Harvest 2018 Photo Album - Troon Vineyard in Oregon's Applegate Valley
Mother Nature was very kind to us in 2018. Rain and cool weather are things you expect during harvest in Oregon, but not this year! All during harvest we were given warm, dry weather under beautiful blue skies. This perfect weather meant we could harvest each variety at the ideal moment. There was no pressure from the weather so our pace was almost leisurely compared to a normal vintage. It was a harvest to remember as will the wines!
Picking tinta roriz, this is our last vintage of this variety as these vines will be pulled and replanted next year.
Picking starts at dawn with the vines still in the shade of the Siskiyou Mountains, which are already brightly illuminated.
Some picure-perfect vermentino.
Banele and Jesus picking malbec as dawn breaks.
The Applegate Valley during harvest.
In a biodynamic vineyard, the leaves are fully turned color and falling off when it is time to pick the fruit. This is the natural cycle of a vine.
Vineyard manager Adan Cortes bundled up against the morning cold as he harvests vermentino.
Associate winemaker and biodynamic team leader Nate Wall fills cow horns to make biodynamic preparation 500. They will buried until next spring. Making BD 500 is something you do during harvest in the fall.
Banele, our harvest intern from South Africa, places the filled cow horns in pit to be buried until next spring. The BD 500 they will produce will be sprayed on our vineyards.
Grape pomace, fresh from the press, is added to our compost pile. All the leftovers from harvest are added to our biodynamic compost piles and returned to the vineyard.