Chrissy Cooper thought the Barbera and Zin from Dick Cooper's vineyards won't be ready until the end of October. The Brix is very low and the acids are high. This is very typical for Barbera and grapes from Amador County this time of the year. What is nice is that it spreads the crush out over a few weeks and gives us some breathing room.
As of now, I have sampled Syrah (brix 21) and Malbec (brix 17) from Canterbury Vineyards and the brix and acids are about where they were at this time last year. I think this means that we won't have an exceptionally late harvest but the grapes should ripen in the end of Sept and during October. So still a bit later than what we would think to be usual. The late summer warmth has speeded up ripening so I doubt we will have to worry about the temperatures dropping to a point where we won't get the flavors we want. Thus all is well. We will not be leaving for Europe or SoAM, so no worries if crush lasts a little longer. I will be sampling the Syrah and other grapes in a couple of week and can give you more info then. Talk to you soon.