Cheers and bottoms up!
Holmfirth Vineyard is celebrating one of its best years after a last-minute plea for grape pickers helped gather around three tonnes of ripe specimens in just two days.
Becky Sheveling, who set up the vineyard eight years ago with husband Ian, said the bumper crop of red Rondo and white Solaris grapes was the best quality they had seen.
On Tuesday they discovered that the grapes were perfectly ripe so it was then a race to collect them before wasps, rabbits, birds or rain could ruin them.
An appeal for grape pickers on the vineyard’s Facebook page, which has 3,000 followers, yielded 12 willing volunteers.
Becky said last-minute rushing was inevitable as they waited for the sugar levels to rise.
VIDEO: Behind the scenes at Holmfirth Vineyard
“The trouble with picking is that we don’t know when we are going to do it. We try and leave it as long as possible to get higher levels of sugar. If it chucks it down, it washes away the sugar and you end up with grapes full of water.”
Twelve volunteers were given lunch and wine as a thank you.
Becky said it was back-breaking and tricky work on a steeply sloping vineyard.
“It’s a very steep hill and it gets your back, thighs and bum.”
Thankfully, all the effort has been worth it.
“We have collected around three tonnes,” she said. “It is our best ever year on red in terms of weight and size of the grape.”
She said it wasn’t easy to produce good quality red grapes in Northern vineyards because a lot of sun was needed.
“Ours are ripe and full and will make a good rose when blended with Solaris white.”
Volunteers will be needed again in March when around 1,000 vines will be planted to replace a similar number killed off by frost this year.
