Veraison Has Begun

I am surprised that my Dornfelder grapes are starting veraison. It seems that it is too early in July. On the other hand, we have had dry weather with numerous days in the 90’s and even three straight days in the 100’s. Last year there were no days in the 100’s and few days in the 90’s. Also last year the grapes never made it to the second week of July scrumming to black rot. So I am on uncharted land with regards to the berries. They do look nice to view though. I tasted a grape that had turned to dark purple. There was no discernable sugar and it was quite tart. The seeds were green. This grape is obviously a distance away from harvesting.

I checked on the Niagara to see if it appeared that they too might have started veraison. As far as I can tell they haven’t. The Dornfelder will look photogenic for the next several weeks as the purple gives another layer of color to the green backdrop. Harvest will come soon enough.