Harvest Expect the Unexpected

Getting to harvest is a mix of excitement, anxiety, and a whole lot of crazy. The one thing for sure is that there is no certainty or regularity. After weeks of prepping all equipment, barrels, and tanks and ensuring that the vineyard is ready, the unexpected always happens. But no such preparation is enough.

Harvest 2024 started well before dawn on August 26, 2024. We were met with a flat tire when we drove the tractor to the vineyard to pick up the first bins of Viognier fruit. How can you prepare for that? We are a small operation with only one tractor. This is extremely critical because once harvested, the grapes must be taken to the winery before they get too warm as temperatures increase once the sun rises. Luckily, the tires were under-inflated, and they could inflate them in the field where the tractor died. Two hours later, we could move grapes to the winery for processing. It pays to maintain good relationships with area vendors, particularly when your winery is remote.

Viognier fruit was beautiful and plentiful. Eleven tons were harvested that day, representing our second-largest Viognier harvest. Unfortunately, that joy did not last. Next up came equipment failure. Once harvested, grapes are put through a destemmer that removes stems from each cluster. Our destemmer is a small electric device that has worked well for over ten vintages. As the Viognier grapes were being loaded, they sputtered to a halt. Let me remind you, we had 11 tons of fruit to destem.

No one ever told us this significant fact when we were searching for advice about becoming winemakers. The advice is that one of the most important skills for the winery is being able to fix everything on the fly – from Italian-made bottlers to destemmers. We had a brilliant wine club member learn enough Italian to talk to the Italian bottler manufacturer about fixing our machine. But I digress. A MacGyver-type person must be on-site because things break at the most unfortunate time. For those too young and unable to relate to this reference, MacGyver was a TV show that started in 1985 and ran for multiple seasons where the main character, MacGyver, could use a paper clip to diffuse a bomb. Unfortunately, MacGyver was not at LDV. After banging it around that day, Curt put on his best MacGyver persona and fixed the destemmer. The goal was to get it running and not spend approximately $15,000 to get one shipped overnight or lose the fruit.

On September 3, 2024, we harvested 1 ½ tons of Syrah and 4 ½ tons of Grenache for our Rosé wines. I wish I could say it was uneventful, but it was not. Flat tire on the tractor again. This time, there was a cut tire. Our mechanic was out again and, this time replaced both front tires. Betty Blue, fondly named, was up and running again. Only cost us a lot of money and a few empty barrels in trade.

As I write this blog, I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed (and I ask you to do the same) that everything will go well with the rest of Harvest 2024.