* The Amber Ridge 115 clone must was at 28.8 brix, 3.72 pH, and 7.9 TA. Flavors were great; but to bring down the alcohol (multiply brix by .55 to get a rough idea of where final alcohol will be) we added water (58L) and tartaric acid (615g) to balance that. The 115 was inoculated (with RC212 and some GoFerm) on 9/15 and went to dryness on 9/22; we pressed it into a neutral

Francois Freres barrel.

* The 667/777 clone field mix (70% 667) must was at 29.6 brix, 3.93pH, and 5.43 TA. (Note the nicer acid from the 115, which comes from the valley floor). Here we added 63L water and 700g tartaric acid to balance. The ferment was slower but not sluggish: inoculated on 9/17 and it went to dryness this morning (9/26); will be pressing into a 50% new-oak barrel this evening.

* The must from the cooler Devoto Garden site is measuring 25.3 brix, 3.73pH, and 5.9TA. Will be inoculating this coming Wednesday, 9/30.

* Both Amber Ridge bins were hit with 60ppm sulfur, a very modest amount. We put 80ppm in the Devoto Garden must, also not an extraordinary amount but more than the Amber — the fruit was much more ‘live’, coming from a generally much richer ecosystem than the hotter, dryer Amber site, and had higher potential for microbial growth from spoilage organisms.

* Am considering a very small amount of enzyme (pectin) in the Devoto soak to loosen the (relatively) tougher skins and extract more phenolics.

Some shots of yours truly on the Amber 667 sort!