Sunday, September 13, 2009

Waiting for ... (14) : It's viognier time

 


The touristic summer season has come to an end. It has been a lovely hot summer with very nice guests. We would like to thank everyone for their confidence, the nice evenings, the positive critics, the presents, etc. From next week on we'll present some of the most beautiful pictures we received from our guests on a regular basis.

But the event of the week is the early start of the vintage period this year. Because the summer has been very hot and because last week had temperatures above 30° C, the alcohol percentage in the grapes has risen by more than one percent in one week. Therefore the vintage of the white wine grapes already started. Otherwise the grapes risk to lose too much of their acidity and freshness which would give a too mellow wine. I took a closer look at the vintage of the viognier grape which produces my favourite white wine, comparable to the roero arneis grape of the Piedmont region in Italy.

the vineyard



the grapes to be harvested





the cropping and the gathering











the final cleaning



the harvested grapes : waiting to be pressed