A brief interview with Norman of Norman Hardie Winery & Vineyard and Dan Sullivan from Rosehall Run Winery.

Over the last few years Norman Hardie has not waited for the end of harvest to throw a party…harvest has BEEN the party. Enticing his friends and colleagues with the promise of suckling roast pig on the spit, lots of seasonal veg and all the wine you can drink, dozens of people show up to volunteer their services to the noble cause of grape harvest. This mutually beneficial scenario not only gets the job done, but creates a more intimate connection between the lovers of this great wine and the people and places from where it comes.

In past years Norm has advertised his harvest plans via email and word of mouth, but this year took his game province-wide, extending the invitation to the public with a quick afternoon spot on CBC Radio 1.  Many people drove from Toronto and Ottawa to work for the day then eat and drink for the afternoon.  I’m not sure how many pigs Norm roasted this year, or how many kilos of organic vegetables he got from Cherryvale Farms, but with all the work that got done it was certainly an adequate quid pro quo to say the least.

As it turned out, the day I drove down (Thanksgiving Sunday) Norman had finished harvesting all that was ripe.  Since he had all these people coming to help with harvest that day, everybody was sent 200m down the road to help his buddy Dan at Rosehall Run–another premier County winery. After spending the morning harvesting pinot noir at Rosehall Run, we all went back to Norm’s for the feast.  All day I got a deep sense of community that was built around great wine.  This was made evident by all the support offered not only from Prince Edward County residents and those in the wine industry, but from friends and fans from all over the province.  Example: Raymond Emes, the owner of Balluchon Cafe & Eatery in Toronto brought a whole bean roaster and full barista set up to the winery for the weekend– because it’s important that those harvesting fruit for fine wine have the luxury of freshly roasted Rainforest Alliance beans for their caffeinating pleasure.  It was definitely a weekend for giving thanks.

Have a look at these:

www.normanhardie.com

www.rosehallrun.com

www.cherryvale.ca

Balluchon Cafe & Eatery

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On Twitter @AndrewRasta