Half Moon

We processed the last of the pinot noir today. In fact, I think we really just have riesling left to come in at this point. The pickers picked the Home Block today. They were done in about 2-3h. Possibly one more. Regardless, it was quick. There was 5 bins and 3 buckets worth of pinot. Maybe 2tonnes. Some pinot gris from either Lane or the Home Block. The best was the gerwurtramener coming in at 110kg. It should fill a keg. We were expecting some more fruit from up the road that had been trickling in all week but right after the second lot of 3 bins came in, it and the remaining fruit on the vines was sold. Sold!

And like that, it was over. I was taking care of an inoculation so Peter (the other American) processed the fruit. We'd gotten things figured and were down to amounts so that one person could really handle processing all the bins. I tried to get in on the last bin but Peter pushed me outta the way and finished it himself. Good on ya, mate! Given that Peter and I went out last night (it was an early night) he really out worked me today. Kid's gonna go far I think.

We finished the evening in very upbeat spirits as the promise of time off became evident when Christopher asked who wanted tomorrow off. It's as if our bosses let out a sigh of relief this evening. We're not done by any stretch of the imagination but today was definitely a milestone mark. It was also a little sad. I mean, I've been over here since the middle of February thinking and living grapes. Now the end is in sight for this chapter. For the amount of effort and moreso mental anguish that went into getting to this point, today's finale felt pretty lackluster. I suppose I wanted everyone standing around the destemmer and tank and clapping and cheering as we added the last bin. But alas, it was much more muted. Maybe once all the whites are in tanks or barrels and all the ferments are in barrel for malo there'll be some hi-fives.

Well let's look at this way. I feel like I've crested a peak and can see the horizon differently. I know what I'll be doing for at least 6-8weeks this fall in Oregon; I'm to be working a harvest at Adelsheim Vineyard (adelsheim.com). But I've got so many ideas that I could pursue before during and after that I'll be doing a lot of filtering in the coming days, weeks, and months. "Where I wanna go? Where I wanna be?" Gotta run the experiment to find out.

I drove home through the Gorge trying to drive so I didn't hav'ta touch the brake pedal and listening to Bjork's Homogenic. Tomorrow should be a good day.

Peace fam. Stay frosty.

It may look like I'm holding two bunches of grapes here; one pinot gris and one riesling or chardonnay or pinot blanc, but these are in fact on the same vine. Take a look at the next picture.

I've seen this before more dramatically in some Bendigo pinot gris. There was one berry that was split down the middle green and brown. I ate them before I realized I should take a picture. I wanna call them a Griesling but upon thinking about it more, it's probably pinot blanc on the same plant as pinot gris. This makes much more sense than a natural mutation to riesling or chardonnay on the same plant as pinot gris.