I popped home last weekend to attend a family friend’s 60th birthday party (more to come on that).  I was lucky enough to coincide with the height of harvest.  There’s nothing better than driving up and down the valley, the smell of fresh grape must in the air, trailers hauling grapes everywhere you look.  

My brother picked me up and we drove straight to the winery to taste through the first ferments.  Quick science lesson; during fermentation the yeast (typically found naturally on grape skins but also sometimes added to the grapes) converts the sugar into alcohol.  These grapes had just been brought in within days so they hadn’t fully gone through the process, and thus tasted mostly like grape juice, but they were delicious!  Bright fruit, refreshing, hopefully indicative of the wine that is to come!

We tasted through Cab, Merlot, and Chardonnay, all harvested and processed within the past week.  I just love going home 🙂