Tonnage

A dewy Arandell cluster at veraison, culled from the vines.

Vineyard work is often solitary work. But that's not to say those of us who tend the vines don't enjoy visitors in the vineyard rows.

We absolutely love it. 

Sure, these 4,000+ grape vines and this bevy of swans can be amiable companions. But conversationalists, they are not.

This time of year, the most frequent question we get from guests who stroll into the rows: What are you doing with all of those grapes you are picking? 

Baskets and bins of them. Sometime a full Bobcat load.

No, we are not harvesting yet.

We are culling imperfect fruit from the vines in anticipation of harvest.

Since January, every decision we make, from dormant pruning to bud adjustment to shoot positioning to cane and cluster thinning, is aimed at reducing the size (and increasing the quality) of the eventual wine grape crop.

A bushel of Petite Pearl 

Right now we feel pretty good about the amount of fruit our vines bear. But from now to harvest, we will continue to pass through as time allows to cull under ripe, overripe, crowded, and damaged clusters.

Statistically, the amount of fruit we remove isn't huge based on the overall vineyard crop.

But with thousands of vines, even a few clusters pulled from each one, eventually adds up to TONS.

And so the work of the vineyard continues.

A productive vineyard day is a messy vineyard day.

In our wake, depending on the season, we leave piles of pruned canes, carpets of trimmed shoots, baskets of culled fruit.

The never ending attempt to contain the bounty of nature.

All of the extra tonnage, returned to the earth, composted and eventually feeding  another cycle of growth.

The second most common question we get from vineyard visitors: This vineyard is immaculate!

Well, perhaps not at the peak of our work day.

We always have to leave a little time at the end, to remove the tonnage of detritus produced.

If we do our job right, you'll never now we were here.

No one, except the swans, and the grapes.

And they usually keep all of our secrets.

Countdown

It's hard to remember an August quite like this.

The mornings greet us in the vineyard with dew kissed grape clusters, and overflowing rain gauges (four plus inches on a recent torrential night.)

Breezy afternoons where the thermometer hovers at 70.

Rain gear and jackets that normally wouldn't see the light of day until October are summoned from musty storage.

And so the pleasant work of Veraison, the season when the vines ripen their fruit, carries on in the vineyard.

Our six varietals, August 14, beginning to show their harvest hues.

Imperfect clusters are culled from the vines.

Clusters are gathered, weighed, tasted, and chemically analyzed to track ripening.

Bird netting is installed.

Normally in this season, our concerns are staying hydrated and watching for sun stroke, as we race the clock  to fully dress the vines for harvest.

This year we have to remember to pack an extra jacket, and be on the look out for mold and mildew on the damp vines.

So while it makes a pleasant work day for the vineyard workers, the vines themselves would prefer it much hotter and drier.

If our previous harvest seasons in Canton, Ohio have taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected:

And so it is: another unusual season among the vines.

But, what a beautiful season it has been.

Each day forward on the countdown to harvest, we will be posting here a picture or an observation  from the vines.

Labor that began among snow rollers in a Vortex-frozen January vineyard, continues its steady march through an unseasonably cool August.

Anything can yet happen:

Stay tuned, and watch it unfold.

Bushels of imperfect fruit, culled from the vines.