
The 2022 VSV harvest was held on the weekend of October 1st. The weather cooperated for a change, and we had pleasant temperatures in the 80’s for both days with very little wind. The grapes were on the low side of sugar (21brix) and the lower side of acidity (3.3ph) , so it was time to harvest, and we hit what I expect was a good point in the intersect of the two curves.
The crew was the largest we have ever had for harvest with a total of 21 workers and three kids (Fran, Owen, and Sol the cutest grandchildren ever ). We were very lucky to have four new pickers (Olivia Quinn, Michael Costello, Eric Hopkins, and Robert Piscopio) and one returning worker (Nolan Wiles) from 2019. The new workers are all grad students and friends with Zach and Nolan is a longtime friend of Taylor and Andrea. This group is now part of the VSV Cru and joins all the family, old friends, and other people of questionable morals. We also were very happy to see Stephanie, Everett, Theresa, Jojo, and Molly returning and the many harvest alumnus’s Frank, Sharon, Hilary, Elon, Matt, Vivian, Zach, Taylor, and Andrea. We hope to see everyone back next year, the team made all the picking and cooking lighter work and the party much more fun. We can’t thank everyone enough.
Speaking of the food it just gets better and better each harvest. It started off with the pizzas and salads that the Nickolins brought on Friday night as everyone arrived and settled in. We ate breakfast of croissant sandwiches, muffins, and various other side dishes before we started picking a 9:30am (I can tell you that when we went down to the vines the food crew cleaned up and started to prepare for lunch with hardly any break.) We picked and crushed the Cab rows until about 11:30am and then rested a little before lunch at about 12:30. Lunch was served and we had Greek meatball gyros, chickpea salad, and lots of toppings, we also had fresh baked cookies for dessert. Then back to finish the Merlot rows, which were finished and crushed by about 4:00pm when the equipment was cleaned, and the must was stabilized with potassium metabisulfite to get it ready for the yeast on Monday. We ended up with about 140gallons of Cab, and 100gallons of Merlot must to start off the journey to being wine. (Yield is usually about 60%) The grapes were crushed using the automatic crusher de-stemmer mostly, some was done in the old-world style. Below Olivia stomping the grapes for the first time.
In the early evening we setup the bar and the dinner table on the patio since there was almost no breeze and the temperature was just right. We started by having a vertical tasting of the past vintages of the Cabs and the Merlots. When that was done everyone just picked their favorite year and grape (or whiskey ) and visited.

Later that evening dinner was put out, we had tri-tip, salad, spanakopita, mac and cheese, zucchini, and biscuits we all ate around a big table together while the karaoke system was being set up for a evening’s entertainment.
There we quite a few great renditions of familiar songs and some of the cutest dance moves by the lovely and talented Fran. It was all a lot go fun even as it started to get cold later in the evening.
We had desert of brownies and vanilla ice cream which went perfectly with the deep red wines of the evening. Elan, Hilary, Matt, and Vivian and their kids had to leave to get the kids to bed but the rest of the group kept singing and having a good time until about midnight. There are quite a few videos at the link below of the singing and dancing so if you thought you were safe that no one would remember you rendition of what used to be your favorite song, its all there for the generations to come.
On Sunday many of the Cru came back over if they stayed off site and we packed their cars with wine from the previous vintages and feed them breakfast. It was nice to see everyone again and to verify that there we no casualties from the night’s activities. (Maybe a little sore, and foggy but nothing life threatening













Below is a Link to all the pictures and Movies from Harvest 2022
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/f3zan2w4ezuyxl3h3edhh/h?dl=0&rlkey=2w1focvq3jhgri20l9nv39jx5