Harvest 2008!

First weekend of harvest is done! Super hot, tons of people, need more ice, very few tons of grapes.

First in order are the grazies: We had a big crew this year. I think we had 28 for dinner on Saturday night. Many, many, thanks to everyone who came up to pick: the Home Crew (Jesse, Val, Mica, Pomme, Chris, Iso, Lore, Amy, me, Matt); Steve, Mari and Sofie; Band Camp (thanks also for the fireside soundtrack); Team Omaha (all the way from Japan, via Nebraska - Tomoka, Adam, and Alex); and the reliable usual suspects: Nina, Dick & Joanne, and Donny B, who even brought his own crew even this year:Angela, Blake, and very tall Jackson. I think that's most of em. We appreciate everyone's hard work and hard play. It was a full and fun weekend.



We picked all the new zin in just two days and we were even finished picking on Sunday by 11 am. It is amazing how the big crew plows through like a plague of (really helpful) locust. (Is it plough or plow? Everything looks weird right now. I'm locked out of the house waiting in the laundry room and feeling deliriously tired. This is the only reason this posting is timely). After two bad frosts in April, the crop was at an all time low. We picked fewer than four tons of zin, which will likely turn into 250 cases. Yikes. The fruit looked great, though, so hopefully they will be 250 great cases!

This year is notable for the same reason that everything else lately has been notable: it is Isobel's first harvest. So, to celebrate her inaugural harvest, we stuck her in a grape box and stood around gawking. She didn't seem to be much of a fan of it, but we needed some good photos. I mean, we do have priorities around here. Welcome to the family, kid!

Two more weekends to go...