It is only the second week in August and we are 75% of the way through Verasion.  For those of you who don’t know, Verasion  is the time of year in which the clusters hanging on the vine turn from green to red, or in the case of Baco Noir, almost black.  This is the earliest we have seen Verasion on the farm since we purchased the estate back in 2006.
What does this mean?  The amount of temperature accumulated  since the vines have fruited has pushed them along much faster than in cooler years such as 2009 and 2011.  As the heat accumulates and the sunshine prevails, the grapes mature.  The sugars rising and the acids lowering.  The bitter ness diminishing and the flavors and tannins increasing . Thus, leading us to an earlier harvest and hopefully riper, more mature fruit upon harvest.  But don’t get your hopes up too soon!  We are still smack in the middle of hurricane season and we do not want to jinx ourselves.  We will keep you posted as we approach harvest.  If things keep up the way have we are looking at the first week in September.  We are always looking for volunteers for harvest, so let us know if you are interested in joining us.  We will have more details as the harvest approaches.
Cheers,
Matthew