Harvest 2009

A feeling of familiarity washed over me this year at harvest time. Now in our fifth harvest, everyone knows the rhythm and routine of the activities. The guys are in the vineyard first as I rise early to brew coffee and wake the kids. We all head out through a layer of early morning fog to greet the tractor and bins just starting to be filled with fruit. The kids join in with the picking crew and I start my routine of dumping bins. I check on all the workers, find the fullest picking bin, and exchange it for an empty so the crew can keep picking without interruption. This also provides my love with an even flow of fruit to sort and check. Moving through the vineyard, carefully gathering and switching full bins for empties, one by one I lift and dump the fruit.

This year my son’s friend and my niece joined in the fun. My niece tried out all the various jobs, but settled on working the large bins with my love for quality control. My daughter, son and his friend stayed on picking duty, and I continued my workout of dumping the little harvesting bins into the big ones. Our good friend and vineyard photographer captured our harvest through photos which is always appreciated and The local press came to film. My parents joined in as the harvest was finishing up.

I am thankful for another harvest and for the people who make it happen. Our harvest team encompasses an age range of 10 to 94. Being goal oriented, I love when all the fruit is delivered and there is a sense of completion to the growing season, but of course the work is never really done. Next week we will remove the netting and start to put the vineyard to bed for the winter.

See You Soon

Contrary to what I like to believe, I can't do it all!

I have to focus on my day job, selling wine, and my family.

I am taking a blogging break for a few weeks.

Most of the world's wine is sold between October and December.

See ya in a couple weeks.

Pressing the Wine

Watching the wine be pressed is oh so fun !

Now it will go into a barrel for approximately 24 months.

I am playing Wordless Wednesday at five minutes for mom.

Check out other Wednesday posts.

Sorting the Fruit - Sticky Fun

Sorting Fun...

With Harvest upon us, and all that harvest time brings to the vineyard/wine business, I have not been able to post. More posts will be coming soon. In the meantime, check out how many people sorted our fruit! If you counted correctly, there were seven in the video. My Love is almost completely hidden on the other side of the sorting table, but if you look closely, you can see his legs. When I wasn't taking pics and joined the sorting crew, there were eight.

Harvest 2008 - Yeah we did it again!

Sweet fruit...

Sticky hands...

Dark color.....

Hard work ....

The pictures tell the story, another harvest completed.


Check out more photo stories it's photo story friday.




Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

"Great- Now We Have To Do It Again" - Bottleshock

A few nights ago I ventured out to town to see Bottleshock the movie. It is based on the true and historic story of when, in 1976, California wines were submitted in a blind tasting against noted French wines … and won!

I enjoyed watching the story unfold about the various struggles between a father and son, the pursuit of a dream, and the hard work that goes into farming. This story really demonstrates the growing pains of a young wine business.

There were more than a few great lines. Several of them reminded me of why I love this life we’ve chosen, and why I embrace the struggle of farming a vineyard. Farming is a great analogy for life. My experience of “Living on Some Land” has given me a great appreciation for this fact. Farming is a daily reminder that many things in life are out of our control. First-hand experience has increased my understanding of why Jesus often used a vineyard as a parable in his teachings. I try to remind my children that they have more control over their reaction to life's events than the events themselves.

My favorite line from the movie is the title of this post. In farming, you work all year for the harvest and when it’s done, you start all over again. Sending my kids to school feels much the same; with a new year comes new expectations, new teachers and new schedules. Life often comes at us in cycles. Like housework, homework and cooking, there is always a do-it-again around every corner.

So, I give this film a tip of the wine glass and a recommendation to see it if you have the chance. I think many will enjoy this slice-of-life story that gives a nod to the American dream and American spirit of hard work.



Disclaimer: As a California vineyard owner I am definitely a biased reviewer!

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9 NIV

Bottling Day

We arrived at the winery in Northern California last Saturday and could feel the excitement that had been building up during the drive. The air was thick with the now familiar smells of oak and wine and we were quickly greeted by the very friendly staff. Only a few weeks ago our winemaker had let us know the wine was finally ready for the last leg of its journey from barrel to bottles!

We poured a barrel sample and enjoyed the first delectable taste of our finished wine. The deep garnet-hued liquid quickly made its way from the stainless tank to the bottling machine, filling up bottle after bottle as they wound their way through the equipment. Somehow, it never got old watching the bottles get filled, corked, capped, labeled, and finally cased. Another step on our journey, and a great day for our vineyard and our family - one for the books!

Wine ... whine ...whine

Selling and farming requires much art and finesse. We thought we had all our fruit sold, until there was a problem with a detail. Now we are looking at another buyer who is interested, but of course there are questions, on both sides. Sometimes the winemaker's needs do not fit the weather patterns and the realities of farming.

Meanwhile, I am on the phone with one of my blogging buddies who is having similar issues working out her children's school schedules. Will meeting the bus for her 5 year old boy, make her late to take her 3 year old girl to preschool? How can she be at two places at once?

Sounds unique and unrelated to my issues with farming, buying and selling, but as I listen it feels so familiar. Timing and setting it all up, it is the same process. Reminds me of a quote that has always made me smile.

"Whenever God Closes One Door He Always Opens Another, Even Though Sometimes It's Hell in the Hallway"- Unknown

A Dream Realized

The post about following your dream on http://www.mycup2yours.com/ inspired me to share how we followed our dream.

Our Story …
Our family dream started simply enough. A desire to grow wine grapes and embrace a more agrarian lifestyle. We left the hectic pace of city life in search of property where we could work the land. Flying from Orange County to San Francisco, my husband showed me a magazine article describing an everyday family who did just that - left the Big City, planted their own vineyard and started a winery.

Once this seed was planted, we started looking for an opportunity to pursue our dream of living on some land. My brother, heard about the idea of "living on some land" and decided to leave his big city home and join our adventure. A partnership was born, and upon relocating to our property, my brother found work as a vineyard manager for various area vineyards as well as taking care of our own vineyard. We have been striving ever since for the ultimate blend of farming, science and art, the essence of wine making. We are pursuing that perfect glass of red wine while enjoying the beautiful sunsets.

God sure has had an amazing way of shaping our lives. We thought we were moving to start a vineyard, but we have been blessed by a fantastic church home, wonderful schools, great jobs and a satisfying fulfilling life in the country.