The Crimson Clover Pick

These won't be in any kind of logical order either. We left the house yesterday just after 7AM and returned just after 9PM. Day 2 of 8 that we will work all out. Today we have some clean up to do, logistics to coordinate and then up to Eaglepoint Ranch. Tomorrow morning our Syrah will be picked and we'll be headed back on a 5-6 hours drive to process it. Captions will be above the pictures:

Why is wine expensive? These trucks get 11-12 mpg when loaded with a ton of grapes. Stops at the gas station are frequent.


This is actually the finished must after processing at Big Basin. I was on the sorting table, Stef was watching for any final sorting issues going into bin.

"The Crew". I thought this picture looked a lot like a Rolling Stone cover for some weird band. From left to right; Our friend and volunteer Noelle, Stefania, Millie, Jerry.

The sun came up over the east mountains as we drove to the vineyard.

Truck, bins and tubs ready to get started.

The crew in the field as the sun starts to hit the vineyard. At this point we were about 1/2 done with the pick.

Stefania in the back of the truck with me sorting. We sort into the picking bins, then again into the 1/2 ton bins, then on a sorting table, and finally on a shacking table. Four sorts in all, and this is after going through the vineyard before harvest and removing problem grapes.

The team at work.

Joe at Big Basin gets a weight for us on a bin. We brought in just over 3200 pounds, or about 4 barrels.

Grapes ready to go to the sorting table.

I liked this view, it showed the mountains in the back. This is the Santa Clara Valley AVA, but you can see we're really up in the Santa Cruz Mountains here.

Close up of grapes in the bin. They were very impressive. Ripe flavors, good skins, a very good pick. We're looking forward to a long run in this vineyard.