harvest has begun

I got to help my dad with the first harvest this last friday. I rode out into arroyo seco and met him on his way home from the vineyard. I hopped on the back of the truck and got paced back up the valley for a few miles. We went back to the ranch and set up to press the grapes. I was able to switch into autopilot when i had to set up all the hoses from my 10 years working alongside my dad. We had fun wrestling the bin dumper onto the forklift along with having to jerry rig some hoses. We started and after cooling off the drum i climbed up onto the hopper with a rake and pulled the grapes into the press. after the press cycle was finished we broke down the hoses and dumped the press, ending with me climbing up into the press to clean the airbag located on one side of the press and wash the inside. This is one of the messier jobs in the winery and one i have gotten pretty good at after cleaning out much larger presses multiple times a day at other wineries. After finishing this i ran up to to shower before dinner. I love this life in small doses.