Helped my friends out at Black Mesa Winery about 30 miles North of me yesterday. They had just gotten in 10 Tons of Cabernet Sauvignon that morning from down South in Deming. Grapes were brought up in a refrigerated truck and were still very cold. Hard work for sure but I loved every minute of it.
I learned a lot about how a commercial operation works and the owner was very open about what was being added to the must and why. I was up top pulling leaves out and pushing grapes into the crusher. I was pretty covered in sticky grape juice by the end of the day but it washes off pretty easily. It was a nice cool crisp Fall like day with a gentle breeze and the crush pad has a brand new cover to keep us (and the grapes) out of the sun.
In return a hearty lunch spread was supplied for all as well as my choice of a bottle of wine from the tasting room and.......... an invite to come back in a couple of weeks to help harvest/crush their estate grown Merlot and take home enough grapes to fill a 20G Brute!
These grapes have much better chemistry since they are grown further North at altitude with much cooler weather than down South (only 85-90's high temps vs 100+ temps).
I learned a lot about how a commercial operation works and the owner was very open about what was being added to the must and why. I was up top pulling leaves out and pushing grapes into the crusher. I was pretty covered in sticky grape juice by the end of the day but it washes off pretty easily. It was a nice cool crisp Fall like day with a gentle breeze and the crush pad has a brand new cover to keep us (and the grapes) out of the sun.
In return a hearty lunch spread was supplied for all as well as my choice of a bottle of wine from the tasting room and.......... an invite to come back in a couple of weeks to help harvest/crush their estate grown Merlot and take home enough grapes to fill a 20G Brute!
These grapes have much better chemistry since they are grown further North at altitude with much cooler weather than down South (only 85-90's high temps vs 100+ temps).
![[Upgraded] 9Pcs Tree Root Growing Box with Drain Holes, Half Transparent Plant Rooting Propagation Ball & Metal Core Twist Ties, for Fast Propagation Plants (Size M)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514MWQxtWOL._SL500_.jpg)
