The Trials of Job

Sometimes we feel like Job, who was sorely tested by God, us by Mother Nature. Well, we survived a tiny frost a few days ago, and we fought off the Asian lady beetles during the Cabernet Sauvignon pick. For those of you not familiar with these critters, they were brought in to control the aphids on soybeans, and soon exploded into a nasty population of their own. They stink. Two of them in a liter of wine are detectable. This will most probably be second label (River Village Cellars) wine, due to the cold wet summer. Only Syrah and Petit Verdot left. But rain is on the way. Will we pick it at all? Stay tuned!

For our newer readers, here is a picking sheet, which totals the pounds, average 26 pounds per bin. The ticks on the left are half pounds. Pickers are paid by the pound. We also have bonuses for terrible conditions, like last Wednesday when it was so wet and cold.

Here's the boys, and the girls, and Nancy:

Ron Barrett, Ron Hitt, Steve Pearce

Andrea, Britney, Amy, Cheryl, Gretchen, Megan and Judy who was really sick with a flu but trooper that she is came through.

Nancy

Your friendly wine blogger,

Nancy Bentley

Owner, Managing Partner, Kinkead Ridge

Comments

[Mike Duffy]

I take back all the things I've said about winery owners neglecting their Web sites.

Seriously, it's sobering to see the human effort that goes into producing wines that we get to enjoy at our table.

Nice post, Nancy.