Verai… What? Veraison!

Veraison is the onset of ripening when the vines slow down their focus on shoot growth and turn the majority of their energy to ripening the grapes. During this time there is a rapid accumulation of sugar, while there is also a decrease in acidity. The berries soften and become juicy along with increasing in size.

The most visible changes are the color development of the grapes. Until this time, all of the grapes look a similar green color. During veraison is when the red grapes start to turn from green to red (or blue or black), and the white grapes turn more golden than green. 

The first photo below is Marquette, one of our first harvests of the year here at the winery. It will turn beautifully dark and we harvest it in early August. The second photo is of Seyval Blanc, a white wine grape. These will turn more golden as they continue to ripen. As these are early harvest grapes, they enter veraison first. Our late harvest grapes haven’t even started ripening yet and won’t for several weeks. Cheers!