It’s harvest season in the Arroyo Grande Valley, my favorite time of year. This is when all of the time, money and energy invested earlier in the year finally pays off. The pinot noir harvest for Talley Vineyards began today when we harvested about two tons from some of the very best sections of our West Rincon Vineyard. After careful hand harvest in the early morning, the cool grapes were transported the short distance to our winery where they were sorted by winemaker Leslie Mead, Vineyard Manager Kevin Wilkinson and members of our sales and marketing team. This is a great way for Leslie and Kevin to start to assess the quality of the vintage. It’s also a great way for others in our company to learn more about the hard work that it takes to produce our handcrafted wines.
In addition to pinot noir, the harvest of some of my family’s most important vegetable commodities has also begun. Green bell peppers has long been our specialty at Talley Farms, and that harvest began about two weeks ago. Within the next couple of weeks, we will be picking and packing bell peppers all day, every day, until we complete the harvest around Thanksgiving. Within a week, we’ll have lots of red bell peppers, which I love to take home and grill. They’re a really flavorful and healthy addition to any meal.
We’ve also started harvesting our organic heirloom tomatoes. We have to look long and hard for ripe tomatoes now, but within the next three weeks, we should be harvesting every day. I anticipate that we will continue with tomatoes through November. We plan to experiment with hoops to cover the plants, keep the tomatoes warm, and extend our season.
We now sell our produce, Thursday-Sunday, at the Talley Vineyards Tasting Room. Fall is a great time to visit—we’ve got our new pinot noir releases available for sale—and you can witness the excitement of harvest.
Brian