Nothing to Harvest Equals No Work. . . Yet.

At the end of the day, which marked our final training, the Cellar Master rounds up all the seasonal cellar workers, including myself, to share an announcement.   He first congratulates us on a successful first week of training and predicts that this years’ harvest will be a great one.  His commendation, however, was served with a side order of curve ball—to say the least:

"Some of you may have already heard that this year things have been a little bit later than usual...harvest is set to begin at least two weeks later than normal. I will be giving you all a call sometime next week notifying you when we’ll need you back."

That’s right—no work yet. (OMG!) But that’s the way it goes in the wine industry. You may think you have a job one day and next you find out that your help is not needed. At least, not for a while.

So much depends on weather. Weather makes the vintage.  We just have to wait for Mother Nature to do her thing. When the winery finally feels the time is right to harvest, a decision that defines that year’s vintage, the entire team goes to work. 

{Getting some 'hang time' on the vine}

 But the news doesn’t come as a full surprise.  A walk through any vineyard in Napa will verify a late harvest—every grape is still an immature, small, green, hard little sphere.  We don’t want to harvest just yet because an early harvest can mean immature fruit.  And since it has been a relatively cool summer in Napa this year, the grapes have simply not received the heat required to ripen and accumulate the sugars needed.  (Heat brings up the sugar levels more rapidly.)

 If I were to a be a bird in the vineyard waiting for the grapes to mature, I may know when the berries are ripe and sweet. But in the meantime, I’m content being at home with my family waiting for the call. :) 

{varietal Cabernet Sauvignon shines in vineyards just outside of my new  home in Napa}
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 {A neighbor's vineyard in Napa, California}

{Transparent Cab leaves}

Cheers,

B

 

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