11 October 2016

Left behind

Harvesting continues in the vineyard. Les vendanges continuent. Now the Renaudie guys seem to be working not just mornings but also afternoons to bring the rest of the grapes in. The weather is supposed to turn rainy in a day or two, and the rains will continue next week. That's normal for the second half of October.


I went out with the dog yesterday morning and I was admiring the grapes all around us as we walked. Walt went out in the afternoon and said two big plots just on the north side of our yard have now been stripped of their fruit.


I took these photos farther out in the vineyard, about half a mile (nearly a kilometer) from our house. I don't know what this thing is called that is left behind when the grapes are harvested by machine. I heard or read the word last week, but now I can't remember it and I don't know where I saw or heard it.


One thing I read about machine-harvesting as compared to hand-harvesting is that when bunches of grapes are cut by hand, the woody structure at the center of a bunch goes with the grapes. It can impart a flavor to the grape juice and resulting wine that is not necessarily desirable. So chalk one up for machine-harvesting.

5 comments:

  1. What a great mix of colors in those photos. Simple things, but lovely results.

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  2. One of my pet peeves is people plucking grapes from a bunch and leaving behind the naked branch without cutting it off. Worse yet is the act of taking individual grapes off all over the bunch and leaving all those "blanks" behind. Anything goes in the vineyard, of course

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  3. Are you talking about what happens in a supermarket?

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  4. Interesting that the stalk would change the taste of the wine.n Obvious when you think about it I guess.

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