The rest of harvest….
After that first week things began to blur together between the long days and even longer nights with the inversion fans running to ward off the frost for a little longer. Sleep fast became a luxury and the crew became edgier. We moved into pinot noir next and picked the Diana Block first bringing the fruit into the winery in the totes it was picked in. The process was ardous this year as the fields were still muddy and we needed to keep the mud away from the fruit so the boxes had to moved in a single layer instead of stacked. Brian and Justin made tripp after trip carrying the bins in from behind the barn. They were moved into the processing room where a team of 4 waited to separate the great from the merely good…….. the interesting thing we found this year was the ratio of perfect fruit was actually higher than in previous vintages. We have been running at about 30% perfect but this year it was closer to 50%. Good news for Grange Diana Block Pinot Noir and actually the pick was finished up in only 3 days this year. After that it was on to Riesling in the hopes of buying a few more days of sunshine for our Gamay Noir; the fans were still running at night and we were starting to get some nice warm sunny days. We were amazed the little 3 acre block of Riesling in Gracefield actually yielded 13 tonnes (it has never given us more than 3 to date). Finally it was time to pick the Gamay the fruit had benefitted from the additional hang time and I think everyone agreed it was worth the wait but we were all glad to get it off. Cabernet Franc was the last to be picked ever the pleasant surprise the fruit hangs beautifully, ripens predictably and tastes truly delicious with beautiful red fruit. I wish I could plant more ……..
The pinot gris harvest
Photo credit - Theresa Durning
Last Sunday was a beautiful day; the type of fall Sunday that occurs so rarely, but when it does, it seems to lift everyone’s spirits. The morning was sunny and breezy as the 16-man picking crew headed out again to the Isabella block to pick pinot gris.
Adam Delorme, our cellar assistant when he isn’t helping Mike in the vineyard, offered me these tasting notes for the 2009 pinot gris grapes: “ There are flavours of spicy pear, ripe peach, mandarin orange and cantaloupe.” The interesting thing about pinot gris grapes is that they taste anything but grapey….. but I digress.
Back to harvest The day clouded over but it never really rained. Jeff Innes, our winemaker, arrived late in the afternoon and began preparations for the next day’s bottling and processing. As usual, I was feeling impatient, wishing to start right away. During harvest I always feel as if the wolf is at the door.
