This is a picture of our beloved harvestor picking the Vidal grapes.

Vidal grapes still on the vine

Dad fried 12 whole chickens in a cast iron kettle for the harvest party. It took him all day, and we are still eating fried chicken, but man was it tasty!

Friday was our employee harvest party. Harvest isn't 100% over yet, but we thought we'd plan the party first. ;)

This is a map of our Route du Vin. I'm not sure how it's going to show up on this page, but maybe you could select it and print it, or click on it to make it bigger, if it isn't readable....

Mercantile Library Exhibit

Two weeks from tonight is the opening of the Mercantile Library's Exhibit; Uncorking 200 Years of Missouri Wine. It should be a grand event, and for a very reasonable price, $20 at the door. If you live in the St. Louis are and are interested in tasting some fine wines, and learning about Missouri wine history, this is the place to be. The exhibit will run through June 30, 2007, but September 28th, 2006 is the only night they will be pouring wine. Maybe John and I will see you there.

AAA Article

There is a nice, informative article written in the recent AAA Midwest Traveler Magazine on the 5 wineries in Ste. Genevieve County; the Route du Vin. Click here to read it.

This is the Seyval Blanc juice being pumped into one of our new open top variable capacity tanks for fermentation. It always looks a shade of green when first pressed, but it turns into a nice pale yellow later.

The must pump hose in the top of our basket press

Picked Seyval Blanc grapes today.

Grape Juice Recipe

Since there was an inquiry into Concord grape recipes, I thought I'd post one for grape juice. This recipe was given to me by Donna Flieg, who works for us. She said this recipe came from Linda Ziegler, who got it from Barbra Schwent. It uses old-school-grandma-like-dialect, which I personally thoroughly enjoy. Having a heritage from three major Ste. Gen family names (Flieg, Ziegler, and Schwent), you know this recipe is authentic.

Grape Juice
Put grapes in large pressure canner. No more than 2/3 full. Close canner and put weight on. Do not exhaust canner. Bring pressure to 5 pounds. Remove from heat, allow to cool to zero. Line a large pot with an old pillow case and pour hot grapes into it. Hang "bag" and allow to drip. Chill juice to separate crystals in large cartons. Ladle into freezer cartons being careful not to disturb crystals which cling to sides of carton when chilled. Freeze or use for jelly or juice.



Since I am unfamiliar with freezer cartons I asked, and Donna said she uses plastic resealable ice cream containers.