Got some readings today:
Pinot Noir 21.2 brix, 3.2 pH. Color is very dark, pips (aka seeds) are brown.
Tempranillo 18.0 brix, 3.0 pH. Birds and bees eating the good stuff like crazy.
Muscat 20.2 brix, 3.1 pH. Very mature looking (russet gold color), ripe pips.
Clearly the Tempranillo is going backwards based upon the rain splitting some grapes and luring in the birds and bees. I also took a smaller sample of Tempranillo since we're barely going to make the 1000lb minimum, so the results have a higher margin of error. Nevertheless, I think we'll pick that before the next rain so that no more fruit explodes. Giving your best fruit to pests during a cool/dry period just about offsets the ripening progress of the rest.
The Pinot Noir is in pretty good shape. This isn't going to be a high sugar year. It is, however, going to be a very well-developed year because we'll have good acidity and good physiological maturity. Based on the expected acid drop, we'll want to pick that before it rains too.
Muscat is a different beast. It develops its Muscat-ness very late in the season so we want to hang on. The fruit is all perfect and untouched; the acidity still high. This we will defer.
Bottomline, looking like Pinot Noir and Tempranillo on October 17th and 18th. Muscat probably on October 23rd. All based on the weather forecast. Remember the rule of thumb, reds before first rain, muscat before 2nd rain.
