A Thousand Tons Plus... Harvest 2011 at St. James Winery
Winemaking begins with farming, so each summer as the growing season comes to an end, the pace at St. James Winery picks up, and the word on everyone's mind is "harvest," and this year harvest has shaped up to be bountiful.
The start of St. James Winery's 2011 harvest was officially marked on August 10 when a load of Valvin Muscat grapes hit the auger at
Catawba, Cayuga, Chardonel, Chambourcin, Concord, Corot Noir, Riesling, Rougeon, Seyval, Vidal, and Vignoles have all seen the crush pit. Norton, the official grape of the State of Missouri, is the last to fully ripen, and the first of those were harvested on September 16.
"A wet cool spring, followed by a very wet cold period after fruit set on the vine meant there was the potential for this harvest to be very average, dull and uninteresting," said Andrew Meggitt, Executive Winemaker at St. James Winery, "but what developed in the last three to four weeks of the growing season were ripening conditions that will produce very good wine. All the fruit we have harvested so far has been picked with better than expected flavors, and there is the potential for great wine this year, not merely 'good' wine. We've always got to remember that winemaking is agriculture, and we are farmers who need to relax and enjoy the challenge that winemaking presents."
Since the beginning of harvest, St. James Winery has processed more than 1,500 tons (3 million pounds), which adds up to a huge amount of grapes!
St. James Winery, the largest and most awarded winery in Missouri, has been making exceptional wines for 41 years. St. James Winery wines are sold in stores throughout the South and Midwest. The winery can be found online at www.stjameswinery.com