nature, Photography, Wine

Ripening

24 Comments

One of the trails we like to walk/hike runs through dense agricultural areas with many orchards and grape vines.

I like keeping track of how everything is ripening; right now the peaches are being harvested. The wine grapes will be much later, however, especially depending on whether they will be used for ice wine. If that’s the case, they will remain in the fields until they have been frozen. This will concentrate the resulting juice, producing a very sweet dessert wine.

I don’t know what kind of grapes these are as the rows aren’t labelled but they seem to be doing well.

Happy Saturday.

24 thoughts on “Ripening”

  2. I always like the approach to harvest and fall to see what miracles nature has created. I remember walking a trail in Cinque Terre and seeing the workers tending their grape vines on steep slopes and looking at the ripening tomatoes planted in unlikely places and marveling at the harmony created when nature and man work as a team. Happy Saturday Lynette. Allan

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    1. Thank you, Allan. The same is true here. I see one or two rows of grapes planted in the most precarious and difficult places because the right growing conditions exist in that little spot for a specific grape. This is less true with fruit trees but it does occur. I agree; it’s very satisfying to see what the nature-human collaboration has produced. Cheers.

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    1. In some places you can. We know of a couple of abandoned farms (only the foundations are left) next to the trails with peach, apricot, apple and pear trees still producing lovely fruit. The hikers and deer are the main beneficiaries. 🙂

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    1. Ice wine production goes back to Roman times, but German vintners revived it in the 1700s. The grapes are left to freeze which concentrates the flavours and sugars, and then they are pressed. The resulting wine usually tastes of sweet peaches, pears or apricots and goes very well with saltier, stronger cheeses or charcuterie. Sooo good!

      The fruit and veggies coming out right now are so delicious. There’s not much better than lovely ripe tomato fresh from the garden, is there?

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      1. Hi Lynette – it’s so interesting to think about how the first vintners figured out that frozen grapes could make a good wine. Maybe they had an early freeze and didn’t want to waste their crops. I agree, the home-grown fruits and veggies are amazing – this is the best time for that, isn’t it?

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        1. I agree that the first ice wine was probably the result of attempts to save a harvest. It was so important back then to ensure some kind of return for the labour.

          Yes, the fruit and veggies are so great right now – heavenly.

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    1. Hahaha. 🙂 And there’s lots to be had!
      It is lush – we for the most part fortunately have escaped (until now, anyway) the worst of the drought. We haven’t had a lot of rain but enough to get by (including enough to get a forest fire to the south of us under control). Cheers.

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