7/27/02

Grape Crush...

On Saturday, July 27th, we visited Bob & Jeanne Cottle's Pleasant Hill Winery in Brenham, Texas, to join in their annual "Crush for Fun" event. As the t-shirts say, "We picked, we stomped, we made some wine." Actually, they assured us that the foot-stomped grapes would never make it into a bottle of wine! We had a blast as you can see below....

Aron prunes off some leaves so we can more-easily find the grapes. Here's what we were after. And they tasted as good as they looked! Erin's friend, Amanda, went with us and helped with the picking. Amanda reaches for a cluster.

"They're so tiny" "Mmm, they're good!" "Can't get enough!" Mom picks a handful

Dad ate about as many as he picked! It took both girls to carry our pickin's. The rosebush at the end of each row is planted to indicate problems. Roses react faster than the grapevines. Carrying our haul back up the hill to the winery.

Amanda takes the first plunge! Ever heard of grape twinkies? A little stomp, a little squish... "Don't you DARE splash me!"

Ahh, purple feet...my favorite color! Jeanne Cottle, in her "Lucy" get-up, was our tour guide. Bob Cottle, vintner, was busy with a delivery of grapes. Here he directs the flow of crushed grapes into the press. This is the fresh-squeezed grape juice (delicious!), ready to be pumped into the casks for fermenting.


Aron prunes off some leaves so we can more-easily find the grapes.	Here's what we were after. And they tasted as good as they looked!	Erin's friend, Amanda, went with us and helped with the picking.	Amanda reaches for a cluster.

"They're so tiny"	"Mmm, they're good!"	"Can't get enough!"	Mom picks a handful

Dad ate about as many as he picked!	It took both girls to carry our pickin's.	The rosebush at the end of each row is planted to indicate problems. Roses react faster than the grapevines.	Carrying our haul back up the hill to the winery.

Amanda takes the first plunge!	Ever heard of grape twinkies?	A little stomp, a little squish...	"Don't you DARE splash me!"

Ahh, purple feet...my favorite color!	Jeanne Cottle, in her "Lucy" get-up, was our tour guide.	Bob Cottle, vintner, was busy with a delivery of grapes. Here he directs the flow of crushed grapes into the press.	This is the fresh-squeezed grape juice (delicious!), ready to be pumped into the casks for fermenting.