This is the fun part of the season for me. Harvest is the reward for all the fretting and tinkering over the 12 months since the last one ended. Anything could have gone wrong in the meantime - a killing freeze, unstoppable disease or overpowering heat. But nothing has slowed Washington down yet this year - and it's too early to start worrying about a harsh winter. So the growers celebrate as they work.
Crews are happy.
Nights rarely last too long. Behind Garcia's driver's seat, the fruit is dumped onto another conveyor belt that carries it over the adjacent vine row to where a John Deere is pulling a giant basket. Every few minutes, the gondola fills with fruit and it's dumped into a semi-truck. When the payload tops 22 tons, Gamache will haul his grapes south to Columbia Crest in Paterson, where they will be turned into one of the state's most desirable farm products. On Tuesday, wine maker Doug Gore had checked samples from Gamache's mature 140-acre vineyard and determined his sauvignon blanc and merlot were perfect for picking.