I've Been Picked, I've Been Picked

So here's the deal guys. I have been slacking on letting you know what's up. Why? Because I wanted to enjoy my last days of beautiful sunshine. I knew I was getting sweet early and those wine-dudes were going to cut me off before I got too sweet and therefore hot later.

I have to admit, I taste good! I am loaded with exotic fruit, floral notes and succulent stone fruit character. They decided to pick me 10 days ago now with moderate sugar 23.1 brix, and juicy acidity (pH of 3.49 and TA of 6.45 g/l for those that care, I know I wouldn't if I were you). My skins were soft and gushy, my seeds were brown and nutty. Simply put I was optimally ripe and my makers are pleased.

So, here is where it gets interesting. Those winemaker dudes really are confusing. I mean they have no idea what they are doing with me. All they want to do is experiment with me and figure out how to best showcase my deliciousness (if that isn't a word, it should be). They split me in half, taking half of me directly to a press with my whole cluster in tact trying to be gentle and delecate. We all know Jordan and Tim are delicate guys! The other half of me they decided to destem and let me sit on my skins for 5 days before pressing me. They say it was because they thought my skin was tasty too and the wanted to get some extra yumminess as well as get some added textures for me as a finished wine.

So since then I have been slowly perculating along on my fancy dancy yeast that I brought with me from the vineyard. They didn't want to add any weird commercial stuff because they think I am awesome all on my own. So know it is all about being low and slow, with me ferment temperature and sugar depletion that is. I'm not a low riding 1970's Cadillac! This is to help me retain my beautiful aromas as I sit here in these special french oak barrels from Jupilles forest. They come by and stir me up each day. Really they are pampering me. I heard I am getting some more neighbors soon. I have had a few barrels of my buddies Chardonnay from a couple hill blocks around already, but apparently more of those cool guys are coming to hang with me next week. Sweet, I love company and it turns out they plan on blending us all together at somepoint anyway to make Nevaeh White 2012.

Well that's all i got for now. I plan to check in again sooner this time.

What's the Deal Maam?!?!

Seriously Mother Nature, what's your beef? When I told you I wanted a little sprinkle a couple weeks ago I was referring to maybe half an inch to an inch over the course of one day. How do you respond? With this up and down weather pattern leaving me with many cloudy days, rain 3-4 times in a week and still pretty hot and humid. C'mon Ma’am!

I have to apologize to all of you that have been wondering what's been up with me, Viognier Nevaeh. I just haven't had time to discuss my life since those winemakers and vineyard dudes have been driving me nuts due to this rainy past couple weeks. Mother Nature is playing tricks on us and now it's affecting you that want to read about me.

So, here's what's goin' on these days. I'm getting all soft and gushy and my skins are starting to turn almost a yellow gold color. This I am told is called veraison by those nerds walking around me, but I like to refer to it as getting sweet and mature. I don't think I have an awful lot more time hanging out here in the vineyard so I reallly want to make the best of it and bask in the sun and stay dry. Those vineyard folks have pulled away all my basal leaves fruit around my fruiting zone to let some of the sun in (thanks guys) but now we just need the sun to peak through more so that it was a worthwhile exercise. They have also come around knocking off the weaker ones of us. All my clusters that struggled to make their way into veraison have been put out of their misery and dropped to the ground. I think they called it green harvesting or something like that. Good thing too since I was about to start making fun of them.

So if all goes to plan it looks like I could be making my way into that nice cool cellar even late in this month. There is no way I can hang on until mid September like usual that's for sure. With this year having such an early bud break in the mild Spring, the mild and dry months of April, May and June, then the hot and sometimes moist month of July, I have had just about enough. I am pushing a lot of new lateral shoots and pushing a lot more in my canopy to slow down a bit with this rain, but I have faith we will dry out now and be ready sooner rather then later. In the end, who knows though? This weather seems to change so fast it is impossible to tell the future. Where is a Magic 8 Ball when you need one?

Me: "Will the weather stay consistent now until the end of October to help me and my buddies out here?"

Magic 8 Ball: "Don't count on it"

Me: "Do you think I will ripen beautifully still before the end of August?"

Magic 8 Ball: "Most Likely"

Well at least that is how I think the conversation would go....Til next time, stay dry!

I’m Going to Go into Overdrive!

So I have been hearing all sorts of talk about the coming weather forecast over the next couple weeks and if their right I’m going to go crazy!  Over the next three days supposedly we could receive just over an inch of rain but none of it will be overly heavy so I should be able to suck it all up.  Then after that we are supposed to be in the mid 90’s for awhile, then a bit more rain, then warm again and ending with some comfy sunny days in the mid to upper 80’s at the end of the month.  That makes my foliage happy.

Whenever my foliage get’s all happy it stresses out our vineyard manager and winemaker.  Especially as we enter into August.  I just want to put all my energy into my leaves and reach for the sun because it feels so good.  They want me to start thinking about redirecting that energy to my fruit since we will be coming up to veraison.  Veraison is when I get all fat, soft and happy in my fruiting zone.  My skins soften up, I get sweeter, and I become delicious.  This is just me getting ready for a new stage in my life.  The last few months have been about my relationship with nature.  Now I have to get ready for my relationship with the winemaker and the cellar.  Life is hard as a grape having to make these changes.

I have overheard the vineyard and wine dude talking about this year though, and really they don’t seem that wound up about me sprouting my leaves a bit right now and slowing things down a while.  I did come out and play early this year, so they think if I hang out here for a little while longer then normal I can be better for Mr. Winemaker.  Well, I am glad that would work out for them, but what about my agenda.  Mother Nature and I have plans and they will just have to accept that!

Life is Grand!

You know, this has been a great week.  The breeze has been constant but not heavy, the sun has glared down on me helping me get ready to go into veraison soon, and the rain was held to just enough on Monday morning and early afternoon to give me what I needed, but not drown me.  Being a grape this week has simply been swell.
 

The crew of people seems to be pretty laid back this week too.  That have gone through and visited all my friends Chardonnay, Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Merlot, Syrah and Mourvedre as well as my beautiful Viognier self.  They have finished tucking me in with those funny red c-clip things holding my shoots between the wires.  They have mowed down all that itchy grass in my rows and have just let me chill out.  It is quite cozy being tucked in and secure.  The only thing I wasn’t overly thrilled with was that they went through and snipped off my growth tips.  I will show them, I am going to start filling out through my laterals now.  And they though their work would be done J.

I also overheard that the winemaking team was getting together to discuss what they want to do with me once I am all sweet and delicious.  That have ordered up a bunch of fancy Jupilles forest oak barrels from me to hang out in and are now looking at different options regarding whether they want to get some yeast or let me just do it on my own with my indigenous yeast.  I think they will probably split me up in the long run and do some trials.  Last year they tried all sorts of stuff with my buddies of the 2011 vintage and it was apparently confusing but kind of fun to see all the areas of their cellar.  Really they won’t know exactly what they are going to do with me until they see if the summer keeps up with the beautiful dry weather and some hotter days.  They really want to make sure I stay clean, become my sweet self and that I taste delicious.

So since it is such a laid back week, I kind of want to ask you what you would do with me.

Would you ferment me with specific yeast or let me do it on my own?

Oak me or don’t oak me?  Old, New or a mixture?  They already told me I can’t go into Virginia Oak since I am just so elegant.

Do you think they should aim to harvest me early with zippy acids or let me get all juicy and tasty?

So many decisions I make for people when I am this awesome grape variety, Viognier!

Some Relief Finally

Dude - That was one hot weekend! I will tell you after a weekend of over 100 degree weather this rain sure feels good. A nice steady rain without any terrential downpours that will run off is exactly what the doctor ordered. I am a little concerned that I hear this might go on for three days though. I want a little drink of water just to get me hydrated but I sure don't need that much.

All and all life is pretty good today though. None of those crazy guys can spray anything on me or poke and prod me too much today with this rain. They want inside jobs on days like today. So good news for me and bad news for our winemaker as well. They came out to check how I was doing on Friday and it turns out I have lost weight. They say they like me to weigh in around 2 tons per acre but this year I shed off some baby fat and they think I am only going to come in about 1.5 tons per acre. Well I look good though and apparently that means I might also have more concentration and intensity when they harvest me. They do think I should ripen quite uniformly and turn out well as long as I don't stress out to much in the hot summer or drink to much.

Well, I am going to go and just chill in the rain before these guys can get back out here. I overheard them talking about how they want to hedge me a bit this week. I hate haircuts! Whenever they do that they always rip off some of my shoots and play with y grape clusters. It's so annoying, but until then it will be pretty chill for me.

Dreading the Heat

So I know that many people look at hot and dry being ideal for me, but come on, this weekend is out of control. I saw our winemaker running by me this morning and he looked like he was already in agony from the heat and humidity at 6:30am. I wonder if he has thought about what this feels like for me being in 100+ weather all day.

The big thing I hope that he and that guy on the tractor understand is that they better not spray anything on me in this excessive heat. Quite simply put, they would burn my foliage in this blazing sun. It also isn't that big a rush anyway since the heat will stop anything from spreading too much over the next couple days anyway. Maybe take the weekend off guys!

If there is one saving grace it is that I am twenty years old this year so my root system is expansive enough to pull up some water to keep me hydrated from the moister sub-soils. Also my fairly dense loamy soils underneath the sand is pretty well insulated so atleast my roots should stay a little cooler. I think my biggest worry at this point is having to be taken out of my natural setting early this year. I have this feeling that if the weather stays hot and dry like it has been over the last almost month they might decide to harvest me early. Remember, we also had an extremely early Spring and bud break. If I have to be harvested early then I might not be my happy and chipper self with bright acidity since the heat will cook that away. I just hope I have a chance to ripen all my flavors before that time comes, but this 100+ weather isn't going to help that. This just causes me to fall asleep and stop my photosynthesis.

Oh well, I have been told that it should cool down a bit next week and that I might even get some rain to drink at the end of the week. So, let's all take the weekend off and you guys enjoys some crisp bright wines.

Intro - It's Hot and My winemaker Bothers Me

OK, so listen up!  If you are a fan of your favorite winemaker or vineyard manager this blog is not for you.  Those greedy winemakers and vineyard managers try to take all the credit while forgetting about what I went through.  This is a blog about what it’s like to be me -  a grape of great distinction!

So I’ll start by letting you know who I am.  My name is Viognier Nevaeh.  I am an ancient grape variety (Viognier) that is probably best known for my work in the Northern Rhone Valley in the appellations of Condrieu and Chateau Grillet, but I myself am located in the Pond Block of Nevaeh Vineyard on the estate of Tarara Winery in Leesburg, Virginia.  Hence my name, Viognier Nevaeh.

So even though I am best known for my brothers and sisters that have been raised in the Rhone Valley, I have been told I am pretty awesome here in Virginia too.  Someone even named me as the State grape last year.  How cool is that?  So cool that some weird wine bloggers even gave me a cool nickname “Viggy”.  Thanks Guys!!! – I’ll try to not let it go to my head.

So now that you understand where I come from, let’s get started on griping about my life a bit.  It has been freaking hot out here man!  My lousy caretakers Jordan and Ben come and check on me once a day before they go home and hang out in an air conditioned house, so forget them.  This week I have had to hang out here with every day getting close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  How do they thank me?  They talk about how this weather is also creating some serious downy mildew pressure and that it might be a good idea to spray some fungicide on me.  Really guys!  I have already been through a lot this week.  While you were inside watching a cool lightning storm, Mother Nature was smacking me with 80mph winds and throwing trees at me.  Even the rain she gave came down so fast that it just ran away from me anyway so I hardly got a drink.  I’m thirsty guys.  That said, I was talking to my new little brothers up on the Hill block that you planted last year and they say they are going to wither away if you don’t irrigate them soon.  But no, you guys think dry farming is cool and will help with vertical root growth and give me better concentration.

Oh well, at least today is nicer.  The breeze is cutting through my foliage and keeping my grapes nice and dry so we might have a little less issue with mildew or botrytis if this can keep up.  They are also calling for some good rain at the end of next week, so if I can just hold up until then I should be able to get the drink they don’t want to give me.  The only thing that could make today a little nicer is if that dry sand on top of the Penn Silt Loam would stop blowing in my face.  Oh well, can’t have it all I guess.

So there you go readers, this is what this blog is all about.  Letting you know what my life is like as a grape living with these guys here at Tarara.  They tell me I am some of their most prized possessions and that I am destined to eventually be blended with my buddy Chardonnay from the Hill Block #2 for some weird single vineyard wine or something that they call “Nevaeh” after where we are located.  Hey, I don’t make this stuff up!  Anyway, this will be my place to gripe about what they are doing to me or tell when things are going great.  I plan to keep you updated until you get a chance to taste me which they say should be some time in 2014.  We’ll see!