Monday, September 27, 2010

It's Neither Petite nor Syrah


The wine gods have blessed us with a bountiful bunch of beautiful Petite Sirah. We harvested this varietal early Saturday morning. We arrived at the vineyard as the bright harvest moon was still high in the sky casting a luminous glow on the vineyard. Within moments, the first light of the day appeared on the eastern horizon. Once the laborers arrived,we climbed up the steep hillsides to the top of the vineyard. Vineyard manager Steve Crouch said a brief but touching prayer and the picking began.

We harvested 2 tons and were exhausted by the end of the day. Dave earned his fatigue. He had been in Vegas Friday night and drove to Paso Robles. He fell into bed at 4:30 a.m. for an hour before it was time to head out. He then spent the day processing the wine while I entertained our tasting visitors.

We aren't getting as much fruit as last year but thanks to the strange weather of the summer and now days of temperatures over the century mark, harvest could be condensed in just a couple of weeks. Wish us luck.

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