CRUSH

GRAPES READY FOR PROCESSING
Grapes Ready For Crush

Grapes come in by the ton in huge tubs.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the annual crush at 85 Atlantic Artisan Vintners. For a winery, Crush equates to an incredible amount of work. 3200 pounds of grapes had just been delivered to the cooperative winery and needed to be processed.

Starting a Winery

85 Atlantic Artisan Vintners is a co-op of sorts. It houses four wineries and friends: Falling Rain/Judy, Elsom Cellars/Jody, Stomani/Alex and Sodo Vino/Jim. Three of the four met in viticulture school in Walla Walla. Talk of a joint venture started after class and continued to germinate during the long commutes they shared. Jim's wife met up with Alex and the rest seemed to fall into place.

The first batches of wine were created in Alex's front yard. As they learned, they grew and moved into their current space in the shadow of Safeco field.



CRUSHING!
Crusher/Destemmer at work

The actual CRUSH. The crusher/destemmer in operation

Crush at a Micro-Winery

These micro wineries produce around 500 cases each. What this means for Crush is that throughout the fall, over 60,000 pounds of grapes will get processed at 85 Atlantic.

Jody from Elsom and Jim from Sodo Vino walked me through the Crush process.

The grapes tend to arrive in batches from 1,500 - 8,000 pounds. The large tubs (see picture above) are lifted by forklift from the truck onto the dock. Then 2 at a time we stand on step ladders and shovel them into the crusher/destemmer.

The crusher/destemmer is hooked up to a pump. Someone mans the other end of the pump line and (in the case of red wine) fills even larger tubs with the juice, pulp and skins. Eventually these tubs will get loaded into the press where the juice will get removed and set to age.


WELL DESERVED LUNCH
Volunteer Lunch

Wine with lunch are part of the reward for crush volunteers

Get Involved

Talking with Judy from Falling Rain, I found a woman who was obviously passionate about wine making but also about community. She gushed about her growers, barrel makers, and brix counts. But, it was over lunch that she sat back and looked at the table crowded with her friends and said, "this is how it's supposed to be."

There are many micro-wineries who look for Crush volunteers. It is a fun way to spend an afternoon. You will find links below for the wineries who make up 85 Atlantic.

The wineries of 85 Atlantic will be participating in a Sodo winery open house 2 Saturdays, December 6th and 13th called Gifts of the Vine. You can stop by between 1 and 5 PM to taste and purchase wine.