Crush 2011Begins at Quai du Vin

Photos by Mark Girdauskas

The harvest began Tuesday at Quai du Vin Estate winery, with picking of their Aurore grapes and the start of what winemaker Jamie Quai calls Crush 2011. 

Juice from this particular batch may very well be destined for a special vintage, a sparkling wine to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the winery in 2015. Jamie notes, that will give enough time for the development of a great sparkling wine.

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The winery’s ½ ton press was being fine tuned for its first day of operation of this season. Approximately 1 ½ tons of Aurore grapes were expected to be pressed Tuesday. Fifty-two tons or so of a variety of other grapes will be processed as they ripen in upcoming weeks.

Nice, typically autumn weather made it a perfect day to take in the vineyard vistas and stroll out to the ¾-acres of Aurore vines to check out the harvest.  

Roberto Quai and wife Lisa opened the winery in 1990. Rob was busy in the vineyard Tuesday helping with the harvest. He noted that all of the grapes used in Quai du Vin wines are hand-picked. Their wines are produced from a combination of grapes, approximately 50% from Quai du Vin vines and 50% from other Ontario growers.

Check out the slide show photos below taken by Mark Girdauskas from the first day of Crush 2011 at Quai du Vin.

Find out more about Quai du Vin at www.quaiduvin.com.