Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Harvest recap 2014

The 2014 harvest is done! We thank all the volunteers (57 of you) who joined us for the various harvests and 1 of you (Karen) who joined us for each and every one! We had many folks that joined numerous harvests and some one time folks that gave it a shot! Thank you all for giving up your Sunday and your personal time! For us, each harvest is very unique and special - here's a quick run down: - usually, our first harvest is a private one where we collect the fruit ourselves and test out the equipment and processes. This year, the weather and grape chemistry didn't enable that so -- we harvested Seyval as our first public harvest and in the new winery! It was a hot day and quite humid. We ended noonish like we planned but it was a hot day!! Sangrias and sparkling wine set the mood for the day with crush in the new winery!! - we harvested the Vignoles the next day with a much smaller crew - who the heck would give up Labor Day Monday?? Thank you Richard, Rick & Kevin! This one was very different - foggy and rainy - we had a great time discussing music, science, sports and the generational differences - youngest picker - 13; oldest one - 72! We had a lot to talk about and probably one of the most memorable harvests of the season. - Vidal was the next up - our largest white harvest and we had the math down by this point! Again - done by almost noon but this time - the weather wasn't as hot and we had lots of red wine lovers in the mix. More importantanly - this was the Chief's season opener and we still had volunteers so we opened up some private red wine - red wine not destined for the tasting room! Red wine that is being trialed for CELLAR 57 and considered our private reserve! We were happy to share and it was well received by the group! - Chambourcin is the next harvest - foggy day; aerial photographer Jeff Knight is out with his remote control cameras and this block is close to the tasting room so we get MUSIC for the picking!! We picked almost all the grapes (left a few rows for a 2nd picking for the Rose) but finished listening to music!! We opened up some unreleased Rose for the lunch and had lunch while we waited for crush! - Next day - grapes were picked and processed for the Rose! - Last harvest party of the season was last Sunday (September 21st) - we had a last minute cancellation so a smaller group than we had planned but, it worked our for the best! We were a small group but as nature would have it - the right group. As it turns out, September 21st was our 8th anniversary of having purchased the land for the vineyard. How appropriate that the last harvest team was Rick (who helped with the early days of planning and planting), Richard (who was our viticulture coach), Karen (who has never missed a planting party, weeding party or harvest party) and Shirley (new energy and a fresh perspective - and someone who hadn't heard our stories before so appreciated them)! The six of us enjoyed and intimate lunch on the patio and while the harvest went a little longer than planned, it was a beautiful day and a great finale to the season!! So, we harvested 31,310 pounds of grapes and now, we are busy in the winery! The very last chance to see grapes on the vines is this weekend (Sunday, September 28th) for the grape stomp. Come out and pick some Concords for jams, jellies and homemade wine and once we are done, we will have a grape stomp - get in there and stomp grapes I Love Lucy style! This is a great season to visit a vineyard!!