Harvest 2015 is underway! To fully appreciate the art of winemaking, VAULT29 is taking you behind the scenes during the busiest - and most exciting - time of year in wine country. This week, we take an insider's look at what winemaker, Ryan Kunde, and DRNK's crush crew is up to.
Pinot grapes picked at Hallberg Ranch (Sonoma County; Russian River Valley) are ready for the sorting table
The Setup: On the right is the hopper which has an auger to push out the grapes, and they fall on to the sorting table. Then the grapes go into the destemmer, which separate the berries from the stem cluster.
The crush crew at DRNK. (Left to right) Ryan, Sonoe, and Michael.
Winemaker, Ryan Kunde, pumping wine into a barrel. This batch of pinot noir was processed and fermented on the skins. First, we put the free run (aka the juice that was extracted on its own) into barrel. Then, the grapes will be pressed and its juice put into a separate barrel.
We encourage you, if you haven't already, to get acquainted with this gem. Join their mailing list and check out experiences which have happened at the winery by searching "DRNK" in the VAULT29 app - it's FREE - Cheers!