At last... we've finished harvest!

We finished harvest on the vineyard I manage at 5:00 this afternoon, November 5. I'm happy and tired and relieved and I think my crew feels the same. My crew did an amazing job picking 148 tons of grapes. Some of those tons in very hot weather, some in rain. At one point the tractor slid sideways down the hill in the mud - not a good thing. We had three days this week of 75-78 degree weather and it was beautiful. Just what the vines needed. The skins softened and the red color bled from the grapes as you squeezed them. A little bit of mold - hopefully that mildewy smell in the last couple lots of grapes will dissipate. I just talked to my neighbor who manages the ranch down the road and he says this was the most unpredictable and difficult year he has seen in his many, many years (well over 20 just on this mountain) of farming.

The winery will still be busy processing the grapes and helping them to become wine over the next couple weeks. In the vineyard, we can relax a little and mostly just worry about erosion control and the upcoming rains. Now we can put our trailers to rest and our picking pans in the barn for storage. Put away the picking shears and get out the rain boots and shovels!