It happens every year in the vineyard and it means we are getting close to harvest time! Veraison is the changing of the color of the grapes from green to red or yellow (white wine). In the picture here, I’ve got some Pinot Noir clusters. I have to say it’s been a long strange trip this past nine months or so.
Christmas day, 2008 we had close to three feet of snow and the power went out for most of the day! Four months later we had a two week late bud break! Then the heat kicked in and we had some of the hottest and driest weather on record. This has helped push the grapes along to ripening earlier than normal. Last week was a cool, rainy respite from the heat and allowed the grapes to regain their composure on the long march to harvest time. This week is going to be hot and sunny, but not anywhere near as hot before. I can tell we are getting closer to Fall, the night time temperatures are starting to fall into the 50s over night. The heat actually came on the in the house a couple of days ago! Crazy weather… If we can keep the weather semi-normal through September, we’ll have harvest in the first week of October!
Hollywood Hill Vineyards 