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When
the grapes are near the peak of ripeness, we
work with the wineries to set dates for harvest.
The wineries deliver piles of macrobins, sturdy
four-foot plastic cubes to hold the harvest clusters.
On the chosen harvest days, Eric’s crew arrives
before dawn. Carrying tiny, sickle-shaped knives
and small plastic tubs, they fan out into vineyard.
Working up and down the rows designated for picking,
the crew fills their tubs with grape clusters
sliced from the canes.
This picking action, while taking place at high
speed, is quite selective. Only fully ripe clusters
are picked. Clusters containing unripe berries
and clusters damaged by raccoons or turkeys are
left on the vines.
When their tubs get full, the crew carries them
to the waiting macrobin trailered behind the vineyard
tractor. When the macrobins are full, the tractor
carries them down to our staging area by the mini-barn.
A fork lift stacks the filled macrobins, and later
loads them on a truck for transportation to the
winery.
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