At Donkey & Goat Winery on Fifth Street, humans, not machines, press the grapes. Photo: Erin Callahan
The last few weeks have been busy ones for Berkeley’s eight urban wineries. It’s harvest time, so the winery owners have had grapes from Napa, Sonoma, El Dorado, Santa Barbara and other counties delivered to Berkeley. Some fetch the grapes themselves. Once they are delivered to the wineries, they are de-stemmed and crushed (either by feet or with machines). Then the grapes start their fermentation, which ends up (eventually) in wine.
Grapes come into Donkey & Goat. Photo: Erin CallahanBefore they are pressed, the grape clusters go through this machine, which removes the stems. Jared Brandt, who owns Donkey & Goat with his wife, Tracey, is on the left. Photo: Erin Callahan Before they are pressed, the grape clusters go through this machine, which removes the stems. Jared Brandt, who owns Donkey & Goat with his wife, Tracey, is on the left. Photo: Erin CallahanThe leftover stems at Covenant, a kosher winery on Sixth Street. Photo: Frances DinkelspielGrapes waiting to be crushed at Covenant. Photo: Frances DinkelspielAfter Covenant separates the berries from the stems, they are poured into bins or placed in stainless steel or wood vats for fermentation. The dry ice keeps them cool and slows down fermentation. Photo: Frances DinkelspielJonathan Hadju (center in red t-shirt), the winemaker for Covenant, oversees the crush. Photo: Frances DinkelspielJeff Morgan, the co-owner of Covenant, smells and then sips a freshly pressed glass of juice, not yet wine. Photo: Frances DinkelspielBroc Wine Club members help make their future bottles. Photo: Mike Olson
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Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside and CItyside co-founder, is a journalist and author. Her first book, Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, published in November...
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