Magasin vin

SKÖRDEFEST | 21
HARVEST FESTIVAL AT ARILD´S VINEYARD
In late September we invite everybody to a harvest festival at Arild's vineyard, as the sun still
warms our slopes, and the mature grapes weigh the branches of the vine. We promise it's an
experience that brings memories for life. Joachim Hollander fullfilled his dream at our harvest
festival. This is his own story:
One summer day, two good friends
asked if we would accompany them
to Arild's vineyard for a harvest
festival. We had previously visited
vineyards in Tuscany together, and this was exciting.
Me and my wife Eva-Lena were at Arild's
vineyard summer 2011, but then we only ate
lunch and tried their wine. Being able to join in
on the harvest of the grapes felt like a dream
that would come true.
We reached Arild's vineyard at lunchtime on
Saturday and got installed in our charming
apartment and ate lunch before it was time to
start harvesting. We were all in a great good
mood and opened a bottle of white wine for
lunch. It felt unreal and amazing, the atmosphere
was incredibly beautiful. We were in
southern Sweden, would harvest grapes and
had lunch in the sunshine in t-shirt - September
29th. We were so excited that we completely
forgot about the time and got a little late to the
gathering where we and 35 other harvest workers
would get information about today's work.
It was hot and windy between the vines. We
worked on, but also talked and photographed.
Quite soon, I learned how to easily harvest
the white Solaris grapes: a clip above the
angle with a little secateur and down with it
in a bucket.
After a couple of hours it was time for the harvest
workers' coffeebreak, we recieved rosé wine
and cheese! During the break and on several
other occasions during the day, we gained
new knowledge conveyed by the owners to the
vineyard, Jonas and Annette. They talked in
a simple, spontaneous and very personal way
about their work.
After a little extra picking, it was time to
remove the stalks from the grapes, which was
done in a machine inside the winecellar. We
poured the grapes into a large cylindrical press
where the juice was squeezed out of the grapes.
Then we had a taste of the sweet grape juice.
Lovely!
During the evening, hostess Annette served a
wonderful casserole called her Boeuf Arild, because
the wine used in the casserole was their
own. In addition, oven-roasted potatoes, a salad
and mixed tomatoes were served. So wonderful
good in all its simplicity - clean and fresh
flavors. And for the food, of course, the wine of
the farm was served.
On the way home from Arild on Sunday, Eva-
Lena said: "It's not hard to get to paradise."
She was so right, we were in paradise this
weekend. The paradise is located in Arild on
the Kulla peninsula.
I feel privileged to be involved in this experience.
I have gained new knowledge about wine
production and what it means. Thank you,
Annette and Jonas, our host couple at the vineyard,
you are worth all the good on earth! You
are amazing and already at our first meeting
we loved your wonderful personalities. We'll be
back as soon as we can!