Inventory

No 2017 winemaking just yet, but we are getting close. Blueberries are in, and between what we have picked at Danamay Farms and a little left over from last year, we've got over 40#. That should be enough to press for a rosé and still get a 3 gallon batch of traditional blueberry.

Blackberries are also coming in, both behind the chicken coop here at home and at Danamay Farms. We are behind on blackberry picking, we have maybe only 25#. I'm aiming for 40# or so for a straight juice blackberry. Hopefully it will come out like the 2016, not the flawed vintage of 2015. We cracked open a 2016 Blackberry for dinner glazed peach and honey chicken this past week and it was delicious.

The grapes are coming along. I understood Norton was a vigorous grower, but so far it is lagging behind the other grapes for me. Traminette is my best grower, followed closely by just about every other variety I planted, save Chambourcin and Norton.

Traminette foreground, Chardonel in the back

Vidal Blanc

In other fruit news, the pawpaws are coming right along. I found this oddball in the mix, a conjoined pawpaw.

Today we'll finish up mowing and bottle some 2016 wine. The rest of the blackberry needs to be bottled, along with the Pinot Grigio, elderberry rosé, and blueberry. My nose tells me we knocked it out of the park with our passion fruit wine, and it needs to be racked, along a few others. But there are empty carboys calling.