Syrah- Picked and Crushed

Today, my first of three wines came in today!

This morning Tom drove the rental truck to Fiddletown to pick up the York Syrah. From 6:30 am to 8 am, the pickers picked 1/2 tons each of 3 of the 6 clones: 300, 99, and 877. They picked it clean with no sign of bunch rot or mold. Around 9:30, Tom and Mark McNeill, the winemaker at Frenz, gentle crushed after destem. There were lots of whole berries.

Around 2:30 pm, Tom got back to Grape Leaf. He added some S02 to stun the natural yeasts and then punched. He took the numbers:


Around 5 pm, I arrived at the winery. Tom and I consolidated and split the grapes into two waffle bins. Tomorrow, I will take the "final numbers" on the sugar (in case any sugar was released from the raisins) and pH. I am going to let them cold soak for 2-3 days to pick up some color from the skins before inoculating with SYR yeast.

Here are some pictures of the bins, the must, and the darkness of the seeds:

Initial impressions:

• Good fruit quality


• Tastes like blueberries with little spice. Has a menthol nose.


• Should "soak up" to about 26 Brix- about perfect for a Syrah.


• Seeds were dark brown, nutty, and mature- a sign of physiological ripeness
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