After a year and a half of filing forms and going to hearings, we finally started construction of our own winery at the vineyard. It was barely finished by harvest, but we got to do our own crush. It was a bit chaotic, using equipment that we had never used before, while learning by trial and error. We were fortunate to have the guidance of Bob Foley, Pride Vineyards’ winemaker; we are humbled at how easy he makes it seem as we bumble through.
What a year to have a first crush! The grapes could not figure out the weather and we had to pick thirteen times to get the fruit to the degree of ripeness that we wanted! Because we had help, Jim & Barbara took their first formal vacation in fifteen years; the bad news is we had to let our helper go in December, so we are back to only us and Aussie – she is very bright, but has never learned to prune.