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Labor Pains

Labor Day, for most industries, offers a respite- a celebration day, if you will- for the workers of the United States.  Labor Day in the wine industry, however, often means an intensive day of labor.  Many wineries are either a few weeks into harvest or just starting.  In the case of Naggiar Vineyards, we will be laboring to bring our first grapes in Tuesday night.  The high temps of June and July, dropped off to a cooler than average August (I, personally am not complaining), leading to a slightly later first day of harvest labor than the last few years.  Right now, 2018 looks to be a good harvest- we are seeing lots of nice size clusters. While it’s a tiring process, it’s always exciting to see what the final result will be.

We’ve been having to do some additional labor in the vineyards this year.  Last year, we had a bit of a Hitchcockian moment… we had a couple of blocks totally picked clean by the birds.  This year, we are putting up netting around the affected blocks in conjunction with the bird alarms and regular drive-by’s, creating as much noise and chaos as possible.  So far, our efforts are paying off.

If that isn’t enough, we will also be busy laboring in the winery just before Labor Day Weekend.  We will be bottling our 2017 Black Beast, Cabernet Franc, and Petite Sirah, along with our 2016 Zio Luciano.  We are also cleaning all of the crush equipment, steaming everything, and power washing our picking bins.

While we may not have Labor Day off, we are happy in the knowledge that it is for the greater good of all wine drinkers out there.  So open a bottle or four of Naggiar wine, and if you are so inclined, raise a glass in honor of all of the hard-working wine industry people laboring on Labor Day.

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