Picking
What to Bring
Weigh In / Out
- Gloves - to protect your hands from staining and any bees attracted to the sweet juice.
- Tubs or containers - Bring your own and we'll weigh and sticker it on arrival so that we can deduct the container weight at checkout.
- Please do not bring your own clippers - so that we don't accidentally introduce new fungi or viruses to the vineyard.
- Fermenter Pails - if you wish to crush-destem and press your grapes on-site.
We'll weigh and tag your containers when you arrive so that the weight of the container can be deducted when you weigh out.
At weigh-out, you may opt to use the crusher-destemmer and wine press with our help and for a small charge per pound.
Picking
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- Picking forks - We'll have sterilized picking forks available for use.
- Cradle the cluster in one hand and gently push the jaws of the picking fork against the the stem with the other.
- Set the cluster gently into your container to minimize bruising.
- Honeybees and wasps may be attracted to juice oozing from fully ripened fruit and this is one reason why we encourage you to bring gloves to wear.
Crushing, Destemming, Pressing
Enjoy the Day!
To enhance your winemaking experience from field to fermenter, and to save you time and labor at home, we have acquired an Italian crusher-destemmer and 45 liter press.
You can borrow our picking buckets to bring your grapes to weigh out and the crush pad.
The crusher-destemmer is mounted on a stand allowing the crushed grapes to fall into your fermenting pail.
The wine press can acommodate up to 15 gallons of crushed grapes at a time, making it easy to capture both free-run juice and pressed must. This is a huge time and labor saver in the whole wine-making process.
Bring a picnic or lawn chairs and stay awhile.
Please Note: We love dogs, but we ask that you please leave your pet at home.
Some folks may be uncomfortable around them or are allergic. Thank you.
Some folks may be uncomfortable around them or are allergic. Thank you.