Winemaking in Action

It's every available person to the vineyard and winery during the harvest. The winery suddenly becomes a maze of pipes and machinery as everyone strives to process the grapes as quickly as possible to ensure the highest quality wine. The quicker the grapes can be pressed and the juice filtered, the less chance there is for bad flavours to develop and taint the wine.

The teenage son of the winemaker transfers freshly pressed and filtered juice into a vat.

We visit small family run wineries, and all the family helps out -- picking, tractor driving, sorting, cleaning and monitoring equipment, making sure everything is running smoothly. When they are not in school, even the children are there, getting their grounding in the family business.

If you would like the chance to see a working winery up close, email us and ask us to design a tour for you in September or October. The harvest time varies slightly each year depending on the weather, but even at quieter times there is always something going on in the vineyard.