Wine is food so I guess this is food related. We got the emergency call from a small family-owned winery that grapes were dying on the vine and help was needed picking.

I cancelled my plans for the day and did the long drive out to the Vinyard to help bring in the harvest.

We picked 2,900 pounds of Sangiovese and 30 gallons of Pinot Noir (see picture of trucks with grapes). There is a lot more to be done, but we got off to a good start.

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I am sure they appreciated the help and of course wine is food In fact what is a fine meal without wine

A good deed.

 
 That was kind of you Hank - Thank you.

  Just goes to show , we need each other in this world.

Good job Hank.

Was it weather or employee related concerns or both that caused the need to have volunteers help pick the grapes before they died on the vine?

Good looking Grapes!

Now take off your shoes and get busy! Beautiful grapes. Once upon a time we took a wine tour thru Napa. Great experience.

I picked 3 tubs of grapes in our neighbors vineyard.  It is hard work!  You are to be applauded for lending that type of assistance to a small business!

Good looking Grapes!

There were a couple of issues that I cannot go into on the internet. A big issue, that I feel I can mention is that they lost a lot of their workers at a critical time to a vinyard that could pay more.

It is really tough for the small guys to compete. There are thousands of wineries, and most get their revenue from direct sales and wine clubs.

I picked 3 tubs of grapes in our neighbors vineyard.  It is hard work!  You are to be applauded for lending that type of assistance to a small business!

My back was killing me, during and after the picking. We were working non stop to pick as many grapes as we could.

I am a tall guy and I am not used to the bending. I even used a three-legged stool that I brought to help me with the low grapes.

I had a hike planned for today (the day after). I was not sure I would feel up to doing it.

It turns out that I felt great today. It was cool for the first time in months. I kept extending my loop until I ended up doing 23.1 miles up four summits.

That was my first 20+ mile hike since I came down with Covid in late June. Covid triggered respiratory issues. I have been working hard on getting my conditioning back.

It seems like the picking gave me a bit of a lift.

Good looking Grapes!

I posted a picture of good ones, which fortunately, most were. Unfortunately, there were a lot that looked like raisins. We were able to save many before they turned to raisins.