Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Harvest is in full swing!

This is one fast and furious harvest! No complaints from anybody, though -- everyone is happy as can be, working as hard as they can. The vineyard crew loves to pick at night, starting at 3 am (brrrr.... we're still sleeping at that time) and as soon as dawn breaks, Mom takes us to wherever they are picking with fresh coffee and donuts; and for the health conscious, fruit and almonds! We love that -- and sometimes, after much begging (when Mom isn't looking), one of the guys gives us a piece of donut!



Coffee feels good on those misty, cool Green Valley mornings at break of dawn
We won't get a treat while Mom is looking -- but when she turns her back, begging bears fruit!



On clear mornings, picking at sunrise can 
paint a beautiful picture
Last week we had some HOT days! The crew suffered the sun bravely, but WE needed shade

The clusters this year look more picture-perfect than any time in memory! The berries are good-sized  but not too big, juicy and well formed. Judge for yourself from the pictures below -- taken by our viticulturist, Zach Berkowitz, who not only knows a lot about vines but also about photographs!







 AlbariƱo
  Chardonnay
 Tempranillo





We have picked by now all our Pinot Noir and AlbariƱo, which have both given us outstanding fruit and very good yields. 

Some of the Chardonnay has been harvested, too; we're about mid way with that. Yields are mid-size, great fruit so far.

The Tempranillo is always the last one to come in, but as you can see it looks gorgeous! We will probably pick that at the same time as the Syrah, which although not pictured, looks promising!

Pinot Noir