Today we worked for our lunch, not lots, but enough to get a fainter shimmer of perspiration on our brow and a dusty butt.
We were asked to come join in the harvest of one of the Wairarapa's top pinot noir vineyards. Wycroft. The owner and Bon Vivant is Lawrie Bryant. There were a few other guests of the harvest as well but in the interests of national security all names will remain anonymous.
Anyway the day was picture perfect , autumn sunshine, great company and a superb autumnal lunch of cold cuts, pies, pickles and bread and salad. And of course a drop of the hosts best.
Wycroft is seen and enjoyed in such fine eateries as Antoines and Boulcott St Bistro.
We could go on about how good it is , but to our untrained palate it's just bloody yum.
One of the things that Lawrie has crafted, which shows he is a man who thinks hard about how to reduce the impact of dirty and difficult work, is the slidy vine chair pictured above. It alleviates the need to bend over or scrabble along on your derriere as you clip the grapes from the low hanging vines.
But the highlight of the day was meeting a 95 year old airforce veteran. Sprightly he was, thoroughly entertaining, a true gentleman and a one our nations treasures. And he helped pick grapes along with us young 'uns. We could have listened to his tales for hours.
We will remember the Wycroft 2009 vintage, and the privilege of meeting a great New Zealand hero for many years to come.
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