My family harvest in Russian River Valley
October 14, 2008 by Nicole Bacigalupi
Filed under In the vineyard
Quality control is an important job!
As the 2008 harvest is coming to an end I tend to look back at all that has happened and sometimes think how we survived yet another season of farming chaos.
Sometimes I wonder if any other family on earth operates the way that we do on a daily basis. Not all days are crazy but harvest time is absolutely debauchery…and not the fun out at the bars drinking kind. My grandparents decided long ago that they wanted to live in the country, to many of their friends dismay they put down a chunk of change and bought property out Westside Road in 1956. They purchased 60 acres for $30,000, which at that time was a ton of money. Since the day my dad was born he did nothing but play outside, so it was only fitting that he would become the vineyard manager, and that he did and has been since about the age of 17, he is now 51.
I have now completed my 3rd harvest with the family, being 100% hands on with everything. And I mean everything, from pulling leaves from the bins (Katey and I call it quality control) to driving the tractors to making 2:00 a.m sandwiches and bringing Iced Tea to dad so he doesn’t fall asleep on the tractor.
I now know why farm families in the old days had 5, 8, 10 children…because farming is a heck of a lot of work and it takes a lot of hands to make things run. It is no fun having to be up 18 hours a day and then do it all again the next day. I swear there have been days that my dad runs on 2 hours of sleep! It is crazy! Not to mention that fact that my sister and I both have other jobs. We both work at tasting rooms a few days a week. We would trade off getting up at 12:00 a.m, helping dad with harvest until about 7:00 a.m or so, take a quick shower and go to our other jobs until 5:30. I have to say it is REALLY hard to be nice to people when you have been up for 24 hours straight.
Fall is now upon us and winter just around the corner. I am usually not a winter person, I like the sunshine a lot, but being that winter is a time of rest I am sort of looking forward to it this year.
Thanks for sharing the real story of the hard work and dedication that go behind making wine! The romantic vistas and glamorous commercial about the wine business never show how hard people work, the care they take and the commitment to quality that goes into the vineyards, the harvest and crush. After dragging myself out of bed after 14hrs of crawling in tanks doing punchdowns and lord know what else, and heading out the doors after a breakfaxt of coffee & advil, it’s nice to hear from others share the same level of insanity this time of year. Best wishes for a successful harvest to you & your family!
Christopher
J Doran Vineyards
Thank you Christopher! Yes harvest is definitely a crazy time of year. I think it is hard for others to relate to what we go through and how hard we really work at not only growing grapes but making wine as well. Sounds like we are in the same boat, good luck to you as well!!