It was a beautiful morning to start our 2012 harvest! This was the first year we let our vines produce --- the past two years we picked off the flower buds before the flowers opened so that the vine could focus on root growth. Brianna grapes are usually the first to be picked in vineyards --- they tend to get foxy if they hang too long. (Foxy : A tasting term for the musty odor and flavor of wines made from Vitis labrusca grapes, like Concord or Catawba, native to North America, usually a negative term.) We want our Brianna to be fresh and fruity! and it all starts with the grapes!! We will be getting many more Brianna grapes within the next couple weeks from the vineyards we work with, and will be keeping track of the sugars and pH on our Frontenac and Frontenac Gris. These tend to have a higher acidity/low pH, so we want to let them hang in order to increase their sugars/lower acidity/increase pH, for a more balanced wine.