It is almost HARVEST TIME!

This time every year, my heart starts doing a little jig….The Dance of Harvest! It used to be the most exciting time at the vineyard because we could really see our progress.  Now, my heart does its little dance because another year has been conquered! How Dennis and Cindy manage all of the many challenges presented by the vines, the weather, the demand for product, bottling, releasing new wines, the employees, their mother-inlaw/mom,  I will never know! And that is just their work related challenges!

But, survive they have….with great gusto! Oh wait a minute; that is from a beer commercial….. Oh well, survive they have!

Here it is, harvest time again. The grapes look wonderful! We have more grape producing vines this year than we have ever had; over 8000 vines….meaning more grapes to pick. In my world, that means more harvest meals to prepare! Fortunately for me, my dear friend and fellow food enthusiast, Donna Nagle, of Molly’s Table in Paola, is stepping up to relieve this poor old woman! Oh, don’t for a moment think that I won’t be there, hands into everything! I could no more give up harvest at Somerset Ridge Vineyard than I could give up breathing!

I still remember our first harvest. It was a summer not too different than this one….temperature wise. It was hotter that the devil. We started picking at 5:30 to 6am every morning, so we could quit by 10am when it was already 100 degrees. Dennis’ mom, Mae, and I would stand on either side of a vine and clip the clusters, dropping them into a bucket. At the same time, we fought off robins with mean little expressions on their faces….we were stealing their food!
Today, the 11 acres of vines provide enough food for the birds plus make thousands and thousands of gallons of juice for Dennis to turn into delicious Somerset Ridge wines! I have checked; there will be plenty of Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc grapes to make Arch’s wine, Flyboy Red!

This past week, juice has started flowing into our tanks. We haven’t started the estate vineyard harvest yet, that will probably be in another 2 weeks. (Watch for the vineyard’s newsletter for the notice to sign up for a harvest date. Trust me, once the announcement has been released, all spots are filled, usually within 2 hours! I talked to a woman at the vineyard yesterday. She missed out last year, so she said she is carrying her blackberry with her at all times so she doesn’t miss out again this year! That is a loyal picker!)

Yesterday, Dennis, Alex (my grandson) and Cody, an employee in the vineyard, worked all day in the hot sun, and by 4pm, they had pumped over 1500 gallons of just pressed La Crescent juice through the filter and into one of the winery’s huge, beautiful stainless steel fermenting tanks from Italy!

La Crescent is a grape with a French background, and has been developed by the University of Minnesota to be a cold loving hardy vine. The berry itself is round; yellow-amber in color with a waxy bloom when ripe. As a fairly new white wine lover, I am anxious to see what Dennis does with this one! And, of course, I am anxious to see what foods can be paired with it!

I will be blogging about harvest over the next 6 to 7 weeks. I hope my enthusiasm for harvest is infectious rather than boring! Bear with me, when harvest is over, it is back to the kitchen! October always sends me dashing to the kitchen to fill the house with aromas of freshly baked goods with apples and cinnamon, black walnuts and pecans. Big pots of soups and stews, taking advantage of the final crop of fresh herbs and vegetables. I can hardly wait!