Harvester

The Sauvignon Blanc was machine-harvested today by someone from a nearby vineyard. The harvesting machine is quite impressive, looking like something from a science fiction movie. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me (for the usual reason that it's a bit dirty and sticky around the winery).

For the harvester to pick (or rather shake off) the grapes, the nets had to be removed. The bulk of the work was done by the tractor, with a net-pulling attachment, but a couple of people are needed to pull sticks out of the nets, and free them from anything they might be caught on, the most obnoxious protruberances being the clips that hold the wires in place (the wires hold the vines in place), and the ends of wire that stick out where two lengths are joined. Very slow work on some rows, but pretty quick when the nets are mostly free.



Some of the Sauvignon was dumped by the harvester directly into the press, and some into bins, through the crusher-destemmer, and then into the press.
The slimy green juice that flowed from the harvester's side-bins added to the alien-movie feel.

Damn sticky stuff, too. It smelled like cut grass and peppers. Green bell peppers, but also a good dose of spicy ones.

After all these toils, which lasted well into the evening, I stepped into a hot shower to wash away the sticky green and the debris which had shaken free of the nets. As I reached up to wash my hair, an excruciating spasm of pain shot through my wrist, where I found the stinger and empty poison sac of the dead bee which had apparently been put to rest in my hair. The last place I expected to get stung.