Cellar manager, Tony, unstraps bins full of Three Feathers 2018 grapes.
Bringing in the 2018 Harvest
Choosing the best moment to harvest grapes is a delicate matter. We spent three weeks in the vineyard, three hours a day, trimming leaves away from the fruit and thinning clusters that seem to be lagging behind. We checked the sugar content (Brix) every few days to see if the fruit was at the perfect ripeness for our wine. The birds seem to know as well as our Refractometer; as soon as we reach 21 Brix, they descended to pick their fruit.
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- Ripe pinot Noir grapes on harvest day at Three Feathers Estate & Vineyard
On September 12, the sugar levels in Three Feathers Vineyard were between 17.5 and 18. By September 15, we were getting readings of 21.5 but the overall vineyard sampling was only at 20.7 and 3.00 PH on September 18. Readings on September 27 were up at 24.5 Brix – a good target for picking – but acidity was still a little low at 3.10. We scheduled our picking for October 1 and prayed that acidity levels would rise.
October 1 arrived and so did our crew at 7 am! We only had half the bins we needed and by 8 am they had already picked 6 tubs – approximately 1.5 tons – and no more bins! This professional crew was amazing! It would have taken us twice that time. As romantic as it is to pick grapes, it is a lot of work and these folks made it seem easy. Eventually the second truck load of bins arrived and we finished picking by 9:30 am. The total pick was 6700 lbs., or a 75% increase over last year. The fruit looks gorgeous, dark and uniform.
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- 2018 Harvest Day; picking Pinot Noir grapes on Three Feathers Estate & Vineyard.
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- Professional grape picking team gathers during harvest day at Three Feathers Estate & Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon.
At the winery we watched the sorting and de-stemming of our harvest (watch video). Dan, our winemaker, checked the numbers and we are pleased to report a total Brix count for 2018 of 24.7 and PH of 3.25.
Christine Stimac with 2018 harvested grapes from Three Feathers Vineyard.
Cellar manager, Tony, and colleague hand-sorting grapes before de-stemming.
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- Rotovin de-stemmer at Lady Hill Winery during 2018 Three Feathers Harvest.
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- Leftover stems from newly harvested 2018 Three Feathers grapes.
De-stemmed grapes from 2018 Three Feathers Harvest falling into bins before fermentation at Lady Hill Winery.
The 2018 growing season in Three Feathers is done and we have created another lovely wine. Our 2018 Three Feathers Pinot Noir will be deep red and rich. As all vintages reflect their season in the vineyard the heat and drought this year will produce a sweeter, richer, fruitier vintage and we can’t wait to try our first taste!
Dan Duryee and Christine Stimac trying our just harvested 2018 Three Feathers Pinot Noir.
Glimpse of our just harvested 2018 Three Feathers Pinot Noir.