Harvesting 2010 Cabernet Franc

Here we are picking inspecting and crushing/destemming our 2010 crop of Cabernet Franc grapes. We got help from everyone in the neighborhood and the grapes were exceptionally sweet which means next years wines should be great. These pictures show, from left to right, a basket of the Cab Franc grapes before going into the crusher/destemmer. Rick, Jody's brother, inspecting the grapes as they go into the hopper of the new crusher destemmer. And Chris and Dad (Cleon) inspecting clusters while everyone else does the heavy lifting. It is very labor intensive work but nobody seems to notice because the work is fun and there is always something to talk about. Our harvest was extremely early this year and that means a lot of very ripe, sweet grapes which means another excellent year of wines at Cassel Vineyards of Hershey.