This will be my 4th year making wine at home in N.J..I have found a grape supplier who can source pinot noir from santa cruz mountain area,any info on weather,terrior,general growing conditions etc would be appreciated.Thanks.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Paging Dave Tong and Paul.
I've never made wine before, but I see a lot of potential problems.
1. When would it be picked?
2. Do you care what the brix is?
3. How is it shipped? i.e., temperature controlled? How long in transit time between the picking and when you start to crush?
To be honest, I would recommend sourcing grapes on the East Coast, where you have better quality control, or flying out here to make wine locally, like at Crushpad.
http://www.crushpadwine.com/
1. When would it be picked?
2. Do you care what the brix is?
3. How is it shipped? i.e., temperature controlled? How long in transit time between the picking and when you start to crush?
To be honest, I would recommend sourcing grapes on the East Coast, where you have better quality control, or flying out here to make wine locally, like at Crushpad.
http://www.crushpadwine.com/
The grapes are sourced by wine making club similiar to crushpad.The owner of the club lives both in NJ and CAL.and tells me that he personally visits all the vineyards and has been doing so for many years,the club has been in business for about 10 years.The owner has agreed to sell me the grapes even though I make my wine at home. The case price for pinot grapes from Santa Cruz Mountains is very high,so I would like as much info. as possible about the area.As for obtaining pinot locally ,there are vineyards but vines are only about 3-4 years old and are usually picked at about 22 brix.Thanks for your info
Well I'll say this, good Pinot Noir vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains having waiting lists. Kevin Harvey and Pax Mahle are on my waiting list, so imagine where a home winemaking club would be on the list.
There are a few vineyards offering 'come pick em' grapes right now. The grapes are ususally of shocking low quality.
I bet I know the club being referenced here, it is tied to a commercial winery and a commercial vineyard management company. Personally, I'd ask for the grapes at 24-25 BRIX. 22 is too low for the East Penninsula where these grapes are likely to come from.
There are a few vineyards offering 'come pick em' grapes right now. The grapes are ususally of shocking low quality.
I bet I know the club being referenced here, it is tied to a commercial winery and a commercial vineyard management company. Personally, I'd ask for the grapes at 24-25 BRIX. 22 is too low for the East Penninsula where these grapes are likely to come from.
We sourced our grapes as well through one of the local wine making schools from the Santa Cruz Mountain region as well. De-stemmed and crushed back on October 4th last year, pressed on October 12th, racked on January 25th, and we'll probably bottle in late October or November. We'll see. Hopefully it's drinkable! -mJ
Bob: are you referring to Bacchus? -mJ
Yes, this will be my first time using their grapes.Last year I obtained my pinot from a well know source in north Jersey, grapes were average about 25 brix.The wine turned out pretty good.
quote:Originally posted by Stefania Wine:
Well I'll say this, good Pinot Noir vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains having waiting lists. Kevin Harvey and Pax Mahle are on my waiting list, so imagine where a home winemaking club would be on the list.
There are a few vineyards offering 'come pick em' grapes right now. The grapes are ususally of shocking low quality.
I bet I know the club being referenced here, it is tied to a commercial winery and a commercial vineyard management company. Personally, I'd ask for the grapes at 24-25 BRIX. 22 is too low for the East Penninsula where these grapes are likely to come from.
A few of us checked out such a vineyard just this morning. "shockingly low quality" is the understatement of the year. Most of the fruit was dried out raisins.
Weather this year has been all over the place; a second consecutive drought year (<50in of rain), with alternating heatwaves and frost. Most of the people I've spoken to around here weren't too affected by the frost, although Rhys lost most of their Chardonnay. Typically drought years result in better vintages, so overall I'm hopeful.
If you want more info on the region, check the resources below.