harvest at round mountain.

harvesting grapes is fun!  perhaps i should have been a farmer instead of a doctor...alas.  at least i get to play farmer for a couple of days every year.  this year was my father's first large harvest at his vineyard in the hill country (just outside of Austin, TX).  overall he produced about 9600 lbs of grapes, which at 150 gallons of wine per ton of grapes, will yield of about 300 bottles of wine.  not bad for a four-year old vineyard!  

this was the second half of the harvest.  two weeks ago they raided the vines for the tempranillo, and this week, we cleaned out the tinta cao and turiga nacional.  my aunt and uncle, five employees from another vineyard, and 12 adolescent boys that live next door joined my parents and me for harvest. we were a motley crew indeed!  after we pillaged the vines for their purple jewels in hundred degree humidity, we trucked them over to Spicewood Vineyard.  these were some of the only grapes to survive the weather this year in the hill country.  my dad sells his grapes to Spicewood, who makes excellent wines.  i like their cabernet claret and the reisling the best.  you can check them out by clicking here. 

destemming and crushing the grapes was a bit different than the episode of i love lucy where she stomps the grapes with her feet, but not much...i shoveled some of the grapes into the destemming machine and dad mixed dry ice into the crushed melange of juice, skins, enzymes, and tannins.  it was a really neat process to be a part of and especially satisfying to know that these fruits were hanging on the vines only hours ago.  (i am employing strong self-restraint to avoid using terms like 'fruits of my labor' and 'labor of love.' please appreciate the will-power this requires.)

after wrapping up harvest yesterday and celebrating the rain that briefly kissed the drought-stricken earth, we did a bit of land maintenance this morning.  the most important part of this was my tractor driving!  seriously, have you ever driven a tractor?  it is awesome!  just because you can walk faster than the tractor can drive doesn't lessen the power of having a giant machine under your control.  you can lift heavy things, mow large areas, scare animals, and guzzle gas all at the same time.  why you ask?  well i think that any small boy will share my excitement about tractors.  just count the number of children's books about tractors and large machinery.  they connect with something deep in the psyche and remind us both of our power and our insignificance.  tractors are like earthly representations of powerful spirits that connect us with our concept of god.  (well maybe not that last part, but tractors are cool!)

to check out more pictures of the harvest at round mountain vineyard, most importantly of me on a tractor, click on photos.

Salute!