Sunday, 10/12
Nota Bene Winery, Georgetown, Seattle
Grape stomping
Renaissance virgins with white aprons
Their bare feet digging into the barrel-full of grapes
Singing and dancing until the aroma of freshly harvested berries enveloped the air.
Well, maybe not that way in 2008 Georgetown
The modern stainless steel facility was set up in the small shop, ensuring the highest hygiene and efficiency.
Yet, amazingly, the experience was brewing the same, old, cheerful excitement in the heart of us on site. Those are locally grown varieties; cabs, Merlot, some shiraz, ...waiting in the big containers to be processed and blended to become the bottles of magical concoction.
Top: Grape loaded into the sorting machine. Most of major impurities such as leaves and vines get discarded into the waste bin.
Right: Hand picking minor impurities. This is the process that makes a big difference on clarity of the wine, which large wineries skip in order to produce high cost performance.
Middle: Checking the sugar level.
Bottom: The shop that does it all. One barrel yields 300 bottles of wine.
