Picking and Crushing equals strong/sore backs!

We are now in the eye of the storm when it comes to harvest and things couldn't look better. While many growers in Sonoma County have had low harvests, most of our vineyard and our partners vineyards are looking really good. We have been bringing in tons of Malbec, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon and while we have done a lot, we still have a whole lot more work and fun ahead of us. Here you can see Peter and Betsy out in the vineyard making sure the Merlot is ripe, so our awesome picking crew can bring home the fruit. Once Peter, the mad trucker, drives the fruit in half ton picking containers up our 9 foot wide driveway through the mountains, the fun begins. Andrew, Peter, and Jim pitchfork the grapes through our crusher/destemmer fueled on awesome sandwiches from Betsy while Betsy checks fermentations, does punchdowns, and keeps the must moving along towards greatness. As you can see from our pictures, Creating Creative Juices isn't easy!