Our Lucky Day

We arrived in Waiheke frustrated and impatient because we couldn’t find affordable accommodations and we hadn’t yet heard from Stonyridge Vineyard about when/if work would start despite the many texts and emails we had sent. Once we were there we also learned that the buses were few and far between and the entire island is a mass of hills. (I have been walking up hills since the day we arrived and it has not gotten any easier).
So we figured fuck it, we will stay at the hostel and go to Stonyridge on Friday and if work hasn’t started we can at least talk to them face to face.
We apprehensively walked up to the vineyard that morning and were greeted by Summer the winemaker. She told us that today was a fun day for the ladies that worked in the café all summer but that we were more than welcome to join in. She said that we weren’t being paid, but that we could get some free wine and get bumped to the top of the picker’s list. why not? She took us to a yard of Chardonnay vines and all these giggling girls began picking the plump and gorgeous grapes deciding on what to name this completely female-produced wine. The grapes look like autumn. They are iridescent and hold a rainbow of colors inside; they hang off the vines like tiny little soap bubbles and the sun shines through them to reveal reds, purples, greens, pinks, yellows and oranges. We filled tubs with these bunches and hauled them to the truck (or ute in Kiwi speak).
Next we broke open some champagne and dumped the bins into the de-stemmer. It’s so cool to watch a machine chomp down on grapes and spit out the stems. The grapes fell into a large cask while we sat back and drank. Once the tubs had been emptied, Summer said to take off our shoes because we were going in! Two at a time we jumped into the giant wooden vat and stomped around the grapes. They are cold and slimy, kind of like curdled quicksand, or how I imagine that would feel like. We tightly grasped the sides of the cask as we vigorously bicycled through the knee-high crop until our legs felt like jelly. All smiles, we left the vineyard with some Fallen Angel wine and promises of gainful employment.

Thanks to Summer for being the most awesome winemaker ever, and thanks to Colleen for posting the slideshow of our amazing day.
P.S. They decided to name the wine “Forbidden Fruit” since it is unspoiled by the Adams of the world.