It was still dark when we brewed the coffee, chomped down breakfast burritos and hurried the kids out the door. For the 6th year in a row, we were invited to help our friends with their harvest and crush at the Moore Family Winery. I’ve know the Moore’s (aunts, uncles, cousins, Grammy, Ya-Ya’s) for just about as long as I can remember, they are the kind of family that you instantly feel part of. The winery and vineyard sit on a ridge at 3,000 ft elevation, with sweeping views of Cobb and the surrounding mountains. A perfect way to spend a Sunday in October.
Our walk through the Syrah block to get to the caves and crush pad.
The cabernet vines were loaded with juicy clusters. The pickers harvested 5 tons of grapes today (that’s 10 macro bins!).
The Moore’s upgraded this year with some new equipment. Its time and labor intensive, good thing they have so many friends! The grapes are being scooped out of the macro bin and into the giant hopper, which eventually leads to the de-stemmer.
These two “besties” are inspecting the clusters as they go by on a conveyor belt, pulling out bugs, spiders, raisons and other undesirables before they go through the de-stemmer.
The shaking sorting table is the last chance to pull out the rogue stems and “jacks” that have made it through the de-stemmer. All this new equipment takes a lot of hands to run, but the result is a bin full of pure berries. Stems and seeds produce tannins in the wine, so we are very excited to see how this new technique will improve the final product.
Yes, we pulled out every last little, tiny stem!
And did I mention the grape infused mud-pies? The Moore Family Winery has an impressive, newly expanded, system of wine caves and tunnels, where the grape-weary kids spent the afternoon entertaining themselves.
It was a gorgeous day of family hugs, old friends laughing, kids running, and even the dogs helping out. Everyone working together to make something beautiful. We’ve been a part of the Moore’s crush for the past 6 years, since I was pregnant with my daughter, and I feel honored and privileged that my family gets to share in the experience. We came home sticky, muddy and tired… and thoroughly fulfilled.
