Pp

I use both of Margolit's books, and do use his equation when looking for
a ball park expectation of PA.

How are the wines tasting? Actually very good. We are being asked by
anyone who has tasted the wine from the SS tank, when we will bottle.
Since the grapes were picked at Brix that were higher than we originally
wanted, this year's Pinot Grigio is far more lush, and complex than a
typical Pinot Grigio that you may find in Italy, or at wineries that
attempt to emulate the Italian style.

Where we are in California all of our grapes ripened at the same time in
2004. Thus we were cursed/blessed with hi Brix grapes, and quite high
alcohols as there were not enough picking crews to go round all of the
vineyards in this area, and some grapes had to hang there until we could
pick them. We have changed our picking strategy for 2005, and will
attempt to get the Pinot Grigio off the vines at 22.5-23.5 Brix.

Actually I am concerned that if next year's Pinot Grigio is a more
acidic, leaner wine, we may have trouble selling it, as this year's wine
is so smooth, has great fruit, very nice mouth feel and long finish.
We will see!

As an aside, our Cabernet Sauvignon alcohol this year is 16.59%. That
was a shocker. For those who are interested, it was fermented using ICV
D21 yeast.

Regards

Jerry