When diluvial rains struck the Marche late last week, I escaped to sunnier Tuscany with Alessandra and the 2 dogs. First, though, we got the Cabernet Sauvignon harvested, which to date has been the most balanced grape in this unbalanced year we have had. The rains have permitted a bit of bortrytis to get established in the Syrah, so unfortunately, we will be forced to harvest it a bit earlier than I would like as more rains arrive tomorrow night. Hopefully the tractor won't get stuck tomorrow on the hill as it is still a bit slippery. If all goes well, we can pick the Petit Verdot at a proper ripeness next week as those grapes are looking fine.
Here are some harvest photos from last Wednesday, a whole hectare in one day, quite enough for us!
The trailer loaded up with the plastic containers which hold about 20kg of grapes each and stack perfectly so as not to harm the grapes in the cassette underneath.
1st load in the de-stemmer/crusher
All the C.S. grapes were beautiful this year.
Alessio showing off with 40kg at a time from the trailer to the platform where I stand to load the grapes into the de-stemming machine.
Time for a breath.
The de-stemmer can only go so fast, unfortunately, and we are faster.
A bit sparse, this bunch, but all good, no maladies.
The C.S. with the tractor heading into the row with the trailer behind. We pick each row and pass the containers from the lateral rows to the center where they are then loaded onto the trailer 3 high, 4 wide and 6 long.
Bacco and Pippo supervising the action.
Another load
Bacco was very little help
The tasting room above where in a couple of years, you can try this year's wines, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful views we have of the southern Marche.
