Heat, Hard Work, and Happy Memories: Harvest 2025

Harvest 2025

Another year flies by and here I am writing about the harvest again. Last year we finished the harvest on the 30th of September, and I wrote that it was the earliest finish ever. This year was even earlier (29th August), and we finished on the 12th of September. The summer of 2025 was amazing, the warmest on record with hot sunny days and almost zero rain, which meant a great harvest with good-quality, abundant grapes. The rain finally came at the end of August and Nico decided we needed to start picking immediately before the grapes were damaged by the impending rain.

The People Behind the Harvest

As usual, I always refer to the statement that it’s the people who make the harvest and this year was no exception. When Natalia created the WhatsApp group with 38 members and picking would be on a ‘first come first served basis’ I did wonder how many days I would do. However, I’m not sure why we were so surprised, but the availability of the possible 38 pickers was very poor, especially as we approached the weekend when we needed as much help as possible and only four people attended including Conner and Nico!

Natalia pulled out all the stops and Sunday saw a bumper 12 people turn up. While some people only managed a couple of hours, it was good to see a hard core of attendees there most days, especially Rob, Austin and myself, supporting the tireless Nico and Connor who worked hard and long hours picking, processing and everything else that goes into a successful harvest. Last year we had Joe and Anna helping us, but they were unavailable, so in stepped their mother Katie who did a great job. Also, special mention here to Austin who completed his first harvest and did a brilliant job.

Early Start in Stallion Vineyard

We commenced the harvest on the 29th of August in the Stallion Vineyard picking the Siegerrebe grapes, which was completed in no time due to the fact that the birds had their own harvest before us and had already helped themselves to a whopping 40% of the grapes. We still picked plenty though to enable Nico to make his next vintage of Orange Wine, which may be a little darker than previous vintages, although I’m not sure whether the end colour will be orange! We continued to make good progress in the Walled Garden and the white grapes in the Cricket Pitch Vineyard.

Day 3 – A Close Call

Day 3 saw us head to the Ruscombe Vineyard with huge bunches of Schönburger and Reichensteiner grapes. This was not my best day, and my stupidity was a clear winner. I had raced Nico, who was driving the tractor, a few years ago and lost, as we were going uphill. So when goaded to race him again downhill I gave it my all, but on the uneven terrain I went flying and landed with a hard thud only inches from the tractor wheels. I was surprised that I seemed to be in one piece, but as the day wore on, I could feel my ribs getting more painful and I failed to make day four.

Day 4 – Sheep Drama

I missed quite an eventful day on Day 4 as Rob spotted several youths in the next field rounding up the sheep and trying to corner one sheep in particular. The police were called, who responded immediately, and although the youths fled, it looks like they were arrested a few days after that. We then had reports that 25 pheasants had been killed in another nearby field. Sometimes I despair with the behaviour of these sick people.

Day 5 and Beyond

Day 5 and I’m back in action, albeit with a certain amount of pain, but the harvest has to be done and I was determined to see it through to the end. Having said that, I missed the weekend picking due to a planned weekend away with friends. As stated previously, Saturday saw only the hard-core pickers turn up, prompting Natalia to rally as many people as possible and, to quote Kevin Costner, ‘If you build it, he will come.’ We managed our best turnout on Sunday with 12 people!

The harvest continued and Day 11 saw the welcome return of Lydia and it was gourmet day. Everyone welcomed Nico’s daily coffee mornings, usually with cannoli, but this day saw the ‘three B’s’. Nico handed around delicious barchette whilst Lydia brought homemade banana bread (with chocolate chips) and Austin brought in his homemade chocolate brownies, which he finished baking at 23.30 hours. Well done to all concerned and it certainly helped with the picking. Apologies to Rob who brought in doughnuts on other days but unfortunately it was on the few days I was absent.

We also had Flavio join us to take photographs, a lot of photographs, although most seemed to be of Andy Barden, probably due to his rugged good looks. I since learned that Flavio is multi-talented and is also a chiropractor; apparently, he ensured that (Lady) Kerry went home very happy that evening!

Wrapping Up

Friday 12th September saw the harvest through to completion with a few more ‘newbie’ pickers, including the quiet Maria (from France)! Thank you to all the pickers, whether you picked for 2 hours or 2 weeks, it all contributed to a successful harvest. Thank you to Andy, Austin, Belinda, Ben (and Ben’s brother), George, Jane, Jeremy, Katie, Kate, Kerry, Lauren, Lydia, Mike, MC, Paul, Phil, Rob (stalwart), Rosetta, Stacey, Tina, Tom and Zellah. Also a special thank you to Natalia for always raising a smile with her WhatsApp polls and creating some great excuses for pickers not being available to harvest!

Nico celebrated the end of harvest with his customary bottle of fizz and one of his specials (if you were there you know!), but unfortunately, I missed out and took two tours around the (now) grapeless vineyard! It’s always mixed emotions on the last day of harvest and it’s a relief to have it completed, although after a few days’ rest I’ll miss standing in a field having interesting conversations with a lovely bunch of people.

I look forward to doing my eighth harvest next year.