by Michele Slott

I got the pleasure of visiting Lewis & Clark Vineyard near Yankton this past weekend to shoot photos and video. Greg Stach was a proud papa, showing off the grapes he raises.

The nets cover all of the grapevines that still have maturing fruit. As Greg explained to me, small birds like robins, can be a real problem, making one little peck in each berry of the grape cluster, which can ruin the fruit for wine. Measures must be taken… Thus the nets. Turkeys for the most part, are a blessing — keeping the grasshopper population down. Although, true to their name, they can be “turkeys,” working together to get under the nets and get at any grapes hanging low enough to jump up, reach and eat. They eat the whole berry, though, without damaging what remains behind.

The nets are difficult to move, and come harvest time, Greg is ready to do some uncomfortable, if not necessarily heavy lifting, for HOURS at a time — as he lifts nets to allow picking of the grapes underneath.

“I do yoga and lots of stretching,” he says, to keep in shape for harvest.

The folks doing the picking tell him to “go faster” as he works his way down the row with his arms above his head holding the nets on either side.

A shot of a Frontenac grape cluster at Lewis & Clark Vineyard.

Not quite ready for wine yet, these Frontenac grapes get a closer look from Greg.

by Sandi Vojta- Winemaker

The 2008 St. Pepin and St. Croix grapes are now harvested and being processed this morning.  Greg and Murial Stach from Lewis and Clark Vineyard have converted the vines to the Geneva Double Curtain trellising system.  It has resulted in the grape bunch sizes being much larger this year.  Juice samples will be taken, run through various tests in the lab and fermentation strategies determined. 

The Brianna 2008 has finished fermenting and will be moving on to its next winemaking stage.

Cheers!

Sandi