Chaine d Or Harvest Pics and Pressing

So – It’s been more than a month. We finished harvest on 10/12 at Chaine d’Or. The earliest we’ve ever finished by 16 days.  It was the biggest, best, earliest, harvest ever for us and from what we’ve heard and read for everyone in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Santa Clara Valley.  We worked hard in the winery from the 12th to the 15th and then spent 6 days in New Orleans.  We came back to finishing fermentation’s and completed all the pressing and barrel work by the 27th.

We also got a trip to Nashville in and otherwise have been laying low.  We are doing a gluten free diet right now and no cocktails to try and avoid the post harvest 15.  I had a bunch of pictures on my phone so thought I’d get them all up.  First one is the press running the day before the Chaine d’Or Harvest.  The timing was perfect.  We had a few lots finish just as we needed the space.
press running

I’m not really sure what I was taking here.  It’s a hose in a barrel soaking t up so we can use it.  Barrels dry out and won’t seal after a while so they have to be soaked back up before use.

soaking barrel

 

Wine in the collection tray.  Stefania loves it at this point.

juice

 

Our pallet mover – which has been the best piece of equipment we’ve ever bought.

the pad

 

This was the day of the Chaine d’Or harvest.  Not too early but cold.  The stuffed shark is our driving warning.  ‘Don’t move the shark’ is the rule when going up the twisty road to Chaine d’ Or.

CDO Clock

 

More fog pictures and Stefania getting the pruners ready for the crew.

fog

 

Everything is ready here for the fruit to start coming up.

waiting winemaker

I always try and pick at least one bin of grapes when we get started.  After the bins start to fill I get busy hauling bins and running the crusher so don’t usually get to pick past the first 20 minutes.

 

my bin

 

At Chaine d Or we keep everything in the 30 pound bins through the entire process.

bins coming in

 

This is a view I rarely take pictures of.  It’s a section of the property I only access on the tractor.  This morning I stopped the tractor to take this picture of the vineyard.

vineyard above

 

Axel looks grumpy but he likes getting all the cash before Christmas.  This was the first year he really helped out through the entire process.  We’d lose him in past years to playing with the dogs or running around the vineyard but this year he wanted to help with everything.

axel

Cabernet raw.

 

must

 

This is one reason we love the pallet jack so much.  We can move the fermentation’s inside where the temperature is easier to control and it’s much easier to keep out bees and leafs.

the line up

 

Final picture was of a full barrel of ‘Roxy’ Cabernet/Zin.  The vineyard owner was excited that we might be able to do his wine on its own for the first time without blending with other vineyards.

roxy

 

I know Stefania has a bunch of pictures she wants to get up so hopefully those will come soon.  Look for a special sale too for Small Busines Saturday from us and Winter Futures will be out right after Thanksgiving also.