Omnivore loving vegan, gluten-free & beverage recipes
Life’s Little Sweets celebrates seasonal cooking and local food pathways. Find inspiration from farms, CSAs, and home gardens with recipes that highlight fresh ingredients, community, and the joy of cooking through the seasons. Continue Reading
Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas are a great addition as a side to any meal, they are perfect on top of salads for added nutrition and are easy to make in your Instant Pot Pressure Cooker for weekly meal planning.
This Sand Tart Cookie Recipe is our family recipe perfect for the Christmas & Holiday season making a big batch of cookies. These cookies are easy to customize to your tastes with various toppings and make a fun activity for everyone involved.
This sweet, Homemade Coffee Creamer recipe can be used in coffee or tea. It is made with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and water or for a creamier option, you can use milk or half and half. It is infused with pure vanilla extract but can be customized with other extracts or even Baileys or rum for a boozy option. This creamer is so fast and easy to make for yourself or as an edible gift!
Maple Cinnamon Butter is a sweet and delicious butter recipe that is perfect for having on muffins, toast, popovers, bread, or just about anything you imagine. It only takes a few minutes and 4 simple ingredients to make this maple-cinnamon scented butter.
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2018 Cabernet Franc Grape Harvest - Sharing photos from our family's recent Cabernet Franc grape harvest this October. (40 photos)
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Hi Everyone, I hope everyone is doing well! We had our 2nd harvest in early October and I wanted to share these photos earlier but time just got away from me, as it does for many of us in October (especially if you have kids and busy schedules).
Did you see our last grape harvest post (2018 Chardonnay Grape Harvest)?
All the grapes can be harvested in one day with a small group of people as long as everyone keeps up the pace of work.
It was an overcast day on this harvest day.
It seemed like it was going to rain but it did not. It's actually more comfortable to harvest in weather like this over direct sun.
The trellis' make it easier to harvest the grapes because they are all at the same height.
There's a beautiful view from the vineyard.
The vineyard is a peaceful place.
The grapes look so perfect that they almost don't look real. It's really neat to see them grow on the vine.
All you need are some small clippers to cut them from the vine. They start fermenting right away as soon as they are cut, so it's important to process them on the same day.
Perfect rows of grapes.
Until next year's grape harvest!
Thank you for reading and following along, Best Wishes, ~Sara
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John Todd says
I'm growing some Cab Franc up here in Northern Michigan and watching patiently while they color up. This is probably year 8 or 9 for these vines and they are looking better than ever but I'm bothered by the asymetric ripening I've learned is typical of this varietal. I also grow Pinot Noir which is already in the fermentation vat.
Do you do any separating of the green and pinky grapes in your Cab Fr clusters? I'm tempted but its labor intensive. Also, do you do natural fermentation or do you kill the yeast and add your own later. I just went with natural on this year's Pinot because it was so clean. My wine making is for personal use so I'm willing to risk it in favor of not using bentonite or other yeast killers.
As an aside, I'm also making some sour dough starter with a recipe I found using the natural yeast on wine grapes. I figured it was a good time of year to try it since I've got ripening grapes right out the door.
Anyway, I was interested in seeing your Cab Franc color. Mine are still in the deep red stage here(Oct. 6th) and hoping to see them shift to black in the next week or so. Question: What kind of brix are you looking at for harvest? We are at the 45th parallel here so things tend to run a little late but so far the weather is being kind although we had a crapload of rain last weekend.
Good luck on a good harvest and a great vintage! Thanks for sharing your pictures. I use Lowe's pails for my harvest bins too!! LOL!
Sara Maniez says
Hi John, thank you for commenting. We just separate any grapes that seem over ripe. It's natural fermentation. I have friends that have use the natural yeast for sourdough starter with success, I bet it will come out great! Yes, the Lowes pails are helpful:) I wasn't at the harvest this year because I was with the kiddos at home this year but I will ask my husband your question. Thank you!