Urgent Update – Norm Hardie Grape picking moved
In August we wrote a post called What a difference 30 hours can make which showed photos of how much Norman Hardies vineyard changed in 2 days. It has happened again – after releasing a request for harvest help with definitive dates yesterday, the orchard changed overnight. We have received an urgent plea this evening from Norman Hardie (go to out home page for an article and links on him within our site) – harvest has moved up a full week and starts this weekend. It`s very short notice – we`re not sure we can make it.
The message is below. We`d love people to consider circulating the message to others. If you do make it out to any of it, please let us know – if we`re there we`ll say hi and we are trying to track numbers to see if we could fill a bus and make a WellPreserved day of it next year!
It is starting to feel like harvest in Burgundy – pick before the rain. The weather looks as though it will rain later next week and we have some sunshine ahead of us on through till Tuesday. This means that we will have to move up our harvesting.
The great news is that I did a full cluster sampling this morning and we are north of 21.5 brix (better than 07) with fantastic phenolic ripeness, and the vineyard is botritis and disease free. We will begin harvesting on our own this Thursday, October 1st, and possibly Friday and Saturday (if the rain holds off). Sunday, October 4th is promising to be sunny along with Monday and Tuesday. If you can come and help any of these days we promise to feed you like kings and queens. This will be the first time we have ever harvested Pinot in Prince Edward Country before Niagara.
I am also looking for some hands to help on the sorting table in Niagara on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Any help down there would be grateful. Trying to coordinate two picks at the same time is also a first.
For those who committed to the 17th and 18th, all the Pinot would have been picked, however I think we will be picking my neighbours Cabernet Franc which we will be making this year for the first time since 2005.
Please email me at norm@normanhardie.com to let me know what days you can come. Bring warm clothes and lots of energy, kids are welcome. If you bring a dog please keep on a leash as the grapes make them very ill.
Cheers!
Norm
He is a heck of a guy and has inspiring talent and vision. Thanks all for considering – happy harvest!