The crew in the kitchen having some breakfast and getting ready to pick.
Picking the grapes. This is the biggest harvest in the ten years we have been making VSV wine. The weather was nice and cool and it even “misted” for about 5 minuets.
(I remember when we were putting in the vineyard, Chris was young and he got a hammer and would break some of the rocks from the post hole boring because he was sure he would find diamonds. )
This was the “cool” section of the harvest, shades required.
This is the Crush team, making the grapes into must. There was a lot of grapes to crush this year and it is all done with a hand cranked crusher steamer. Very hard work.
Of course we needed lunch, it was assorted cheese grilled cheese sandwiches and home made chili. We all ate a lot.
The results of the mornings work, almost 400 gallons of must.
Getting into the evening we took a group picture before diner. We had VSV Harvest 2013 shirts made. Diner was next, we had steak, chicken ….. (The normal fair.) Of course lots of wine which always helps with the Karaoke that was to follow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhWmxIoU1WM&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4wxHsU6nTE&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJDO8OhMe8&feature=player_embedded
Karaoke Videos, you may want to have some wine before watching.
Two Weeks later, Bobbie, Tom and Tina and I are back at it.
Here is what goes in – (After two weeks of fermenting, with Bobbie “punching down” the must twice a day). All the sugar is gone and the alcohol has arrived.
We bought a new bladder press to make the pressing much easier and more consistent. Constant pressure on the must column is good for smooth flavor. The must has turned into wine and it is stored in the stainless steel vats for the first few months.