We have fruit!!!

So I haven't posted anything new in the last week because we didn't have a lot going on.
We did punch-downs...


and ran numbers to check brix levels and pH...

on the few bins we had but that was about it.

Then, this Tuesday, harvest really hit at A.P. Vin! Andrew and Tim started their day at 3am with a drive up to Sonoma Coast to pick up fruit from Kanzler Vineyards while I was tasked with getting the winery ready for crushing the fruit. I arrived at 7am and had to clean bins, take in a dry ice order, and get things in order.
Andrew and Tim arrived back at the winery around 10:30am with approx 4 tons of fruit. We ran through them relatively quickly...finishing up around 6pm. Then...we waited.
We had been told around 10am that morning that a shipment of fruit was coming up from another one of our vineyards, Ontiveros Vineyard from Central Coast (Santa Marina Valley), and it should arrive around 8pm. So, we cleaned up a bit to prepare for the fruit then ordered some dinner while we waited...and waited...and waited. Since we had all been up from the wee-hours of the morning we were all dragging. We finally got a call around 10:30pm that the fruit was near. At about 10:45pm the fruit was here! We were so excited to get it in we plowed right through it (fortunately for us it was only 3 bins...just over a ton.) So now were cookin'!
Here's a picture of the bins of must we have so far.

We were supposed to have more fruit coming in this weekend but the forecast is for rain so we may be delayed until early next week. Which, will ultimately lead to more long days.

Thursday however, we pressed! We had two bins from Keefer Vineyards that had be picked prior to all other so it's progress was about a week ahead of all of the other bins. We prepped (read "cleaned") all the equipment, the press machine, pump, bins, barrels then started the process.

The free-run juice was put right into the barrrels then we dumped the rest of the must into the hopper of the press. My job was to help align the bin and then to scrape out every little bit from the bin into the hopper.




First-press juice

I couldn't believe how dry the final product was. This is the "pumace". The dried skins, seeds, and stems that remain after the juice is completely pressed out. The pumace is often used as fertilizer in vineyards...completing the circle of life if you will.

(notice the hat...gettin' dirty!)
:)

The whole process took about an hour and a half, then it was time to clean and, the best way to clean the inside of the press, is from the inside.

Andrew...going in!


He says I'll get my turn soon...I'll let you know how that goes!


If you don't get drenched when cleaning the press...you haven't cleaned it!

So today, Friday, we baby the bins we have "cookin'" and prep for more fruit.