wheel, the flavours listed are progressively more oxidized in a sequence loosely similar to the flavours that develop in whole berries during maturation and hang time. For example, a red variety might evolve through the flavours of vegetal, black currant, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, and cherry and then acquire cooked fruit flavours during an extended hang time. Development of mature tannins is especially important for red varieties, because immature tannins produce excessive astringency in the finished wine. Wine tannins are extracted from two sources, the seeds and the skins. Most tannin comes from skins, which tend to have lower astringency. Visual indication of the level of maturity is the drying out of the grape stems, the browning of seeds, and vine senescence.


Sensory assessment is conducted after tasting for flavours, by continuing to chew the skins and seeds to determine the drying sensation (astringency) of the skin and seed tannins. Yes, you crunch the seeds too. There is no magic bullet to determine when to pick, and there is no universal variable that will be appropriate for all styles of wine. You choose your wine style and then you harvest when grape character is consistent with that wine style.


Of course if you like inter-vintage variation in your winemaking, you can do it the other way around. You can harvest when you like the flavours and then make whatever wine works best. In poor years, don’t adapt. Blame it on the weather.


There are always lots of choices. — Gary Strachan is listed on LinkedIn.


Got a gripe?*


Or maybe even a compliment. Perhaps an opinion you’d like to share, or a question you’d like answered. Drop us a line.


by snail-mail: BC Fruit Grower, Suite 22-515,


2475 Dobbin Road, Westbank, BC V4T 2E9


by e-mail: editorial@omedia.ca


*Not to be confused with the Australian word for grape


22


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British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Fall 2012 PO Box 857


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AgriStability BC Ministry of Agriculture


Attention:


Producers who are enrolled in the AgriStability program please note:  The deadline to submit the 2011 AgriStability/AgriInvest Harmonized form (without penalty) is September 30th, 2012.


 Producers can still submit their AgriStability/AgriInvest Harmonized form (with penalty) until December 31st 2012.


 The penalty for late filing is $500.00 per month; the maximum penalty is $1,500.00


 Producers who miss the December 31st, 2012 deadline will not be eligible for the 2011 program year.


Website: http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/agristability Toll-free number: 1-877-343-2767 Fax number: 1-877-605-8467 E-mail: AgriStability@gov.bc.ca


Growing Forward, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative AgriStability Regional Offices


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