Due to the relatively chilly summer and dry winters, grapes here have been maturing at widely different times. I had two days' notice the Zinfandel grapes I contracted were ready, so it was a mad scramble to plan this years wines: a white zinfandel, hearty zin, and a zin port. It all started with an early Friday morning drive out the farmlands of Brentwood (east Contra Costa county), and then selecting the best grapes in the 8 acre private vineyard. The resident dog kept us company as the wine broker and I hand-picked 250-280 lbs of fruit and took it back to the owners airplane hanger to do a quick crushing a destemming. The brix (percent residual sugar) we measured seem a little low, but the grapes tasted perfect and their slight "raisoning" indicated readiness. Further lab tests showed even stranger readings: high pH and lower acid levels. It should be an interesting year for the wine.
