_____Let's follow the "Fun & Yummy White" through the 2000 harvest. This wine will be ready to bottle the first week of December, and it will be available to purchase in time for Christmas. All the equipment is ready - new tanks, a new crusher / destemmer, new pumps & snack food in the fridge. _____Since we bought a more powerful crusher / destemmer, we had local blacksmith, Al, construct a better, bigger hopper. You can see the crew positioning the hopper in the frame. As a result of all this newfangled efficiency, we might not have as many "pizza nights" this year. That's when we know we're going to work past 6:00 P.M. and we order a couple pies from a great place down in Plymouth. LEFT: Prior to picking, a random sample of Chenin Blanc is taken to determine its percent sugar (brix). RIGHT: The view inside a refractometer - the device that measures sugar content. Looks like 25%... The crew picks the vineyard by hand beginning at sunrise -- the grapes are best picked before they warm up with the sun's heat -- plus it's easier on us to work when it's cooler! LEFT: A bin of Chenin Blanc grapes gets weighed (about half a ton) and then dumped into the hopper. To retain more flavor, the grapes are crushed as soon as possible after they are picked. RIGHT: Jim pitchin' the stems as they're thrown from our crusher / destemmer. The pulp, skin & seeds are separated by a series of augers and a rotating cage inside the c/d. The broken-up grapes get pumped into the bladder press. Twenty tons of grapes fit inside the bladder press. Grapes fall in between the canister and bladder that inflates and deflates over a three hour period. Dry husks and seeds fall out of the canister at the end of the pressing cycle and are dumped into bins. The remains are high in nutrients - animals eat some and the rest degrades. A view from the (bouncing) driver's seat while spreading it out. Last stop -- the sample valve! And here's where we run into one of the inherent problems with the internet. You can see the "Fun & Yummy White" but you can't taste it! This juice you see undergoes various filtrations and other processes to ready it for bottling in about 1 1/2 month's time. Click here to get a virtual taste of the fun & yummy! (Ooops! Don't spill it!) Click here now to fill up your glass and try again! Order - Wine - Library - Art - Framing - Events - Tour - Map/Hours - Grapes - Bulk Wine - Español Charles Spinetta Winery, Spinetta Family Vineyards, Zinetta, and the CSW Logo are registered trademarks of Charles J. Spinetta. Unless otherwise specified, all images and copy contained within the charlesspinettawinery.com domain are Copyright 1984-2012 Charles J. Spinetta. All rights reserved. Charles Spinetta Winery and Wildlife Art Gallery 12557 Steiner Road, Plymouth, California 95669, USA, telephone: (209) 245-3384, facsimile: (209) 245-3386