The Change Begins

     In my walk through the vines today, I found several clusters of Chambourcin that are entering veraison.  Veraison is the point at which sugars begin to accumulate in the fruit to make the fruit more attractive to animals (including humans) and birds.  As the sugar levels rise, the acid levels begin to moderate.  The color of the grape signals the final stage leading up to harvest.  As you can see in the background of this cluster, we have placed the bird netting in place to keep the marauding blackbirds at bay.  Hopefully it will prove to be enough to frustrate the flocks that stripped some of our plants last year.  We will see in the next 4 weeks if the nets do their job.  Stay tuned for the next episode of our battle with the birds.