Ripplemeyer’s customers expect perfect, handpicked fresh fruit, and pay a premium for it. However, hand harvesting is slow, labor-intensive work picking off the split or dried fruit. 4M Vineyard is a favorite of the home wine producer as well, and for this use, the machine-harvested grape will be sufficient, but they warn that fruit will be the good, the bad and the ugly.
PHOTO BY Nancy Crase / MPW.60