WWOOF #12 - Gisborne

March 2 - March 7

We're back in Gisborne again, one of our favorite cities. And it's the beginning of grape harvest season, meaning one thing - VINTAGE! Time to get to work at Wright's Organic for a 2nd time....

Excitement is in the air when we arrive. Although the main grape harvest isn't actually for a few more weeks, Wright's does one of the only Methode Traditionales (bubbly) in the region and it requires picking the Chardonnay grapes slightly earlier. Two English WWOOFers have already been here for a few days to get the harvest underway. After just catching up with our hosts and meeting our WWOOFing counterparts the first night, we were up at the crack of dawn the following morning for our first full day of work. There were already about 4 tonnes of grapes being pressed and we stopped in for a lesson on grape crushing and then prepared the first tank of juice, including transport to the winery location, sterilization and transfer to the fermenting tanks, and yeast inoculation. The winery has expanded since our previous visit, and it was great to see all the improvements.

3 new fermentation tanks have arrived, and construction of their enclosure is underway. We're unloading the first day's harvest of pressed grapes.

Preparing the yeast to add to the fermentation tank

Our next task was to prepare the vineyards for the next day's harvest. The bird nets have been on for a few weeks to protect the ripening grapes. We had to remove 13 more rows of nets so we could harvest an additional 3-4 tonnes of grapes for the remaining bubbly. It was tough work walking/running 3 feet in front of the tractor to feed the nets onto the giant rotating arm so they could be spun back onto their spools.

Pulling the nets off the rows to be picked.

Day 2 - It was another early morning to make final preparations in the vineyard before the additional hired help showed up for the harvest. In all, there were about 12 workers (4 WWOOFers, 7 hired, and our host - Geoff). We picked grapes for the next 5-6 hours. We sampled a few along the way, very sweet and delicious. It was so great working with the grape clusters and seeing the fruit of our months of labor across numerous vineyards. The effects of nature could be seen on some bunches, where botrytis (rot) was causing some to shrivel. It's a fine line between leaving grapes to ripen for a longer period of time, fighting disease, and working toward the perfect grapes. As we've learned, as much of an art as winemaking is, there is only so much you can do if your grapes are bad. Good grapes make good wine much easier to make.

Keris getting her pick on along with the other workers

We picked 1 row of Viognier - the grape bunches were really cool

...and we picked 12 rows of Chardonnay

So many grapes!!!

Jeepers! This is what 4 tonnes of grapes looks likes waiting to be pressed.

Days 3, 4 - Having worked 2 full days, we now had 2 days off. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't quite as good as we were hoping. Our boogie boarding days were coming to a close, but we managed to fit in one more trip before the weather turned sour (the day before a storm comes in usually means big waves!). We also spent a lot of time preparing for our return trip home.

One of the main reasons for returning to the Wright's a 2nd time was that they are dedicated to organics. But it's their unimposing way of sharing their beliefs that makes it such an enjoyable setting for learning. They just presented what they knew and were very open to questions. All aspects of their life revolve around caring for the Earth, from their organic vineyard, recycling, composting, cloth baby diapers, etc. In addition, they are great FUN! The last night we stayed, we played Yahtzee until 1am, consuming 5 bottles of bubbly in the process and Nicola even made us a vegan chocolate cake for dessert. The game was so fun and we hadn't laughed like that in a long time. Luckily, we didn't wake the kids....

Helping with the kids

Helping with the chores (Stuart also hung the "nappies" on the clothesline after they were washed). And there is our trusty caravan in the background. This stay it was equipped with lights!

Game night! A little Yahtzee, a little (5 bottles) bubbly, a little homemade vegan chocolate cake, and a little vegan ice cream. What a fantastic stay! The 2 English WWOOFers, Rachel and Tom, are sitting across from Keris and our host Geoff (with his new haircut) is next to Keris.