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.