Harvesting Rkatsiteli in Napareuli, Georgia (Sakartvelo)

Rkatsiteli

Under a warm sun, Kathy and I began harvesting in the original Napa, a small town in the Kakheti region of the country Georgia called Napareuli. Knowledgeable harvesters were in the vineyards at 6:00 am. By 11:00 am the sun was sharing it warmth. We were picking Rkatsiteli, the most planted white variety […]

Harvesting Viognier in Maryland

Kathy and I had an opportunity to harvest Viognier at Catoctin Breeze Vineyard in Thurmont, Maryland last week. It was our second harvest this year. Our first experience was harvesting the red grape Lenoir at Messina Hof in Bryan, Texas. The Viognier grapes were just a tad more challenging to pick. Because of their light […]

Redemption for a Grape Harvest

Harvesting grapes may seem romantic, but it’s work. Our first harvest was at a Maryland winery. It was a hot day and the sun was beating down on the vineyard as we began around 9:00 am. It took Kathy and me about an hour and a half to fill two lugs. Then we were put […]

Harvesting the Niagara

I decided, for better or worse to harvest the Niagara grapes. They only reached a brix level of 16 and stalled. The seeds were brown and the flavor was good. Normally, I’d let them hang but since some of the berries were beginning to rot and I don’t have many clusters, I decided to pick […]

Harvest Timing

I’ve given up with my Dornfelder. After an assault from birds, I learned to place netting over the vines and grapes. It helped somewhat. We did have to free a few birds from inside the netting. Then the bees went after the grapes. I guess they are ready for harvest although the highest brix I […]

California Grape Harvest

On a recent visit to California we had the opportunity to video tape harvest. Kathy and I helped Basignani Winery in Maryland, harvest Marechal Foch grapes in 2007. The workers in California put us to shame. They were much faster than we were and selective in what they took from the vine. The […]

Missing out on one grape harvest

Harvest is not predictable even the California harvest. The best guess two months ago was that Cabernet Sauvignon from California would arrive mid-October. So we decided to squeeze a California trip in late September and early October to film vineyards and hopefully harvest. Unfortunately while we are flying to the west coast, the […]

Ready, Set, Wait!

I live by my calendar. Blocking out certain days is no concern, unless I don’t know when the days are. This is the case while waiting for the grapes to arrive at Vint Hill Craft Winery and Tin Lizzie Wineworks. We are at the mercy of the weather, harvest and shipment. Is there […]