We had a marvelous harvest day yesterday!
The morning started off at 66°F which was almost chilly. Before the sun was all the way up we had dozens of volunteers already at work. By the time we got into full swing there were 42 people on site and the first 3 bins were full and headed to the winery before we knew it. The volunteers continued picking and soon we had reached the halfway point and the next 4 bins were full. Sometimes the vines within a block ripen at different stages so our plan was to pick the north vines first and have them tested at the winery before picking the second half. The crew took a well deserved refreshment break while we waited for word of the test results……… (drumroll)…… YES! They were testing at 26° Brix and we were clear to continue and harvest the remaining half.
The volunteers were absolutely wonderful. Essentially we asked them to pick each row in 3 stages: the first 8 vines in each row that went into the first 3 bins, the remaining portion of the row up to the halfway point, and then the remaining second half of each row to finish the whole block. As soon as we got the all-clear they all leapt into action, folded up the remaining bird netting and had the entire harvest completed by 10 am!
We cannot fully express how much we appreciate everyone’s help during this complicated harvest. Harvest day is such a pleasure not only because of the satisfaction of having the crop safely off the vines, but because of the spirit of camaraderie from working together to reach that goal. I know we say it often but we really could not do it without you.
The final numbers for Cabernet Franc: 5.23 tons (25.5° Brix)
We think it’s the best fruit we’ve seen yet and we’re looking forward to tasting this harvest when it reaches the bottle in 2022!
