Some nice photos of ripening Mourvèdre

We're not harvesting today, but I took a walk through the vineyard to see the state of things.  We'll be bringing in more Syrah, our Marsanne, and perhaps starting the Grenache and Roussanne next week, but there is a lot more of the vineyard that is still weeks away from ripeness.  One section that is looking good, but not tasting ripe (yet) is the Mourvèdre from the hill behind the winery which we call Mount Mourvèdre.  I managed to get a few nice photos of ripening clusters on the vines:

Last harvest, I ran into Cris Cherry of Villa Creek Cellars and asked him how his harvest was going.  He replied that his Mourvèdre vines had lost all their leaves, so he was beginning to think about picking them.  He was only half-joking.  Mourvedre vines always look awful by the time we pick, with any remaining leaves mostly brown.  I like this second shot for the way that it shows the Mourvèdre leaves, already turning brown despite needing another month at least of ripening: