Carrie McDonnell of J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines made wine from 20 different treatments for her study of crop load and extended ripening Wines made from low-yielding vineyards don’t always produce the most preferred wines. New research investigating the effect of crop load and extended ripening on vine balance and wine quality showed that while wines with higher Brix were preferred in the study, the most acceptable wines came from grapes with higher Brix and higher crop loads. The practice known as extended ripening—delaying the harvest date past traditional levels of ripeness to achieve flavor ripeness—has become a recent trend […]