The Zin Pick-Up

It was a chilly, overcast day as Steve and I drove out to the Shenandoah Valley (Amador County, CA) to pick up the Zin grapes on Saturday. Perfect weather for hauling grapes! As we got closer, the beauty of the region came to light. Acres of head-pruned old vines dotted with Tuscan style homes greeted us at every turn.

Pulling up to our grower, we saw that he had most of the grapes already picked, and our only job was dumping his picking bins into our garbage cans (don't worry - they're food grade) for hauling back to Steve's house. Well, that and sampling the grower's wine! As the cork popped out of the grower's 2007 Zin at 10:00 in the morning, I couldn't help of but appreciate how much fun it is to make wine!

Although his harvest wasn't as bountiful as he predicted, we were happy with the quality of the grapes. With our fleeces zipped up and the AC cranked, we made our way out of wine country, and back to the Steve's garage to ready the grapes for the cold soak.