Red grapes becoming raisins on the vine.
A series of weather fronts is moving through our region this weekend and into next week. We have alternating wind, rain, and periods of sun. It puts a damper on doing much of anything outdoors.
Sunday, November 03, 2013
Raisins on the vine
In French, the word raisin means grape. What we Americans call raisins are raisins secs (dry grapes) in French. So these are both raisins and raisins secs. What the harvesters miss dries up on the vine. These grapes still have some of their color, but soon they'll be black and even more withered.
A series of weather fronts is moving through our region this weekend and into next week. We have alternating wind, rain, and periods of sun. It puts a damper on doing much of anything outdoors.
A series of weather fronts is moving through our region this weekend and into next week. We have alternating wind, rain, and periods of sun. It puts a damper on doing much of anything outdoors.
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Literally a damper... in fact the way it came down here, more of a wetter!!
ReplyDeleteWalt, pick a bushel or two of the missed grapes, they have a great flavour and are superb in cakes!!
A vineyard in Norfolk [UK] used to allow humans in to glean after their machine had been through...
my Mum used to go with a friend and collect a couple of kilos for baking.
Tim, I've been scavenging "missed" grapes for years. But I've never got as much as a bushel. One the harvesting machines have gone through, nobody but me comes out to get the grapes that were left behind. Actually, I'm making juice with a batch of Grolleau grapes today, and will turn the juice into jelly.
DeleteMitch, santé.
Ken, they were early days in UK winemaking and I am pretty certain that the machine was either...
Deletenot set up properly, picked inefficiently or wasn't used well.
It was a modification on the machines originally used for picking red and blackcurrants on another farm nearby...
it used a pair of rotating belts...
of what looked like inflated blue Marigold rubber gloves...
and it picked a lot of leaves, too...
just like on the currant bushes.
I used to earn money gleaning the currant bushes...
not much, tho'...
but the farmer who employed reckoned that the machine collected about 3/4ths of the harvest...
we did the rest...
and home-winemakers were allowed in after we'd been through...
and charged a fortune for a difficult PYO!!
Yes, the farmer did drive a posh car!!
In honor of your raisins secs. I just picked up a bottle of this year's vino dulce from Málaga and toasted you.
ReplyDeleteWow, those colors are intense. Nicely shot.
ReplyDeleteFeast for the birds?
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered what happened to the grapes that the machines left behind.
ReplyDeletetim, interesting about the machine.
ReplyDeletemitch, I'll drink to that.
stuart, thanks! I'm enjoying your photos as well.
michael, and other critters!
starman, there you go. ;)