One of Our Little Side Trips ...
PHOTO HUNT is below this post!
Traveling up to Keuka Park on Wednesday, we passed a LOT of beautiful scenery. It's all wine country up there, with rolling hills and of course the lake (Keuka Lake) which the college sits on. It's all just gorgeous. So Dennis and I decided that once Krys was settled ... or sooner ... we would head out and explore a little! We decided to hit one of the wineries. The one we went to was Hunt Country Vineyards.
First we went into the tasting room, and I tried 5 different kinds. A couple of reds, and a few whites. ONE of the whites (Late Harvest Vignoles 2005) should be sold in a soda bottle! It is sold as an after dinner wine -- but honestly - it would rot your teeth! I was glad I was only given a wee sip! The reds were a little too spicy for my taste... and a little too dry. But the other whites I tried were pretty good. I bought a bottle of Vignoles 2006 - a pretty little blue number! LOL! It calls itself fuity and spicy -- but it's mORe fruity - less spicy and I liked it! It's not open yet. I might just save it!After my tasting adventure (Dennis doesn't taste - he's all about beer!) we asked for the grand tour! It started here...
... with the grape harvester! Whoooa! Now THAT's a tractor! (if you're into that kinda thing... which Dennis is!) I forget how many grapes or pounds or bushels or whatever it does a day - but it's a LOT! It picks 'em, sorts 'em, spits out the leaves and the stems and tosses the grapes into that "little" box on the side! When the box gets full they cart it away and put on an empty and get on with the program! I knew when I saw the tractor that this was a much larger operation than our little winery up the street!
I should have known it when we pulled into the driveway and I saw the miles and miles and miles of rows of grapes! Honestly! They are grapes for as far as the eye can see! And at the beginning of each row is a rose bush. Why do ya suppose that is? Well... I'll tell ya! It's because roses are so susceptible to blights and molds and such! Blights and molds can wreak disaster in the wine business - so they plant a rose at the beginning of each row, and if the rose starts to ail, they get right in there and take care of that row of grapes!!! OUCH! Did ya feel that new wrinkle in your brain?
This is the grape's next stop. Grape and all his buddies get tossed into the machine through a hopper, and this one smooshes 'em up, grinds 'em up -- the red ones get the skin and everything ground down to nothing - the white ones leave the skins and seeds behind. (it's actually the skin from the red grapes that gives red wine it's color!) From here the grapes (which are now just juice) go....
... here for the 1st filtration process ... which gets all the seeds, skins (white wine), and any left over yuk that might have managed to get tossed in from the field... (adds flavor!)
Then here for fermentation.From here the wine (it IS now wine) goes through about g'billion filtrations - really - you can't even begin to imagine how many times this stuff gets filtered! It's crazy! NASA thinks they invented micro-filtration -- but I'm pretty sure some vineyard did - LONG ago! So... after it's well filtered it then goes ...
... into the oak barrels to sit and rest
and get goooood! And when it IS good...
... it goes to the bottling room! They weren't actually bottling anything when we were there - they had just bottled the day before and so it was going through major cleaning and a few little repairs this day - but this very nice gentleman was more than happy to stop what he was doing and show Dennis and I the whole process anyway! (sans wine) And I'm going to share with y'all a little secret he told us! Screw on tops and synthetic corks are BETTER for you and for the wine than real corks! And they are cheaper too! But the consumer's are snobs and think if their wine doesn't have a REAL cork then it's CHEAP wine! LOL! I just LOVE knowing that fact! The real corks actually cost the vineyard about 50 cents each! That's crazy! (and you know by the time they get to US they are costing at least a dollar of the price of that bottle of wine!) And the corks can actually SPOIL a bottle of perfectly good wine, because they sometimes carry their own fungus - that then gets passed into the wine while it's sitting on the shelf. Sad... but true.
So, from the bottling room it gets put straight off the
the conveyor belt into the box -- which goes into the
storehouse until it's ready to be shipped to the
retailer.
And there you have it!
The Life of a Grape In Wine Country.
I think I'll save the rest of our trip for tomorrow...
this turned out to be more than I thought it was!!!
... into the oak barrels to sit and restand get goooood! And when it IS good...
... it goes to the bottling room! They weren't actually bottling anything when we were there - they had just bottled the day before and so it was going through major cleaning and a few little repairs this day - but this very nice gentleman was more than happy to stop what he was doing and show Dennis and I the whole process anyway! (sans wine) And I'm going to share with y'all a little secret he told us! Screw on tops and synthetic corks are BETTER for you and for the wine than real corks! And they are cheaper too! But the consumer's are snobs and think if their wine doesn't have a REAL cork then it's CHEAP wine! LOL! I just LOVE knowing that fact! The real corks actually cost the vineyard about 50 cents each! That's crazy! (and you know by the time they get to US they are costing at least a dollar of the price of that bottle of wine!) And the corks can actually SPOIL a bottle of perfectly good wine, because they sometimes carry their own fungus - that then gets passed into the wine while it's sitting on the shelf. Sad... but true.
So, from the bottling room it gets put straight off thethe conveyor belt into the box -- which goes into the
storehouse until it's ready to be shipped to the
retailer.
And there you have it!The Life of a Grape In Wine Country.
I think I'll save the rest of our trip for tomorrow...
this turned out to be more than I thought it was!!!
posted by Melli at
2:05 AM
21 comment(s):
Great story Melli! Wine tours are so much fun, and the Finger Lakes have so many wineries. The tours are a lot of fun. I don't drink, so I usually give all my samples to the hubby.
By
Unknown, at
8/25/2007 7:23 AM
How fun!
Love that last picture! You are so funny!!
xo
LBC
By
Ladybug Crossing, at
8/25/2007 7:24 AM
Hi Melli, Your trip to the wine cellar looks like fun.I like red wine if it is on the sweet side..What fancy dress and hairdo you have!!!!!
I visited a winery once, outside of Atlanta,Ga. and most of the wines were too strong for me.I hate dry wine..Have fun this week-end. Baba
By
Baba, at
8/25/2007 7:25 AM
I do not drink but fun to see the fun that you two had..especially that last picture!! smile...Sandy...and OH that is a great picture for today's Picture HUNT..perfect in fact.../
By
Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess, at
8/25/2007 7:49 AM
woo hoo!!
Look at those sexy legs... :-)
I'm actually allergic to wine - well the cleaning stuff they use on the vats - and it makes me violently ill.
But I do love fruit wines. I have found a producer of organic, vegetarian fruit wine which is DELICIOUS! :-)
Hey Melli, glad to see you and Dennis had such a great trip.
cq
By
craziequeen, at
8/25/2007 8:16 AM
Awwww...and aren't you two so cute??? I love your pics. The only winery I've ever visited was in Asheville and I loved it. I love the tasting part! It's a good way to sample tastes without wasting an entire bottle.
Very fun.
:-) Susan
By
Susan, at
8/25/2007 8:49 AM
A fascinating tour Melli...And so very interesting....O had never heard about the Rose Bush...What a smart idea that is! And the corks....I never heard that before either...Very Very interesting and the pictures are wonderful, too...! Thanks for the tour and all the info about the making of wine.
By
OldLady Of The Hills, at
8/25/2007 9:35 AM
I am shocked ! You play the intellectual dame studying wineries and tasting wine and in reality it just was to get free booze, lol ! I have seen this many times of course in Italy ! Mr. Gattino's uncle had a factory of Grappa up to 45° or more and I can tell you when I visited it first I was drunken only from the smell !
Your Gretchen costume suits you very well, I like your long blond hair and your unshaved legs ! And Dennis is not bad either in his bavarian costume !
By
Ingrid, at
8/25/2007 11:08 AM
I LOVE the last one!! Oh golly, that's a hoot. Sounds like a really fun time had by the both of you....
I made you something...drop by again, when you can!! [drop by my blog, that is]
By
Hootin Anni, at
8/25/2007 12:25 PM
Oh golly....I just saw the photo again...you need a shave or a wax girl!!!!
By
Hootin Anni, at
8/25/2007 12:26 PM
Wonderful trip in the winery! Almost like a cyber cruise post.... Hm...
I'll add it as a Lifecruiser tips in the end of my post right now!
By
Anonymous, at
8/25/2007 2:47 PM
Ummmmmmm, if it were grape juice wouldn't it be coloring the entire leg? Nah!! I see little purple curly-q's, like purple hair. ROFLMAO
Glad you like your little surprise.
By
Hootin Anni, at
8/25/2007 3:46 PM
I LOVED that last picture! (That reminds me...need to go shave my legs!) Love you! :)
By
Jennifer, at
8/25/2007 4:10 PM
Oh, what a great trip, Melli!!!! it sounds like so much fun. I knew about the roses, though. Yup, I come from Chile, a wine country :)
can't wait for the rest!
By
MaR, at
8/25/2007 4:11 PM
Wow, looks like a "happy trip" if the last picture is any indication. Looks like you were stomping the grapes to help out. btw....you look good with big hair!
By
Lazy Daisy, at
8/25/2007 4:13 PM
It reminds me of the film Sideways lol.
Hope you are having a great weekend!
By
WendyWings, at
8/25/2007 4:15 PM
What fun. And I do have a couple of new wrinkles in my brain. Thanks.
By
Charlene Amsden, at
8/25/2007 4:43 PM
Really interesting, and fun too. It's hard to tell, but it looks to me from the pictures as though the vines are grown higher and further apart than in France. And you would rarely see the land grassed in between the rows. But we do sometimes have the rose bushes.
By
A., at
8/26/2007 5:19 AM
what a lovely guided tour in your Winery - lovely pics and a great read - thanks for sharing!
As we don't have any in Norway, its a long time since I've seen one. Think last time actually was in Australia 10 years ago:-(
What a lovely picture in the end - your looking sooooo sexy:-)
By
Anonymous, at
8/26/2007 10:50 AM
thanks to share with us a very interesting post! As a french woman you understand how much I'm sensible to the subject: wine!!!
I'd like to be with you to taste all!
By
Anonymous, at
8/26/2007 5:18 PM
It's amazing to realize how the wine industry has changed in a very few years - from hand picking and footstepping - to days all mechanics and steel tanks and screw corks. I prefer the screw, as they are very practical when you store the rest in your bottle back into the fridge. And much easier to open - LOL.
A great reportage with wonderful pictures and an excellent finale.
By
TorAa, at
8/27/2007 5:18 PM
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