So, I was thinking of Golubok as a very early grape, about like Leon Millot rouge. But, my Blattner Labelle is proving itself even earlier. On August 14, Labelle is about 95% fully colored and already tasting sweet, when Leon is about 75% colored now and G'bok ranges from 5% colored to about 80% colored.
1. Such earliness for Labelle seems like a quadruple advantage this year: (a) In our severe drought, some grapes are already shriveling, so a very early grape will get off the vine before it suffers as much shriveling, right? (b) This intense heat and drought are causing the wild Himalayan blackberries (our invasive weed but its fruit tastes great) to shrivel early, and the blackberries are the birds' preferred food, so if the blackberries aren't available, that's when the birds turn to the grapes, and the super-early grapes have the advantage there as well, right? (I might be able to take my Labelle in 2 weeks, whereas Pinot Noir is harvested in late Sept or early Oct, so the Pinot could see hugely more bird pressure). (c) Just like last year, the forest fire smoke held off until mid-August, then the onshore ocean winds shifted and we got hammered by heavy smoke. It may be starting up again this year--2 days ago the haze started up here (and I think it's been bad already over the drier/hotter east side of WA). A super-early grape might see fewer smoky days. (d) And finally, Labelle is tenteurier, so even if it does see heavy smoke, we can press the red juice off the skins and make a skinless red wine without smoke taint. For the win!
Another big advantage of Labelle, in a world where climate change is pushing more and more grape flavors towards black fruit flavors (I would put G'bok and Cab and Merlot and Syrah and Tempranillo in that category), is that Labelle has blue and red fruit flavors. It also sets a lot of fruit. FYI -I got my Labelles from Paul in Canada (legal import; lots of paperwork and expense).
2. I am surprised that G'bok would show such a wide variation in veraison timing. All my vines came from the same vineyard, and are now in the same row, and same size, etc. One vine has only one cluster which looks like a mistake white grape, but a single berry on it is purple. Another vine has a cluster that's 80% dark purple. The other clusters are in between. Maybe it is because it's the vines' 2nd year? In contrast, the Leon and the Labelle are each almost perfectly synchronized--equal % veraison from cluster to cluster on each variety. That, of course, is what we want--all clusters getting ripe at the same time.
Harvest is close for we who grow modern grapes!
