Now the fun (and by fun I mean work!) has really started. The moment we have all been waiting for: harvest! The weeks leading up until now have been all about preparing the winery for this time.
So here is how harvest works:
We arrive at the winery around 5 or 6am to see the crew in the selected vineyards picking the grapes. There is a lot of traffic- with cars, fork lifts, and tractors all dancing around each other to get the grapes from the field up to the winery. Bin by bin, the luscious Chardonnay grapes get poured onto a "sorting table". On the sorting table a few of us touch every single grape, picking out anything that does not look "good enough to eat," as the winemaker says. I enjoy the conversation that takes place during the many hours we spend here. We take out leaves, branches, pruning grapes, rotting grapes, etc. This truly is hand selected fruit, which not every winery does. From there, the grapes that make the cut go into the "crusher" and come running down a slide until they fall into a small tank, or tanquito as we call them.
Grapes being poured into press |
screen which catches any seeds or skins from going into the tank. We have been processing anywhere from 9 to 15 tons per day!
McNeil, the winemaker, says "winemaking is all about making messes and then cleaning them up"! And boy, was he right! It takes longer to clean and sanitize after the picking of the grapes than this whole process. They like the winery to be very clean, and there cannot be a single grape left on the ground. After 15 tons, that's a difficult task!
With Bob Sessions, legendary winemaker for over 30 years |
Picture of juice coming out of press before going into tanks |
Everyday is really a surprise. The winemakers determine the picking schedule literally the day before, so I just need to be ready to be there at all times. This week I worked 6 days and 60 hours! And loved every minute of it (except the part where I have to clean drains).
Happy Harvesting everyone!
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