All posts by Marcy Nichol

Save the date! Tuesday, January 27 is the date of our next LWGA General Meeting. Note: This meeting is taking place on Tuesday evening rather than our customary Sunday afternoon meeting.

Pietro Buttitta will present “Mildew Control in your Vineyard”. This promises to be very relevant and informative!

Time: 5 – 7 pm

Location: Local Vines 3393 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette

Please bring an appetizer and bottle of wine to share for our social hour prior to the presentation.

We look forward to seeing you on January 27th.

We had a lively session at the General Meeting on September 15. Thank you to our panelists – Bill Scanlin, Ewa  Wojnar and moderator: Marek Fibrich This is Ewa’s Harvest check list – while many have already harvested,  this might come in handy for those who have not harvested yet, and useful for following years. There were questions about what to use to sanitize buckets, shears etc.  Star San is a popular sanitizer which can be purchased through Amazon or many other providers on line. There was a question about membership and whether a winemaker whose vineyards are in Napa, however wine made locally would be eligible to join.  The answer yes, they would be eligible for an associate membership.  

Pre-harvest Checklist

Harvest Checklist: Pre-planning for success – WineMakerMag.com

Restock all testing lab chemicals
Restockl cleaning and sanitation supplies
Buy yeast, food for yeast, if not using native, and malolactic stuff 
Sharpen if needed, clean, oil, and sanitize cutters
Check crusher/de-stemmer

Check the lab scale (batteries, accuracy)
Calibrate testing equipment

Clean the floor in the winery (garage -)

Clean and sanitize crusher, fermenters, harvest bins/pails, 

Prep boards with paper and pens for notes and weights log, etc.

Prep cleaning solutions and brushes
Drop the nets the night before or the morning of
Prep water bottles for the pickers
Set up sanitizer buckets
Set up plain water buckets for rinsing and rags
Prep KSO2 for each fermenter

Pick
Crush
Clean Clean Clean