It’s the beginning of March in Marlborough and the first grapes are yet to come off. The vineyard work is done(apart from picking) and now wait for the flavours to develop. It’s an easy time to get distracted with beer, wine, BBQ’s, more wine, etc but nevertheless there’s endless preparationneeded before the onslaught of harvest.
Frequent vineyard visits equipped with refractometer(a device that records the sugar level), water bottle(to wash off sticky juices?!) and the trusty work vehicle take up most of the month and the fuel card melting. Whilst the balance of time is in the winery involving harvest planning, tank logistics and any last minute bottlings!
Most importantly it’s a time to monitor grape flavour development and ‘have a yarn’ with grapegrowers.
Looking forward to Harvest 2013.