Ramona Valley Vineyard Association - Recently Updated Pages

Harvest Planning

RVVACarolyn — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:16:51 CDT

DECIDING WHEN TO PICK
By
Lum Eisenman

Under-ripe red grapes are low in sugar, low in flavor, low in color and high in acid. Wines made from under-ripe grapes can be overly tart, and they often have herbaceous, green bean or bell pepper flavors. Wines made from under-ripe grapes also have poor color, low flavor intensity and often lack varietal character.

Overripe, red grapes are high in sugar, low in acid and high in color. Wine made from overripe grapes are high in alcohol, and they can taste “flat” or bland because they are too low in acidity. Furthermore, wines produced from overripe grapes often have “cooked fruit” or prune flavors.

Properly ripened red grapes have the correct amount of sugar, acid, color, and good varietal character and flavor intensity. Wines made from properly ripened grapes will have the correct amount of alcohol, good color and flavor intensity, and good varietal character with some “red fruit” flavors.

HARVEST DECISIONS

To make high quality wine, the grapes must be picked at the optimum time, but determining when to pick the grapes is not always an easy task.

Brix
Sugar content has been used as the primary indicator of grape ripeness for hundreds of years, and many growers still rely on sugar readings to decide when to pick their grapes. Consequently, obtaining accurate sugar measurements is important. In this country, grape sugar content is measured using the Brix scale. Brix is “grams of dissolved solids in 100 grams of juice.”

Brix can be measured with either a hydrometer or an optical instrument called a refractometer. The accuracy of either instrument depends upon temperature. Most hydrometers are calibrated at a temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and a correction must be applied to the readings when measurements are made at any other temperature. However, most modern refractometers are temperature compensated, and the compensation greatly reduces the temperature error.

Ordinary tap water can be used to check the zero point of hydrometers and refractometers. Hydrometers do not have zero adjustments. Any zero offset must be added or subtracted as each measurement is made. Most refractometers have an adjustment screw to set the zero point.

Besides calibrating the zero point, many winegrowers also use a Brix calibration solution. They make up a standard, 20-Brix solution by dissolving 100 grams of ordinary table sugar (sucrose) in 400 grams of distilled water, [100 grams / (400 + 100) grams = 20 grams / 100 grams]. This 20-Brix solution can be used to calibrate both hydrometers and refractometers, but the sugar and water must be ACCURATELY measured.

Titratable Acid (TA)
Tartaric and malic acids make up roughly 90 percent of the acid content in grapes. The amounts of tartaric acid and malic acid are about equal when grapes start to change color (veraison). The quantity of tartaric acid remains roughly constant throughout the ripening period. But, malic acid decreases as the grapes ripen, and the loss of malic acid results in a gradual decrease in the titratable acid (TA) of the juice during the ripening period.

pH
Grape acids differ in strength, and tartaric acid is stronger than malic acid. A quantity called pH is used to measure the strength of the acids, and pH uses an inverse, logarithmic scale. High acid grapes have a low pH, and low acid grapes have a high pH because of the upside down scale. As grapes ripen, malic acid is lost. The acid content decreases, so the pH of the juice increases. Late in the ripening process potassium ions accumulate more rapidly in the juice. The potassium ions interact with acids in the grapes and cause the pH of the juice to increase more rapidly just as the grapes are reaching maturity.

OTHER HARVEST CRITERIA

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes picked at 24 Brix in one vineyard may produce high quality wine. But, Cabernet grapes grown a mile away may produce green, under ripe tasting wines when picked at 24 Brix. A third, nearby Cabernet vineyard might produce overripe, stewed-fruit tasting wines when picked at 24 Brix. Sugar content alone may not provide an adequate measure of grape maturity, so here are a few more ways a winegrower can use to judge grape ripeness.

A Clean Pedicel
When grapes are fully ripe, the pedicel (stem) can be pulled off the berry easily and little or no pulp or skin tissue will be attached to the pedicel.

Soft Berries
Berries dehydrate slightly, and the texture of the pulp softens when grapes ripen. When red grapes are fully ripe, the berries are not quite so firm when squeezed and the skin becomes slightly slack (not wrinkled like a raisin).

Red Fruit Flavors
Under-ripe red grapes often have a green, herbaceous smell and taste reminiscent of asparagus or bell peppers. Ripe grapes have less of this green, herbaceous character and more plum and cherry characteristics.

Brown Seeds
The color of grape seeds changes from green to brown as the berries ripen, but all of the seeds don’t get ripe at the same time. In most varieties, the pointed ends of the seeds (the “beaks”) are the last part to turn brown.

IN THE VINEYARD

As harvest day approaches, the winegrower goes to the vineyard every few days to inspect the vines and to check fruit maturity. He looks at the condition of the vines to see if they are strong enough to continue ripening the grapes. Then the grower walks up and down the rows. He picks grapes one by one and carefully examines each berry.

(1) He pulls the pedicel from the berry and looks to see how much pulp is attached.
(2) He checks the texture of the berries by gently squeezing them between his thumb and forefinger to see if the grapes have started to soften.
(3) The grower tastes and smells the grapes to see if the herbaceous character has diminished and the red fruit character has started to develop.
(4) The grower spits the seeds into his hand and looks to see if the seeds have changed color. Some winegrowers will NOT pick red grapes until 70 to 80 percent of the seeds are brown.

Sugar Sample Collection
Ripeness varies from grape to grape, from cluster to cluster and from vine to vine. Berries near the shoulder of a cluster will be more mature than berries near the bottom. Clusters exposed to sunlight develop faster than clusters hanging in heavy shade, so clusters from the north side of vines are generally less mature than clusters from the south side. Maturity also varies from vine to vine across a vineyard because of changes in soil conditions, water content and wind exposure. To minimize these variations, the grower collects a large sample of grapes to take to the laboratory where he measures Brix, TA and pH using standard measurement techniques. Here is a simple but effective way to collect a grape sample.

(1). A 1 quart size, heavy weight, zip-seal “baggy” is used to collect the grapes. The date and the vineyard block being sampled can be written on the baggy with a “magic marker.”
(2). Grapes can be collected from each vine, every other vine, every fifth vine, etc. But, be consistent and collect at least 100 grapes.
(3). Most of the sample grapes should be picked from the bottom of the clusters (watch out for bees), and be sure to pick some berries from clusters growing back under the foliage in heavy shade. (This procedure produces results that are more conservative).
(4). Seal the baggy and keep the grapes cool until the Brix, titratable acid and pH measurements can be made.

SUMMARY

Some winegrowers pick each year “when the grapes reach 24 Brix.” Other growers pick ”when the TA crosses the pH plot.” But, deciding when to pick is not easy, so contentious winegrowers use all the information available. They use Brix, TA and pH data together with their vineyard observations to decide when to pick. So, this walking about the vineyard picking, squeezing, tasting, spitting seeds and collecting sample grapes is an annual pre harvest ritual.

DECIDING WHEN TO PICK THE GRAPES IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION A WINEMAKER MAKES EACH SEASON.

Lum Eisenman Ramona Valley Wine Competition

RVVACarolyn — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:05:45 CDT

Competition Report - 14 July 2008
by Bob Weirich

Ramona Valley grapes were the stars of the night at last evening's Ramona Valley Vineyard Association second annual Lum Eisenman Wine Competition which was held at Rosa and Gerry Cordiano's winery. It takes good grapes to make good wine and the verdict from the well respected panel of judges was that of the 52 wines entered, all of which are required to contain a minimum of 85% Ramona Valley grapes, was that most of the wines were very good.

The judges, Lum Eisenman, Mike Menghini, Jim Jenkins, John Alonge, Gus Visgirda, and Pete Anderson, praised the efforts of all the vintners, both professional and amateur, who entered and singled out several, including Cactus Star Vineyards, Pamo Valley vineyards, Woof'n Rose Winery, Adobe Vineyard, and Hellenback Ranch for their excellent entries.

In all a total of 29 medals were awarded (9 silver and 20 bronze). Don Kohorst of Pyramid Vineyards, the chairman of the competition committee, termed the event a success and encouraged all winemakers using Ramona Valley grapes to enter their wines next year and have their wines evaluated. " the feedback one receives from the judges can only make for better wines coming out of the Ramona Valley AVA."
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Update - 7 July 2008

CHANGE OF LOCATION FOR AWARDS BANQUET

The 13 July Awards Banquet for the 2008 Lum Eisenman Ramona Valley Wine Competition has been moved - the Sizzler Restaurant's new management was unable to get their ABC license issued in time to support our event on 13 July, so rather than drinking nothing but iced tea all evening, we've re-located the event.

RVVA members Gerry and Rosa Cordiano have graciously agreed to host us on the patio of their wine-tasting-room-in-waiting. For those of you who haven't yet visited, you'll find thatthis is a great place, and the dinner will be delicious. Cordiano Winery is located just outside of the boundary of the Ramona Valley AVA, off of Highland Valley Road.

Date: Sunday, 13 July 2008

Time: 6PM

Place: Cordiano Winery

www.cordianowinery.com

15732 Highland Valley Rd.

Escondido CA 92025

phone 866-92-AMORE

Each winemaker will receive the scoresheet that the judges used to evaluate their wine(s). The judges will be available to review the score sheets with the winemakers.

Medals willbe presented to the wines that the judges determined to be good (bronze), excellent (silver), or outstanding (gold) examples of the potentialof the Ramona Valley.

Don has recorked and deeply chilled the remains of the 52 bottles of wine that were entered and judged, and they will be available before dinner for limited tasting. Anyattendee is also welcome to bring their own Ramona Valley wine to share for dinner.

Please respond to this message with the number of attendeesso I will know you got it; otherwise we will be calling you later this week.

If you haven't already made your reservation and sent your $20 per person for the awards banquet, please let me know ASAP and I will see if we can make room for more. (Each judge and a guest will be our guests for the evening.) Right now we have a total of 50 people expected. We're looking forward to it.

Regards,

the RVVA Lum Eisenman Ramona Valley Wine Competition Committee

Don Kohorst

Carolyn Harris

Joe Cullen

Bob Weirich

Paul Griffin

______________________________________
Carolyn Harris
Lum Eisenman Ramona Valley Wine Competition
www.rvva.org
carolyn@chuparosavineyards.com

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Update - 10 June 2008

Judging is complete. Results are being tallied.
Winners will be announced at the Awards Banquet - Sunday 13 July 2008 at the Ramona Sizzler (6PM). Half of the seats are already taken. If you don't already have a reservation, send a check for $20 per person to:

Ramona Valley Vineyard Association
c/o Carolyn Harris
910 Gem Lane
Ramona CA 92065

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2008 ANNUAL LUM EISENMAN RAMONA VALLEY WINE COMPETITION

CALL FOR ENTRIES - Due 24 May 2008

The Second Annual Lum Eisenman Ramona Valley Wine Competition will be held this Spring, and the Entry Form and Rules details are attached below
.

The purpose of the competition is to (1) honor Lum Eisenman for his significant and continuing contributions to grape growing and wine making in San Diego County,(2) focus on the potential of the Ramona Valley AVA for the production of quality wines, and (3) provide constructive confidential feedback to Ramona Valley's grape growers and winemakers.

We had a great time last year. Please read the report below.

If you are making wine from Ramona Valley grapes, or know of someone who is (private or licensed), please enter your wine,and forward this announcement to those who would be interested.

Follow these links for the Announcement and Rules, and the Entry Form.
PDF versions of the documents can also be found as attachments on the links at the bottom of this page.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Our email addresses are included in the Announcement and Rules document.

Lum Eisenman Ramona Valley Wine Competition Committee

Don Kohorst - Director

Bob Weirich - Cellarmaster

Joe Cullen - Judging Coordinator

Paul Griffin - Awards Manager

Carolyn Harris - Business Manager
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2007 Report

RAMONA VALLEY HONORS LUM EISENMAN

Sunday, 24 June 2007 was declared by proclamation of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to be Lum Eisenman Day throughout the County. The proclamation was awarded during a Ramona Valley Vineyard Association recognition banquet marking the first annual Lum Eisenman Ramona Valley Wine Competition.

Mr. Eisenman has been involved in small wineries and home winemaking for all of his adult life and has devoted himself to teaching upcoming grape growers and winemakers in the area. The Ramona Valley area of San Diego County has particularly benefited from his generous assistance and thanked him Sunday night by presenting the first Ramona Valley Wine Competition awards in his name, and unveiling the County proclamation sponsored by Supervisor Dianne Jacob.

The award was the highlight of the evening and marked a long anticipated recognition of the re-establishment of premium grape growing and wine making in San Diego County.

Mr. Eisenman has been a lifelong resident of southern California, spending the last 57 years in San Diego County. He worked as a teenager in the Zinfandel vineyards and wineries of the Cucamonga Valley, and then spent a career as a physicist, while making garage-based home winemaking an art form. Upon his retirement, he wrote and published The Home Winemakers' Manual, which he generously published on the internet for all to share (www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/). He is a founding member of the San Diego County Amateur Winemaking Society (www.sdaws.org) and the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association (www.ramonavalleyvineyards.org). He now assists grape growers and winemakers throughout San Diego County, and is the Winemaker for Belle Marie Winery in North Escondido.

Also of historical note at the banquet was the table displaying 41 wine bottles - every one proudly listing "Ramona Valley" as the source for the grapes. The Ramona Valley was designated as an American Viticulture Area (AVA) in January 2006. The wines were made by 19 winemakers residing throughout San Diego County; 8 from commercially licensed wineries and 11 private winemakers. There were 28 red wines, 4 red blends, 4 white wines, 2 dessert and 1 rose' wine entered. 78% of the entries were very young - split between 2005 and 2006 vintages.

The judges were Lum Eisenman, Mike Menghini and Jim Jenkins. Due to the youth of the vineyards and wines, no first place ribbons were awarded this year. However,the judges did recommend three second place red ribbons and 19 white ribbons, all representing good examples of the Ramona Valley AVA's potential. Mike Menghini said that a significant majority of the wines he tasted were definitely of a commercial caliber and is looking forward to tasting the wines as the vineyards and experience levels of the winemakers develop.

Lum Eisenman said he is really looking forward to tasting Ramona Valley wines over the next five years, because the promise that was shown by the grape growers and winemakers this year will continue to improve and show its potential.
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Ramona Valley Grapes for Sale

RVVACarolyn — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:50:19 CDT

________________________________

Sangiovese, Sangiovese-Brunello, Aglianico, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Viognier

Bill Schweitzer
Paccielo Vineyard
16988 Sky Valley Drive
Ramona 760-788-2446
bill@paccielo.com
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Welcome to the RVVA Library

RVVACarolyn — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:30:12 CDT

2008 Lum Eisenman Ramona Valley Wine Competition

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Welcome to the on-line library of the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association, an unincorporated association of vineyard owners and supporters in the Ramona Valley American Viticulture Area (AVA) in San Diego County, California, USA (www.ramonavalleyvineyards.org).

We are all dedicated to the production of quality wine grapes and the establishment of a quality wine region. We believe that the Ramona Valley has a unique opportunity to start out on the right foot with this project by taking advantage of recent developments in viticulture and enology world-wide. Our goal is to avoid "reinventing the wheel", or repeating previous errors, while at the same time realizing that our region is unique, and past research and experiences in the viticulture world may not apply to us.

All RVVA members are invited and encouraged to post information on this site that they think other members would like to access. While the "whole world" can see this site (as with any other web site) only RVVA members can add or change content.

We pride ourselves in being generous with the information we've individually accumulated and learned so that the Ramona Valley can enjoy accelerated success.
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In addition to the viticulture information you find on this site, make sure you read all the articles that have been posted to the Grape Growing page on the San Diego Amateur Winemaking Society web site (www.sdaws.org).
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