(Another) Year in the Vineyard Wine Blog, Week #26 by Wes Hagen, Clos Pepe

(Another) Year in the Vineyard, Week #26:  September 3-9, 2010 The Winery is Ready, The Grapes are Not! Welcome, once again to another episode of ‘Year in the Vineyard’.  Well, we’re counting down to the madness that is harvest and crush, but for now we’re a bit relaxed—stuck between the business of bottling and the beginning of harvest. The barrels and tanks are all clean and empty in the winery, and we’re spending some time in the vineyard dropping thjose last few green or pink clusters on the ground sol that the fruit remaining is perfectly and consistently ripe.  We also are testing the fruit a few times a week for sugar and pH content.  This gives us a good indication of the style, alcohol content and structure of the wine that would result from any given moment if we pulled the trigger and started harvesting grapes. I also spent a day this week (Tuesday) with a winery tech in the winery going over all of our winery equipment with a fine toothed comb and a food-grade grease machine.  All