David and Karen have a wonderful home vineyard and since meeting them 14 years ago we have tried to be a part of their annual grape harvest, without success... Until today!
How gorgeous is this cluster?!While the haul wasn't as large as they had hope (squirrels had a delicious summer of stealing grapes), David and Karen have enough to make their wine closet less empty.After the harvest was weighed and documented, the grapes were transported to neighbors, Scott and Michelle's home for the next steps in the wine making process.The second step in wine making is sorting. Grapes are sorted to remove unripe, damaged, or moldy bunches, as well as any leaves or stems (MOG—"Material Other than Grapes"). This was the perfect time to get to know Scott and Michelle a little more as it was the most intimate of the steps we were involved with.
Witnessing the third step, crushing and destemming was pretty cool.The grapes are put into a crusher-destemmer machine. This process separates the grapes from the stems and gently crushes the berries to release the juice and pulp, creating a mixture called "must". This Italian made contraption was amazing.For red wine, the must (including the skins and seeds) is transferred to a fermentation container. Maceration, the process of the juice soaking with the skins, provides color, flavor, and tannins.Karen and David know what they are doing. Their wine is award-winning and being included in this year's harvest really was a dream come true. Timing really is EVERYTHING.We ended our productive morning having lunch on their patio and then watching the movie F1 on their giant, almost movie theater sized screen. What a phenomenal conclusion to a phenomenal day!
"Wine and friends are a great blend."
—Ernest Hemingway
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