Get Out There and Pick

By / Magazine / September 9th, 2013 / 1

For the next few months, the fields of most vineyards will be teeming with people. Family members, tireless workers and volunteer hangers-on will attack the vines and start the hard work of making the sought after potion that finds its way into our bottles. We sometimes find ourselves in awe of the situation. But we don’t always realize the amount of work that goes into it. Someone needs to bring the liquid from a solid grape through a winemaker’s hands and into our glasses. Sometimes that person is you.

There are armies of volunteers, every year, that parachute down into the fields. It’s become such a big thing that wineries are now capitalizing on it quite a bit. Free labour comes at the expense of a free meal, good conversation and a somewhat bottomless glass of wine. Which one of you wouldn’t want to live that experience?

So I encourage you all to make the time to find a vineyard that needs plucking. And don’t just look to Europe to do that.  It’s somewhat easy to find a beautiful place, complete with Old World charm. Look to your own backyard. There are hundreds of wineries across Canada that are clamouring for your help. You can become a friend to an industry sometimes forgotten. You can run your fingers through the vines and feel the heart of an industry beating. You can watch the loving eyes of a winemaker as the fruit hits the crusher. And you can do all that sometimes within a short drive. You owe it to them and to you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aldo Parise is the publisher of Quench Magazine. After running 4 magazines, including Riot and men's magazine Under Pressure, he's settled nicely into his role as top drinker and food yummer guy. You can see him in the pages of Quench, Food and Drink Magazine.

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