On the Job: Layton’s Chance grape picking

from the cellar — wine has the ability to make food taste better — conversation flow more easily — if more erratically — and bring people together in fellowship. but making the stuff is hard work. as 47 abc’s michelle mackonochie recently found out. track 1 in the heart of grape harvest season at layton’s chance winery – you can find pickers out in their vineyards from sun up to sun down – gathering thousands of grapes. the grapes begin to grow in april – but it’s not until september that the vines are up to picking standards. and today they’ve hired me to help. “so what are we going to be doing today – well today were going to go out and pick some of the grapes that’s what were doing out in the field right now – bringing them off the vine then bringing them up to the winery to get ready to process them to squeeze the juice out.” “i’ve never actually been into a vineyard before so i’m super excited to get in there and pick some grapes and make some wine – very good – alright so i guess we should get started.” track 2 owner – william layton says although the grapes take a few months to grow – when you first plant them – you have to wait 3 years before harvesting them – because it takes that long to grow a good grape for wine. next it was time to get to picking! layton says there are many different tools you can use to cut the vines, but his favorite is called the fork. “so it’s a very simple process – ok – once these grapes are ready you don’t have to figure out which of these are ready to go and which aren’t – everything’s coming off here.” “you take that push it through – oh my gosh thats so easy i thought it was going to be more complicated than that – right off – wow now i know why you like this tool.” track 3 once you’re done cutting the grapes off the vine – they’re put into small baskets on the floor called lugs. one lug can hold up to 35 pounds of grapes and it takes about 45 lugs to fill up the press to make wine. “45 of those – yes.” “now i understand how you say you’re out here all day – oh yes – i feel like we’ve just taken care of this area but this is not even making a dent – this is not even one plant yet.” track 4 layton says they harvest about 62 tons of grapes a year. “you have to have patience to do this don’t you – oh a lot of patience – a lot of patience.” track 5 and one of the less glamorous sides of the job – you’re outside in all different conditions – including the rain. “just a little bit wet out here.” track 4 once our lugs were filled – it was time to take them to the press! the 35-pounds was a lot for me to handle. “here put it down ill go get the vehicle – are you sure – i can do it i can so do it.” track 5 finally we made it over to the press – which is formally called a bladder press. “once we get this full – this will spin around – these slots will go on the bottom the airbag will blow up and press the grapes against the side the juice will come out through these slots.” track 6 and that whole process takes about 3 hours to complete. next it was time to dump the grapes into the machine – and this is no easy task. “it’s kind of like weigh lifting – theres a method to it that works really well.” track 7 ok mr. layton. let’s see what i can do. “gosh – got to make sure you don’t dump them over the other side too – oh.” “there you go – oh my gosh i’m never taking wine for granted.” track 8 and after dumping about 40 lugs into the machine – it was time to start it up. the machine will first roll and let the weight of the grapes create the juice a few times – and then the airbag will slowly push the grapes against the walls of the machine squeezing out the rest. the juice is all held underneath the machine – which eventually is sucked through tubes into the holding tank where it will sit overnight. the next day it is then transferred to the fermenting tanks where it eventually becomes wine! “how did i do today – you did great we got a couple of vines picked you filled up two whole lugs that all looked good we got them up here filled the press up got it running – great job today – thank you i had a lot of fun.” “so if i came here and asked for a job to kind of go out in the fields and dump the buckets would you hire me? i think you could do it.” track 9 michelle mackonochie 47 abc. next week on the job michelle takes us to fruitland primary school to show us a day in the life of a janitor. so be sure to tune in for that. for