Welcome to the Pickers Page at Zarpara Vineyard!
Use this page to see how the grapes are ripening this season.
If you are on the pickers email list, look for emails announcing upcoming picks and follow instructions there to let us know you are going to join a pick.
Please be aware that for some picks we bring in the pros. Don't be bummed. There are plenty of grapes out there!
There are 7 grape varieties in our vineyard and they ripen at different times, so there are at least 7 picks each year. Some grape varieties get a double dip, like Tempranillo or Monastrell, which get one pick date (early) for a rosé and another pick date (later) for the red wine.
We test Brix (sugar content) periodically in the different grape varieties and then more frequently as ripening closes in on the Target Brix.
Here's how the picks are coming along this 2024 season.
(Last update: Saturday 9/7).
| Grape Variety | Target Brix | Last Brix | When | Projected Pick Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viognier | 23-24 | 23.1 ↑ | 9/6 | 9/8 - 9/9 |
| Syrah | 25-26 | 23.0 → | 9/5 | 9/18 - 9/23 |
| Graciano | 25-26 | 23.6 ↑ | 9/7 | 9/14 - 9/17 |
| Sangiovese | 25 | 23.6 ↑ | 9/7 | 9/13 - 9/20 |
| Tempranillo Red | 25-26 | 21.6 ↑ | 9/4 | 9/26 - 10/1 |
| Monastrell Red | 25 | 19.2 ↑ | 9/1 | 9/25 - 10/7 |
These grapes have been picked so far. Yay!
| Grape Variety | Pick Date |
|---|---|
| Tempranillo Rosé | 8/24 |
| Sauvignon Blanc | 8/28 |
This weather during this 2024 growing season has been oddly typical. I mean a dry April and May, then a hot June, then monsoon storms arrived late June/early July to cool things down. Kind of in line with expectations. And that's "odd" because when does that ever happen?
But Mother Nature is still messing with us this year. The grapes are a week or two behind getting to ripeness. We are scratching our heads trying to figure that out.
Cooler weather slows down the ripening process while warm weather speeds it up. That is, unless it gets too hot (at 95F or so) and then the grapevines take a nap that day until it gets cooler towards evening, so that slows down ripening too.
The monsoon storms play in the vines now. The Brix (sugar content) in the grapes goes up on dry days and goes down after rainy days.
Somewhere along the line, the sugar reaches the content we want and then we make wine!
