For those of you who cook Thanksgiving dinner, you may be able to relate to what I’m saying.  You plan and plan and cook and cook and everyone sits down and it’s over.  If you’re like us, you linger, and eat a little and drink a little and eat a little more.   But still, for all the preparation and time that goes into getting it on the table,  don’t you think that all-important holiday dinner should last at least all day and probably all night as well?

That’s how I feel about the grape harvest on our ranch.    From about January, when our crew comes in and prunes our pinot noir vines, we’re thinking about harvest.  We worry about frost and wind and heat through the winter and spring when the vines are blooming and the fruit is setting its clusters.  Frost can wither the tender shoots, impacting production, wind can blow the petals away before the flowers set, and heat can make them shrivel and shatter.  Then we worry about mildew and heat again all summer long.  Our foggy mornings and occasional rains can cause rot in the clusters and the heat can sunburn the fragile skins.  As harvest approaches, we start watching the fruit change color from green to vibrant purple and then the birds come.  So we net the vineyard and hope they weren’t too far ahead of us. 

Finally with the netting on and the grapes all purple, we wait.  And watch.  We’re waiting for the grape to reach maturity.  That moment in time when the seeds are crunchy and the pulp is perfectly sweet and acidic and the skins are still plump and shiny.  And then we get the call.  “Harvest tomorrow!”

They come the day before and unload the bright yellow picking bins, the tractor and forklift and the transport bins.  We take the kids down to watch and the excitement is palpable.  It’s coming, harvest!

Then the next morning at about 4am, when it’s still dark and cool and a little damp, we hear the tractor start to rumble and the lights go on.  We wake the kids and run outside to watch the first moments.  The pickers getting their knives and bins, the headlights from the tractor guiding them to the first vines.  And it starts. 

By the time we get up a few hours later, it’s virtually over.    The sun’s come up.  The vines are bare.  All that’s out there is our end row crop of grenache- sad and lonely and still half green.  The crew is on to the next site.  The transport truck is loaded and harvest is over. 

Oh well, at least I don’t have to wash the dishes.

Do you do that?  I do.  If I’m working on a yard project of just my annual “junk purge”, I schedule a party (yes, those of you who know me, knot that I’ll throw a party for just about any reason) and voila!  instant incentive to keep to a schedule.  Joe and I have been working for months now on the final “renovation project”, well, final in this round anyway, at Farmhouse.  The Spa and Carriage House.  We’ve converted an under utilized room adjacent to the spa building into a multi purpose room/salon.

About a month ago, I started to realize that this was one of those projects that could linger, half finished with loads of potential, into infinity.  So, when my good friend, Kathryn Sloan of Small Vines winery mentioned that she was having a hard time finding a venue for her annual release party, as they say “a light bulb went off” (I know, on).  So I suggested she use my awesome new Carriage House.  When I took her up to show her- and she looked around at the piles of debris (from our expansion/remodel earlier in the year), scratched walls and hideous curtains, I could hear her thinking “Great, Cath, thanks for the offer!”. 

But, to her credit, she took me up on it and it worked.  By this Saturday morning, we were painted, re furnished, paintings on the walls, candles lit and ready to welcome her guests.  Kathryn and Paul did us credit!  Their wines are fabulous and showed beautifully. Here’s Paul pouring his lovely pinot noir.

Small Vines Winemaker, Paul Sloan

our new Carriage House Salon

What fun!  Myra Hoefer (who did our Barn and all of our renovation) came in and worked her magic on this one too.  A long rustic farm table flanked by beautiful linen-draped chairs, a huge carriage-house lantern with lovely candles, slipper chairs and comfy arm chairs all work together to create an environment that is elegant yet casual and very welcoming.

This room has a great future at Farmhouse.  For the holidays this year, it will play home to our new, complimentary to Farmhouse guests, Artisan Crafting programs, Wine Tasting Classes with our MS, Geoff Kruth or Matt Stamp, Visiting Winemaker Series and much more.   We’ll also use it for small meetings, tiny weddings and we have some great Spa Day packages in the works.

So, take a look at our Holiday packages, I hope you’ll come visit and take advantage of our new space and all its offerings!