Harvest!!!!

Finally! The first day of harvest - September 30 (oh, and my birthday too). Yesterday we picked two and a half tons of Merlot from our mountain vineyard. We picked a ton at the top of one block, a ton at the top of another block and half a ton at the bottom of a block. We still haven't picked an entire block yet. The corner of this block is ripe, the bottom of that block - this is how it usually goes at the beginning of harvest. The soil and sun exposure is so variable that it makes for uneven ripening. After we finished picking the grapes at 10:30 in the morning, the vineyard crew went up to the winery and we toasted to the 2010 harvest. We collected a little juice from the first bin of grapes as the winery interns were crushing it and added it to some sparkling wine. Our own kind of harvest mimosa. We will continue picking Merlot, a little Malbec and maybe a little Syrah next week. The weather has been HOT this week which has certainly helped the ripening process along. It started late but those grapes are tasting great. It finally started to feel like harvest in the valley this week. The energy changes at harvest time. At the beginning the air is full of excitement and anticipation. After another couple weeks the mood is nervous, tired and crabby. Its no fun going to the grocery store - everyone is on edge. Right now I am very excited to starting harvesting the grapes we've been farming all year.

Here's to a safe and happy harvest!