2018 Roussanne Harvest

What a beautiful sunrise to kick off this year's Roussanne Harvest! This year's Roussanne harvest is in full swing and the grapes are plump, juicy and on their way to making a great wine. It was a beautiful morning to start the harvest on and the sunrise was gorgeous! It's such a good sight to see, the harvester moving down the row and the grapes pouring in! While we wait for the harvester to finish a round, we get the tractor and the dump buggy all hooked up and ready to go. It's so nice how much faster we can go with the dump buggy, it really makes a difference. Now we get to see all those plump and juicy grapes!!! Harvest is so much fun, I mean, who wouldn't want to ride on big Tonka toys for the day! With the harvester off again, it's time to put the grapes into the bins and on the reefer (refrigerated truck) . You have to be careful when dumping the grapes because one load is about 1 1/2 tons! Since John is an expert at directing the dump buggy, that's his job! It's so nice to see the fruit of your labor! The harvester picked them so clean, there were very few leaves and sticks which means we don't have to pick them out!!! Now that the grapes are in the bins, they are loaded into the reefer. Then we line more bins up and get ready to fill them too! This year we are using a fork truck instead of just a tractor with forks - it is nice and fast! When we are finished harvesting, then the grapes are off to the winery and ready to be turned into wine. The vineyard is such a pretty sight, especially from on top of the harvester!!!  You can almost see the other end. This is one view that never gets old! If you want to see more harvest pictures and how we do it, be sure to check out these links from previous harvests!!! 2014 Roussanne Harvest 2017 Roussanne Harvest 2017 Montepulciano Harvest