The methoxypyrazine massacre is in full swing in Vinoland. Those nasty vegetal flavours of green beans and bell peppers, that you sometimes get in wine, are being chased away by Mr. Sunshine. I would estimate that our Cabernet sauvignon vines are about 40% of the way through veraison.It is an unfortunate fact that Cabernet sauvignon grapes tend to have high levels of methoxypyrazines. However, with a couple of careful farming techniques e.g. performing a green harvest and the removal of leaves in the fruit zone, sun exposure can be optimised to aid in bringing the crop to physiological ripeness.
Of course, pulling too many leaves could possibly result in sunburned fruit, especially on west facing vine rows, so judicious leaf pulling is recommended. It's not as if you can slather Hawaiian Tropic SPF 50 on them and then blame the resulting coconut component, in the finished wine, on the American oak barrel! Well, you could...
