Saturday 18th March 2000. The day dawned still and clear. It was going to be one of those hot hot days without any breeze.   We had promised to pick grapes. So we packed the hats and plenty of sunscreen and headed off in the appropriate attire for the drive to Ransom Wines vineyard, just south of Warkworth about 45 minutes north of Auckland City.

Today was the chardonnay harvest - beautifully ripe 'clone 15' chardonnay, displaying its pearly golden hue amongst the bright green leaves of the vine.

The pickers were out in force - a dozen or so paid workers and the volunteers. "Why would you want to pick for free?" asked one of the former category. Well for me, it is just one part of the appreciation and enjoyment of wine. An acknowledgment of the work by the viticulturist over the past year to get the vines producing fruit to perfection and the effort and stress that goes into the production of a bottle of wine.

It was good to have someone on the other side of the vine to chatter to. And you really could say later "I heard it through the grapevine".

Snip the grapes, place them into bucket. Snip, plop, snip, plop. Then empty the buckets into the big white bins, ready for collection by Rob on the tractor to take them up to the winery. The grapes were plump and ripe and the job was quick. We were getting through vines in no time. Faster than the winery could keep up freeing the bins to take back to the vineyard.

When the grapes arrive at the winery, Rob manoeuvres the tractor into position. Rob doesn't need a gym subscription to do weight training - he just lifts heavy bins of grapes instead. Each bin has its weight carefully recorded before further processing.

The bins are emptied onto the sorting bench to check for quality before going into the crusher. This was a quick job as there is very little rot this year. Sometimes grey rot can often be a problem in the humid, greater Auckland, region.

The crusher makes quick work of stripping the grapes off the stalks, which are spit out though back of the crusher into another bin for collection. The crushed grapes and juice are pumped though a big fat hose and into the basket press for separation of the liquid from the grape solids.

Robin keeps a careful eye on the whole operation - and the two baskets he is using for pressing. There are mats that are inserted into the baskets and some of the stalks are placed in layers between the grapes to aid the filtration of the liquid through the solids.

The juice is gravity fed and collected in another bin where a thinner hose pumps the juice into a refrigerated tank for cold settling. There are hoses and pumps everywhere. The winery is a dangerous place.

Cleaning out the press is quite a drama. Once the press is undone and the basket is removed, the solid cake has to be disposed off. The residue from this operation is being taken off-site by trailer. It is a matter of finding the mats then a whole piece of the cake can be removed in one go.

After that, it is with spades and hands to get it all aboard.      Cleanliness is essential in the operation and Jude is charged with the task of water blasting the press, ready for the next load.

Meanwhile, back in the winery, Robin gives the must the taste test. "Mmmm, very nice - tastes like chardonnay to me!"  And Simon Lampen, who is using the Ransom Winery to process the grapes for his St Francis wine, pops in and I get the chance to photograph him in the lab where he is carrying out some tests on the chardonnay he brought up from Hawkes Bay during the week.

Marion is working hard in the kitchen, to feed the troops for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. And then it is time to relax, and there is nothing more appropriate than a glass of the Ransom 'Gumfield' Chardonnay from the 1999 vintage.  Deliciously perfect on the occasion.

Vintage - it is such a busy time. This is one of the reasons I love to help out. It reminds my why I don't want to go the full hog and purchase a winery of my own.

Thanks to Ransom Wines - Robin and Marion Ransom and Robert Pinder - for allowing me to get in their way while they were harvesting and processing their Chardonnay 2000.  I look forward to trying the finished product in several months time.