learn more about veraison, watch a talk with our owner, vineyard manager, and one of our partner winemakers on our Instagram TV Channel: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDUIeLNp41z/