Richard Blount helped us build the new barn we'll use to ferment the wine once we get it organized. We're almost there. Here he's helping pick Nobles, small red grapes we'll use to make red wine.
Nobles are small but prolific. Folks seem to like them more than others for winemaking. The owner of the Dakota Winery in Chiefland, Florida, told me he grows what the public wants and Nobles are what he grows most.
These are called Triumph. I don't know where such names come from. I guess the folks who develop them get to name them. Some names are pretty hokey. A farm in Georgia calls a large green grape they developed "Granny Val" after the guy's grandmother. .... cute.
Aren't these beautiful? They're called Supreme. It's a patented variety from that same Georgia Farm. These vines are barely a year old so I'm expecting a lot more next year and even more the next. I was surprised and certainly pleased with what they produced the first year.
This is the "cookshack." It was originally a decaying, garage sort of structure when I bought the place. I rebuilt it from the roof down with pressure-treated 2X6's taken from the large barn in the background. The lumber was being used for horse stalls. Since we don't have horses ... well, those 2X6's just needed to be doing something else.
The cookshack is where we do the crushing and pressing ... and BBQ-ing ... and rib smoking ... and fish frying.
