Harvest Day – Quartz Block Zinfandel – September 21st, 2010
All right, I know, I’m sorry it’s been way too long since my last post but without further ado here it is…
Fact: Waking up at 5AM and picking is not easy, I really want to applaud all of the vineyard crews that toil in the vineyards year in and year out.. As you will see from this video these men and women are incredible at what they do.
Fact: Driving a 16 Foot Flat Bed Truck is NOT enjoyable, especially if your drive is 3 hours long and you’re carrying not only 3 and a quarter tons of materials but 3 and a quarter tons of your life.
Fact: I love this time of year, waking up at 5AM while a minor inconvenience it pails in comparison to the jolt of excitement you get from harvesting a vineyard and putting it to tank (more on the tank stuff in the next video, which I will post tomorrow, promise!).
Fact: I’ve been working non stop for the last couple of weeks and think I’ve got some cool footage in this video and in the next couple of videos coming down the pipe, as always if there’s something from the winemaking process you haven’t seen before and would like an up close and personal view just let me know and I will git er dun.
Fact: The soothing voice in this video is none other than Rick Keith, my Father and proprietor of Leaf and Vine Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc, let his sweet smooth baratone whisper to you while viewing the majesty that is harvest 2010.
Some of the vital stats, we harvested the Quartz Block Zinfandel in Amador County at sunrise, literally sunrise, and we trucked it all the way to Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa. Three hours cruising at speeds that annoyed even me not to mention the parade of cars behind and taking corners like Old Mrs. Peabody on her Sunday cruise through the neighborhood we finally made it to the winery. We unloaded the fruit and let it sit in the cold room at Paradise Ridge overnight (Cold Room sits at about 38 F), just waiting to be processed bright and early the next morning. I’ll leave you with that right there, watch the video and tell me what you think, tomorrows shots will be that of processing and then on Monday I’ll post our video on fermentation. So lots of great stuff, Tuesday we’ll have something new coming on board and I’ll get to start talking about one more of my favorite grape varietals (how’s that for a teaser?).