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October 2010 saw Barford Farm’s first grape harvest. A close eye had been kept on the weather for some weeks, until a brief respite from the rain sent us scampering into the vineyard, complete with secateurs and baskets. Bunches of grapes were carefully snipped from the vines and laid into the baskets, which were then ferried, on a fairly frequent basis, to the house where the next process was to take place.
Having placed the grapes carefully into the crusher, and removed as many ladybirds from their place of hibernation as possible, the handle was turned and the grapes duly crushed, so breaking their skins and enabling the juices to flow. The sun now shining, it was decided to complete the next process outside in the fresh air.
Now crushed, the juicy grape pulp was transferred into a small press. Now came the arduous task of manually winding down the press, so relieving the grape pulp of its sweetly scented, and somewhat sticky, juices. Catching the constant trickle in buckets, sterilized beforehand of course, proved quite a feat, as one bucket quickly filled only to be replaced by another, whilst trying not to lose a drop!
The next stage saw the transfer of juice into the stainless steel fermenting tank, accompanied by a carefully measured amount of yeast and sugar. After about four weeks, the liquid was siphoned into containers and finings then added to help clarify the wine.
The result of all our labours is a sweetly scented wine with an alchohol content of 12%. It has been bottled and a few already sampled at Christmas!
Spring 2011 will bring the next stage of pruning and training of the vines ready for their next crop - and resultant elixir.
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