Next grapes up: Mohr-Fry Ranches Zinfandel

Second lot of grapes in this week, and it's our second Zinfandel lot, this from the esteemed Mohr-Fry Ranches. Like the Maley Vineyard Monday, these grapes are Lodi Rules Certified Sustainable.

The Maley Zin is in western Lodi, while the Mohr-Fry is more central. These came in pretty ripe, around 27 Brix, and there were a fair amount of raisins in the clusters though we tried to sort them out. Looks like we are going to have some high-alcohol Zins this year, we'll see after they ferment (hopefully) all the way through, but that's what I like!

In a few days the winery is going to have that wonderful fermenting grapes smell, and we are going to have to be sure we vent it out in the morning because there is going to be a lot of CO2 produced. Also today, the weather has become decidedly fall: we are in a string of days ranging from the upper 70's to mid 80's, with nights reaching the mid 50's. Love those grapes coming in so cool in the morning, allowing a cold soak and a slow start of fermentation. The Maley Zin is just barely starting to ferment.

We'd like to give a special shout out to Josh from the Lodi Wine Visitor Center, getting right into crushing grapes.

Stay tuned - next up should be Mettler Syrah!