Grapes, work, and wine

Yesterday John and I drove to Amity, Oregon, to help a friend harvest grapes.

 This event was supposed to happen today, Sunday, but the weather caused the schedule to be moved up a day. Yesterday it didn't rain (good for grape harvest) whereas today it's been a steady drizzle. Even so, as you see from this spider web, it wasn't exactly as dry as a bone yesterday.

You have to wear gloves to protect your hands from wasps, and in my case, from myself. I was kind of a clumsy snipper, and cut my gloves twice...but not all the way through.

Unfortunately, the schedule change meant that a lot of helpers couldn't make it, so we definitely had our work cut out for us.

 

 John worked on one side of the row while I took the other. These grapes will go into making pinot noir wine, a specialty of this region, and very popular ever since the film Sideways.

 It was fun!

 

 It was especially glorious after the sun finally came out.

I like the way the trees reflect on the panels. I think the energy will help run the irrigation system.

You have to have at least a little sun in order for solar panels to make sense.

 The grapes were collected and put into bins, then driven about 10 miles away to Brooks winery.

John and I took some breaks with Ed and Reub.

The best break, though, was the one that included a glass of pinot noir and some homemade goat cheese.

 

After five hours of harvesting grapes, this felt pretty good. We had cut about 4,000 pounds of grapes, and my back was talking to me. Plus, it was fun to have a friendly black cat claiming my lap.

OK, his name was Tom, and he gave me many photo ops.

I could get off-the-subject easily here, because it was fun to photograph every part of him.

And he didn't mind it a bit.

 

While stroking Tom, there was a mesmerizing sunset to watch: hilltop vineyards are spectacular for observing the landscape.

However, the day was far from done. About 300 pounds of grapes were kept for private use, and they had to be crushed. This cool machine separated the grapes from the stalks.

Ed and Reub loved this. They gleaned a few grapes from the stems, although not enough to give them tummy aches (grapes are a dietary no-no for dogs.)

And then came the grape-crushing! This involved two willing volunteers, and was a lot of fun for everybody. If we sound silly, it's because none of us had ever done this before, and also we each had a glass of wine in hand.

After all of the work was done, we were treated to a lamb tagine dinner, and a beautiful moon. Cool day.

Thank you to Hilary from The Smitten Image, who honored this post with an award.