In article >,
Ed Rasimus > wrote:

> On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:24:17 -0000, Tire Bouchon
> > wrote:
>
>
> >In vineyards where the grapes are segregated according to varietal, an
> >exact percentage can be used in the final blend quite obviously. If
> >the grapes are co-mingled in the vineyard, an educated guess is more
> >common.
> >
> >Mark
> >
>
> Not to nit-pick (or even grape-pick), but we still don't get an "exact
> percentage" without defining percent determined by what?
>
> So, we've got a field with zinfandel, carignane and petite syrah
> vines. Do we get our percentage by weight of grapes picked? By number
> of discrete grapes (I know that's absurd, but bear with me...)? By
> volume of pressing liquid? By volume of the picked grapes--77 barrels
> of picked zin, 16 of picked carignane...? By ratio of vines picked?
>
> Are all varietals even picked at the same time, or might one varietal
> be harvested two weeks later?
>
> I'm not seeking a UC/Davis education, but simply holding feet to the
> fire regarding what should be a fairly simple question.
> Ed Rasimus
> Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
> "When Thunder Rolled"
> www.thunderchief.org
> www.thundertales.blogspot.com

I tend to agree with Ed's point here. If I go to Ridge there fields tend
to be planted in a segregated manner at least from what they showed me.
Everything is labeled quite clearly as to where the Zindfandel is where
the Petit Syrah etc. so they know exactly how much of everything is
planted in their vineyards. In this day and age of mega-wineries and
Ridge does fall into that, they have it all down in databases to know
exactly how much Zind they produce, etc. so the blends should be based
on the percentage of each varietal in the mix by volume. I think the
field blend business is marketing rather than reality.