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Well, we are under way with another harvest. I have been working for several years with different wine makers in the Willamette Valley, and this year will be helping with both Sineann and Winderlea wines. It looks like another great vintage is rolling in with weather cooperating nicely, and a beautiful, sunny week ahead to get most of the fruit picked and processed at the wineries.

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Harvest is often referred to as Crush in the argot of wine folk, and the double meaning of the name becomes obvious when you have days like yesterday at Sineann where we ran 10-12 tons of Merlot from Hillside Vineyard in the Columbia Gorge, and another 12 tons of Pinot Noir from Kevin and Carla Chamber’s  Resonance vineyard in Carlton.

Dinner was at 8:00 and we finished washing the line and headed home around midnight.   Speaking of dinner, Peter Rosback goes to extremes to make sure that the crew eats well during harvest.

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Last night’s dinner, prepared by Chef Dante Leonardi, was torch seared Toro tuna followed by lamb-sicles, fresh, roasted beet and cabbage salad, and a great selection of wines from the various wine makers involved with the winery.  I am looking forward to the next few weeks of long days, good friends, and great food and wine.