One More Try (Picking this Saturday, Oct.1)

We are going to cross our fingers and hope that this weekend's weather is more cooperative than it was last weekend. After suffering through 2 more inches of rain on Friday, which brought our Sept. and Annual totals to all-time records for rainfall, we decided to let the Vidal Blanc hang for another week. We are hopeing that the extra week of maturity and sunshine? will help to increase the sugars and

Vidal and Chambourcin Picking this Sat.

It looks like the fair weather is going to make it possible to pick our Vidal Blanc and Chambourcin grapes this Sat. and Sunday October 24 and 25th. We will begin picking at 9 AM and take a lunch break at noon before changing varieties and picking the Chambourcin in the afternoon. Hopefully, the crushing, destemming and pressing will go well and we can keep rolling right along through Sunday and have everything in stainless steel fermentors by Sunday night. Anyone who wishes to join in the harvest festivities can call or stop by the winery on Sat. It promises to be an eventful day!!! Let's hope the sun shines and the harvest is abundant.

The Struggle Between Rainstorms

It has been a week for the record books. Hershey/Hummelstown was the center of one of the worst storms ever experienced in Southcentral Pennsylvania. The rain from Hurricane Katia and Tropical Storm Lee met dead center over our hometown and vineyards this past week. The rain caused record flooding and destroyed millions of dollars in property as the Manada, Swatara and Susquehanna Rivers all reached record flood stages not seen in 40 years. We were fortunate in the respect that we only had a foot of rain in and around the farm. Our grapes were ready to pick last week when the rain began. Unfortunately for us the rain caused the Concord grapes to begin to take on a huge amount of water as they swelled up and began to split. Fortunately for us we had several days and lots of help. In the end all of the grapes are picked, crushed, pressed and into the primary fermentation . Next up will be the Vidal Blanc. Hopefully, there will not be a storm that complicates that weekend of picking. We are fortunate that it all ended as well as it did.

Harvest Time

Well, it looks like things may dry out for the weekend (September 10-11, 2011) and we are ready to begin harvesting this year's crop. If anyone is looking for a something to do and doesn't mind picking grapes, you are invited to join us on Sat. at 8-9:00 AM. we have to pick our first acre of Concord and expect 3-4 tons of fruit so it will require some time and effort. Hopefully, everything will go as planned and we will be done picking and ready to crush and de-stem by