Pecorino harvesting

This is how Pecorino grapes look like. The bunch is distinctly compact and grapes very small. Compared to most wine grapes the skin is remarkably soft, almost like table grape. Sheep (pecora in Italian) go crazy after these:

Harvesting:

For Pecorino we use a traditional Abruzzi cultivation system called tendone where the vines extend over the space between the rows and form a kind of roof. Inevitably grapes have to be hand-picked using a special bucket. After a day's hand-picking the sensation is the same as having painted the ceiling:

I like these before-and-after moments:

Antonio. He had a bad hair day and was rather reluctant about being photographed:

Just a random shot of September sun shining through grape leaves:

Another random poetic shot of a a vine branch:

On the left our Pecorino grapes, on the right our neighbours' Montepulciano d'Abruzzo that will be harvested later in October: