september 2026 underground newsletter
Harvest is Coming
I walk to the winery from my home most days. It takes me past the Syrah, both in Mae’s and Eevee’s vineyard, and so I can mark the approach of harvest simply by gauging the amount of red I see on the vines. It comes gradually, then suddenly, and inevitably.
In a world replete with uncertainty there is something slightly comforting about the inevitability of harvest. This is a thing that is going to happen, no matter what, and our success is determined by how well we manage it. The coming of harvest might not bring the excitement and adrenaline that it did in my youth, but instead, I face it with quiet confidence, earned by the 30 harvests that have come before it.
This week I detailed and set up our crush lines. I usually do this myself, because I can go over all the parts, lubricate and adjust, and make sure everything on our well-used line is working properly. A week or so ago, with help from Ben, our mobile mechanic, we replaced the drive and bearings on our conveyor, but I found the belt is also wearing out. A new one would be expensive and maybe impossible to find. Instead, using a rivet gun, I reinforced it with over a dozen strategically placed rivets. On the same day, Alex bought parts to repair our broken mainline, Mike repaired a cellar spigot and Naita fixed our deer fence after a bear intrusion. While Ben worked on our delivery van, Consuelo, my mother-in-law, delivered an order to Costco using our 25-year-old Ford pickup. In between all of that, grapes were picked and juiced and Rosie warmly greeted guests in the tasting room. Just another Thursday.
Why do I mention the above? Recently, I read a report by a web design company that analyzed winery websites on the West Coast. They found that over 90% of wineries used the same phrases in their storytelling: “Quality, Family, Terroir.” These are often core values in the industry, but they’re so prevalent that they’re not unique. When I re-worked our website, even I was dragged into that cliché, devoting a lot of my text into describing the variety of wines we make. I reached out to the author of the report, told him I was impressed, and asked his opinion. He surveyed my website and hit on one phrase that I had written: “50 years of Hustle.” This was the phrase I coined to describe my family’s wine journey, but it also goes right to the heart of who we are as a winery. We’re scrappy, we improvise, we try new things, we leverage, we make do with what we have and we fix what’s broken. We fix the conveyor with a rivet gun, we get that order delivered, and we do it ourselves. We hustle.
I don’t think that these qualities are unique to us in the industry, but maybe it’s time that we own them a bit more. We’re kind, we work hard, we take care of our people and property, and we make good wine. We hustle, and we’ve been doing it for over 50 years. Winegrowing is not always romantic, but, there’s something honest and admirable about getting your hands dirty doing something that you love.
Please accept my thanks to you, our members of the Quady North Underground for supporting our scrappy little endeavor. Harvest 2026 is coming and it looks fantastic.
If you’d like to check out the full Underground newsletters, which include descriptions of the wines, visit the Newsletter section of our wine club page here.
Mae’s Vineyard Syrah, with leaves freshly removed, only a few weeks from harvest.
