Vineyard in Pahranagat Valley celebrates grape harvest

A celebration to mark this year’s harvest of grapes at Betsy Whipple’s vineyard north of Alamo was held Aug. 21.

Jack Sanders of the Sanders Family Winery in Pahrump brought a crew of pickers and some processing equipment.

Dr. Donald Deever, Lincoln County extension agent, said, “I’ve taken a private tour with Betsy and can say that her vision is quite contagious. It’s amazing to see what this hardworking lady has accomplished, mostly on her own, and she seems to be on the fast-track to becoming a popular winery destination in Lincoln County. In fact, I can see that eventually, Betsy’s winery could be one of the top five tourist attractions in Lincoln County, complete with overnight accommodations, horseback riding, wine-tasting room and dairy ‘bar,’ which will be the first bar to open in Pahranagat Valley in about 50 years.”

Whipple said, “This is my first press. So not only am I harvesting the grapes this year, but I am also pressing, possessing to bottle my own wine this year, which will likely be a dinner wine and whatever goes well with white wine.”

Sanders explained after the grapes – Marsanne this year – are brought in from the vineyard, “the buckets are weighed and poured into the crusher to mash the grapes, break the skins, separate leaves and stems, push the juice down to the bottom. The fruit is then placed into a large press, and with a hand- operated press, the juice is squeezed out and will then go into a fermentation process. It is the sugar in that which makes the alcohol that makes the wine.”

Whipple said she is growing three varieties of grapes in her vineyard, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier, which are French Rhone white wines. This area is very similar to the wine-growing region in southeastern France.

She thinks that in next year’s harvest she may have a Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a red wine.

Sanders said he came because he likes to help beginning wine growers. “This is also a good property, a place that lends itself to just about any type of grape to be produced here, and could also be a good place for tourism.”

Following the harvesting and processing, Sanders said it will take between three to five months of fermentation before this wine will be ready to be bottled. “But that’s unusual, for it usually takes seven to nine months, and even well over a year. Then there is the aging process.”

Whipple said she hopes to turn an old dairy barn on the property into a wine-tasting room, which she plans to call the Dairy Barn during the day, “but when we have wine tastings with cheese and sausage, I’ll call it the Dairy Bar.”