We're excited to announce the debut harvest using the Big Blue mechanical Braud Harvester. We began the 2017 today with the Marquette grapes as planned. Austin (driving, vineyard owner) says It's a steep learning curve to use the machine but the machine is picking at 95% and leaving VERY little MOT (material other than grapes) in the bins. This makes our customers very happy.
Preparing for harvest... in March
We are already thinking about harvest time before even one grape has been seen in the vineyard this year. In order for the 2017 harvest to be the best harvest yet, we have purchased a Braud mechanical harvester (that ominous blue machine in background!) and a trailer. Pictured here, Austin (Vineyard owner) gives his granddaughter Eleora a ride on the trailer using the hydraulic lift. This new equipment will afford us the opportunity to get the freshest grapes possible to wineries quickly. The harvester is capable of gathering an acre's worth of grapes in 45 minutes and the trailer has the capacity to haul 5 tons of grapes at once. We're about 6 months away, but I can almost taste the grapes now!
It's hard to tell who is having more fun in this photo!