Grapes, Anyone?

[bnolte]

I decided I couldn't wait any longer to pick my Seyval grapes. The birds and the bees were starting to take interest, and their toll was getting worse by the day, while the sugar content of the grapes seems to have peaked. Nonetheless, I managed to pick about 275 lbs of grapes off of about 20 vines. Some of the vines almost filled an entire box themselves!! Here's a couple of shots of the vineyard, along with my haul of Seyval grapes

Here's what I hauled in from the vineyard today

A shot from the vineyard before harvest

In a couple of years I'll have some Rieslings

Here are some of the Chambourcins I have yet to harvest

 

[blanasa]

Hey neighbor!

Let me know when it all turns into wine!!

 

[bnolte]

Crushed and pressed the Seyval today, and had several people come over to help. We picked the Chambourcin and got them crushed as well. The Seyval is now juice sitting in 5 gallon jugs, freshly inoculated with yeast, while the Chambourcin is sitting in a big purple container, sterilized and waiting its turn to become wine.

Neither one will be really ready to drink for about a year, but I do have the Chardonnay and Zinfindel from last year that is bottled and ready for enjoyment.