So . . .
Several things happened since Halloween.
Last Friday the 5th was the official Last Day of Harvest.
The white bins below contained the last fruit from the last vineyard.
We were expecting 5 tons, we received 10. It was a very busy last day.
A most fitting end to a very busy season.
About the season . . . .
A cool spring began the growing season, temperatures were low during vine development and our biggest concern was that if it stayed cool, the fruit would not ripen. The vines need sun and heat to distribute carbohydrates and accumulate sugar in the grapes. Since the spring and summer had been so cool and we were expecting it to stay cool, around July some vineyard managers decided to get proactive.
One method to mitigate under ripe fruit is to drop crop. If resources are scarce, a vine with 14 clusters is less likely to evenly ripen them than a vine with 9 clusters. So we sacrifice our yield a little for better quality. Another method is reducing the canopy. A large canopy means that the vine takes resources away from ripening fruit and puts them into growing lots of large green leaves. Limiting the canopy encourage the reallocation of resources. Additionally, we can leaf-pull to reduce the amount of shade a cluster gets and maximize its sun exposure.
These are methods for a cool year.
And we had a cool year.
Until we didn't.
When the heat wave came, a lot of the crop was over exposed and vulnerable and a lot of it cooked.
So now we had a mixture of raisins and under ripe clusters.
Then the rains came.
Unlike the heat wave, the rains were not a surprise. It always rains in October. However, usually we have had a warmer year and most everyone has most of their fruit in by this time. But the cool weather meant that few vineyards were ripe and ready to be picked, and when the October rains came, a lot of people still had a lot of their fruit out there getting wet.
And the rain didn't help the fruit ripen any faster. Wet weather makes us worry about moldy fruit. Additionally, if it is really wet the vines can pick up the water and give us big watery berries, instead of small intensely flavored ones.
Then it rained again.
So really, it's been a nightmare of a year.
This is only my 4th Harvest, so 2010 easily shoots to the top of my "All Time Most Difficult Year" list.
But people for whom 2010 was their 20th or 30th Harvest are also saying the same thing. Well, they more diplomatically say that it's been "the most difficult" or "most challenging" of their careers.
But I'll say it again.
Nightmare.
And yet,
Despite how long and weird the season has been, seeing the last white bins with the last bit of fruit from the last vineyard was bitter sweet. Maybe I'm being overly sentimental, or masochistic, but on the way home that Friday night I did not feel like celebrating with beers like everyone else. Which is especially odd considering that the next day, Saturday, was my 3rd day off in 8 weeks.
. . . .
And Sunday it was back to work.
I don't think the fermenting tanks got the memo that Harvest Is Over and the work load is supposed to get lighter now.
But Sunday night I attended a fund raising even at Miner Family Vineyards. I was mostly excited to have an opportunity to get out of my dirty work clothes and into something clean and presentable.
Also, helping kids . . .
The event was called Wine to Water, which works with Water Hope to bring clean drinking water to developing nations.
Wineries like mine donate wine for a silent auction, the chefs donate
their time to cook the meal for the night, and everyone else who helps
put the event together donates their time so that all the proceeds can
go to the foundation.
The silent auction and dinner were held in the MFV caves, which were all lit up for the occasion.
The dinner was delicious but my favorite part of the evening was the bowl of wine:
It is true I have tiny hands, but that is a giant stemless glass of wine. I could eat my cereal out of that bowl.
The event was from 6pm to 10pm, and it was overall very well put together.
There was one awkward moment for me during dinner when they showed a video montage of all the children the foundation helps. There we were eating our Slow Guinness-Braised Beef Short Ribs: Mashed Colcannon Potatoes, Honey Glazed Carrots with Natural Jus cooked by celebrity chef Stuart O'Keeffe (Private Chefs of Beverly Hills on Food Network) and watching a video of malnourished children in Africa, Tibet, Cambodia etc, beaming with joy as the schlep plastic jugs of water from a well back to their huts. And the message was Thanks for Helping These Kids, but really the sum total of our efforts (my effort anyway) involved enjoying a very expensive dinner and a bowl of wine.
I don't know if the juxtaposition was done on purpose to encourage everyone to open their wallets for the live auction that went on after dinner. But I felt like I did embarrassingly little for anyone that night. Especially since I did not partake in the ensuing live auction. It wasn't because I didn't want to participate, I was just way out of my league. But if I had $4k to toss around, I definitely would have bid to have Stuart O'Keeffe come cook at my house.
Though I might be more embarrassed to have him see my 'charming' Victorian kitchen.
So my dreams of having a private chef will have to wait and I will survive on crackers and cereal a little longer.
-L
No comments:
Post a Comment