More than anything else, winemaking is farming.
Some farmers only grow grapes and sell them to wineries. Some wineries just purchase grapes from growers. Some wineries do it all. We don't just purchase grapes from other farmers, and we don't just purchase juice. We do everything from the ground up, even though we are a very small operation. It requires you to know all aspects of grapes, from the vine, to the wine.
The vineyard can really be thought of as a farm. And where there's a farm, there's manual labor to be done. Winemaking is not just sitting around at a bar deciding which cheese pairs best with the sparkling wine while you slowly get intoxicated. There is a never-ending list of chores that need to be finished. The first chore we tackled was spreading gravel in the driveway leading to the back of our winery and throughout the vineyard. We knew the ruts would only get worse as the seasons progressed.
Luckily, there's a gravel quarry across the street. Literally. So, it's pretty easy to swing over there and get 1-2 tons of gravel and bring it back on a trailer. The machine that actually dumps the gravel at the quarry is a giant, metal monster. It was a little intimidating. I was really surprised with the finesse that the controller was able to operate it with.
The heavy rain pushed us inside, but not before we drove around and filled in little puddles that were already forming along the driveway. Four full tons of back-breaking shoveling.
Going inside meant that we could tend to organizing the barn. It wasn't in awful shape, but it was easy to trip over things strewn along the ground when you were looking for a specific tool. It also meant that we could get rid of some of the old fertilizer that had been stacked on a pallet for years. That required a pallet fork attachment for the tractor. That also required me to learn how to drive a tractor.
As I was driving the tractor at a brisk 10 miles an hour across the property to dump the fertilizer, the song from the Footloose scene where they had the tractor chicken fight was on loop in my head. So, yes, I've been officially inducted into the large network of farmers. If only all of my engineer friends could see me now.
Looks like I'll need to invest in some overalls,
The Winemaker's Apprentice
Some farmers only grow grapes and sell them to wineries. Some wineries just purchase grapes from growers. Some wineries do it all. We don't just purchase grapes from other farmers, and we don't just purchase juice. We do everything from the ground up, even though we are a very small operation. It requires you to know all aspects of grapes, from the vine, to the wine.
The vineyard can really be thought of as a farm. And where there's a farm, there's manual labor to be done. Winemaking is not just sitting around at a bar deciding which cheese pairs best with the sparkling wine while you slowly get intoxicated. There is a never-ending list of chores that need to be finished. The first chore we tackled was spreading gravel in the driveway leading to the back of our winery and throughout the vineyard. We knew the ruts would only get worse as the seasons progressed.
 |
| Just before we started shoveling the first ton. |
Luckily, there's a gravel quarry across the street. Literally. So, it's pretty easy to swing over there and get 1-2 tons of gravel and bring it back on a trailer. The machine that actually dumps the gravel at the quarry is a giant, metal monster. It was a little intimidating. I was really surprised with the finesse that the controller was able to operate it with.
 |
| That's 1 ton of spread gravel. We spread 4 tons before the rain got us. |
The heavy rain pushed us inside, but not before we drove around and filled in little puddles that were already forming along the driveway. Four full tons of back-breaking shoveling.
 |
| Rain clouds over the vines. It ended up soaking us. |
Going inside meant that we could tend to organizing the barn. It wasn't in awful shape, but it was easy to trip over things strewn along the ground when you were looking for a specific tool. It also meant that we could get rid of some of the old fertilizer that had been stacked on a pallet for years. That required a pallet fork attachment for the tractor. That also required me to learn how to drive a tractor.
As I was driving the tractor at a brisk 10 miles an hour across the property to dump the fertilizer, the song from the Footloose scene where they had the tractor chicken fight was on loop in my head. So, yes, I've been officially inducted into the large network of farmers. If only all of my engineer friends could see me now.
Looks like I'll need to invest in some overalls,
The Winemaker's Apprentice
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