"Linus, You've Got a Loose Sprocket"

It's funny (not really) how quickly this scene...















can turn into this scene.


First day of picking grapes this year, and something has to go wrong. That wonderful harvester, the one I could write a poem to, is the same one I could kick in the shin on days like today. I don't know how to fix it, and I don't think Larry, Moe or Curly do either, but they are trying. I was clearly no help when one of the guys said, "Linus, you've got a loose sprocket," and I gave a little giggle. I can't help it that I think of The Jetsons and Spacely's Sprockets everytime I hear that word. They all gave me a dirty look when I snickered, so I excused myself back up to the winery to make better use of my time, like blog. =)

I hope we have better luck tomorrow.

Last Day of Harvest

Today is the last day of harvest. We are picking Vidal today. We usually pick the Norton last, but the Vidal was taking it's own sweet time getting ripe this year. We also have a few Rougeon and Chambourcin hanging out there that will get picked today also.



This is a picture of the back of the harvestor. It goes over the row of grapes and shakes them with finger looking beaters, then conveyor belts move the grapes up and over; out the side arm and into the bins.

This is Rose standing on the wagon making sure the grapes go into the bin. It's not as easy as it looks, the harvestor and wagon go at different speeds, and the terrain is not totally level so the arm moves up and down as well as side to side.
This last picture is the Vidal blanc juice coming out of the press. It's a little green, but will clear up when we rack it tomorrow morning. All white grapes are green when pressed. It foams a little too.

Remember those Norton grapes we have been looking at all spring and summer? Well, we picked them on Monday. The fruit is beautiful, the chemistry superb, and the fermentation is progressing right on schedule.

Pressing Norton

We pressed the Norton today. It was a small crop, but the color and taste were superb. Don't you love that garnet color?

“The wildlife thinks we’re their grocery store,”

Click here to read an article written in the Columbia Missourian in which I was quoted about the grape crop loss this year. Many other wineries are cited in this article, and I will have to say I think this article was well researched and put together. The part where it says, "Damages from the freeze and birds could total up to $3 million across the state," is definitely disheartening.

The Norton Are Progressing Nicely

Standing Guard

We are in the middle of harvest over here, and also in the middle of sweltering heat. We set two records in temperature this week, Tuesday at 104, and Wednesday at 105. Naturally those are the days we decide to pick grapes, namely the Vignoles. After all the frost this spring, and draught this summer, the fruit looks great, and the quantity is smaller than normal, but we'll take it! We also picked the Seyval blanc grapes today, so the tank room is full of fermenting white wines, yum!

This is another picture of another scarecrow. This one is minding the Vidal blanc grapes, who probably won't be ready for a couple weeks. As we pick more and more grapes, the wildlife seem to hone in on what's still out there to munch on. Hopefully this soldier is doing his part.

Jump, Jive and Wail.

Here is a picture of the blackberries we have fermenting right now. Not too many people had blackberries for sale this year. I think with the frost and now all this dry weather, this isn't too good of a growing year for most things in Missouri. These blackberries sure are beautiful though, and their perfume radiates the air around them. When you stir them, or punch them down, a pink foam forms and bubbles up and looks like sherbet.

Harvest is soon approaching. We are greasing the harvestor today and I am furiously taking berry samples, mainly the Vignoles right now. I think we will be harvesting early this year, with the small crop and draught. The wildlife are in full force, birds, turkies, squirrels (who knew squirrels ate grapes?) We have caught (and released far far away from us) 3 raccoons. Raccoons can eat a lot in one night. The scarecrows are in effect also, and they make me jump when I 4-wheel past them. Then again, I'm jumpy. The amount of crop that we have lost already in the Vignoles to wildlife makes me very sad. There needs to be a better solution. Maybe we need our border collies out there all night to howl at the moon and anything else that crosses their path.

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.

Grandpa (a.k.a. my dad) giving the kids a ride.

This is my niece enjoying the sweet unmistakeable taste of Concord grapes. They come down every year around this time and get their Concord fix. Who can blame them? Even the thick, humid, Missouri air swirls with eau du Concord. After picking all the Concord grapes yesterday, my skin was naturally perfumed, and I will have to say I loved it.

This is Dad picking Concord grapes that are misplaced in the Vignoles. They came from the nursery that way, and they are a real nuisance, but we can't machine harvest these rows of Vignoles until we pick these few Concord grapes.

Harvest officially began on Friday.