Sunday, November 13, 2011

Matson Vineyards "Crush" - Redding CA

This was my first "Crush" with the local winery, Matson Vineyards & I had an absolute wonderful time. I apologize for not remembering what kind of grapes they were harvesting (or the names to any of the equipment used, except for maybe the basket they put the grapes in, but that's probably not what it's called either) & a huge THANK YOU!! goes out to Lynette (she runs the Tasting Room), for the attempt in explaining everything to me. Please don't ask me to repeat what she said.... & that's my memory without a drink, scary huh. It used to be like "a steel trap", getting old stinks.
The first part of the crush was harvesting the grapes. I had a blast wandering around, finding different vines to photograph. This local off site harvesting location had very pretty grounds. BTW, these photos were taken Oct 2.
Just a few more people that came to help that day. It was a pretty good turn out with helpers.
I LOVE these next 3 images, the light was beautiful, especially the last of the 3. Click on one of these photos to view them larger, love Googles new display.
See, pretty huh? Alright, so you didn't actually get to see very much of the grounds, but that's not why I was there. It was all about the grapes, getting them picked & crushed...& without the use of feet. 1 member was pretty sad when he heard they don't do it like that anymore, he joined in & helped out anyways, ha ha. That guy totally cracked me up. When we got back to Matson, we were all rewarded with jambalaya, green salad & french bread. Mmmmm.
Continuing on, the next part of the crush was separating the grapes from the stems with this machine...
...that literally spits the stems out, so you better stand back if you're wearing nice shoes.
Then they add something to them before they go to the squisher (not sure what kind of oatsy stuff it was, I will be updating what it is, as soon as I know for sure), cut me some slack on my terms & lingo, just kinda keeping it simple.
The mixture gets sucked through a hose then goes into the squisher.
You can see all the grape juice seep through the cracks. At the bottom was a spout collecting all the juices produced by the squisher. Everybody kept filling their glasses & enjoying the sweet treat as if it were coming from a fresh spring, mmmmm, fresh grape juice.
Lid, we don't need no stinkin' lid.....
It's the makings of pure wine yumminess! And the process has only just begun, I can't wait to see what a few years (or however long it takes) will bring to Matson Vineyards from this crop. Thank you again to Matson Vineyards for letting me take photos of this unique event. If you're interested in volunteering for a crush (such as this), trying their tasting room or more details about becoming a new member (it's totally affordable if you love wine & love buying local merchandise), contact Lynette @ Matson Vineyards (530)222-2833.
I hope to keep going back for more photos & continuing the search for the right wine for me. I don't drink it that often but I love learning more about how it's processed (as long as it's baby steps from now on, ha ha), giving it as gifts to friends & the pleasures of sampling, without the pressures of buying. Yep, can't wait to go back. Happy harvest Matson & Happy Birthday to my sisters Vicki & Gloria (yes, they're twins)!! Vicki pours in the Tasting Room, so please give her a bad time for me & tell her Hi. Thanks!

1 comment:

Amanda Pruett said...

This looks so fun! I would love to take photos at a winery!!! My fav out of these is #16, photo of the grapes in the buckets... I love the way the light looks on them, Beautiful! I also love that you don't know the proper names lol If you had said the correct name instead of "squisher" I wouldn't have known what it does. ;) Great photos. I always look forward to new blogs from you!

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