Schweiger Vineyards News

“Some people say a man
is made out of mud
A poor mans made
out of muscle and blood.
Muscle and blood,
and skin and bones
A mind thats weak
and a back thats strong.

You load sixteen tons
and what do you get?
Another day older
and deeper in debt.
St. Peter don’t you call me
Cause I can’t go.
I owe my soul to the company store.

–Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford

Ok, this is a segment I’m going to call “Fred’s Fun Facts!”

At least once a year for the past fifteen years, Dad has asked me how many stems are in a ton of fruit.  I would usually answer in a hastily fashion, “Enough stems to hold one tone of fruit.”

 Well, this year, the first day of harvest was realatively calm, and as I was destemming Sauvignon Blanc straight to the press, I had a very unique opportunity.  You see, when I make Sauvignon Blanc, I run it through the destemmer first, giving me the opportunity to remove all the stems.  All of the juice, seeds and skins go into the press.  A few hours later, all the juice is in the tank, and I dump all the skins and seeds out.  So…this year, one ton of Sauvignon Blanc is…(drumroll please)

2000 pounds.

Oh, that’s not the answer you wanted?  Ok, here is the rest of the fun trivia.  I weighed 89 pounds of stems (4.45% of a ton) and 337 pounds of skins and seeds (16.85% of a ton).  My juice yield was approximately 170 gallons per ton.  However, there are still quite a few fruit solids in there that would settle out…so after twenty-four hours, the total juice yield was closer to 160 gallons per ton.

Please bear in mind…these are rough numbers and are in no way absolutes.  Different varieties are going to have heavier or lighter clusters and vintage to vintage will have heavier or lighter sets.  However, these numbers are a safe enough approximation that should you wish to appear amazingly witty and knowledgable at your next cocktail party, you could whip the following line into conversation; “Did you know that at Schweiger Vineyards, 5 % of every ton of fruit picked is stems which go right back out into the vineyard for composting?  You didn’t…what’s more, another 20% is skins and seeds which also go out to provide nutrients for years to come.”  I can personally guarantee you that with witty repartee like this, that attractive blonde at the party will be on your arm in no time.