A Helping Hand: Small Growers Band Together During Harvest

Michael and Nancy Call had a deep sense of satisfaction when they planted the first grapevines on their rolling Benzie County property in 2014. But along with that rewarding feeling came a very real dose of trepidation.

The pair decided to give grape growing a shot after retiring from long careers at nearby Crystal Mountain, planting a vineyard they named Eden Hill on old family land. But even their relatively tiny five-acre lot filled with chardonnay and blaufränkisch vines requires loads of hard work, culminating each season when several tons of grapes need to be plucked from the vines and sent on their way.

“When we first got started in this, and we knew we were going to need a lot of help on our first harvest, it was pretty stressful,” Michael says. “We both had big families, so we knew at least some of those people were going to help us, but we didn’t know how many people could put it into their schedule.”

Fast forward almost a decade, and the Calls have some harvest help: In addition to family pressed into service each year, three other grape-growing retiree couples have coalesced into an informal group that gets together each year to harvest each other’s grapes. For these smaller family vineyards – all five acres or less – this group helps make the difference between carrying on or giving up.

“When we retired and built this vineyard, we never expected this to be a money-making proposition. But prices have gone up since then, all the chemicals that you use, the fertilizer, diesel fuel, all of that has gone up,” Michael says. “And what we’re getting paid for a ton of grapes has remained pretty steady.” 

Tom Petzold, who with his wife Claudine grows just over two acres of reisling, chardonnay and pinot noir on the Old Mission Peninsula, says he looks forward to the collaboration every year.

“If we didn’t have each other, we’d have to hire the labor out. And we’re already losing money with the cost of production,” Petzold says. “By working together on a common goal, we can save money and have a memorable experience that we all really appreciate.”

Other members are Mike and Darlene Heuser with 2.3 acres near Interlochen, and Adina and Ed Klem with 1.3 acres in Suttons Bay. All of the group’s grapes are purchased by local wineries, and although harvest happens at the end of the growing season, when exactly each harvest occurs depends on many factors the group must consider.

“It’s no one person’s decision. We have to coordinate with, in our case, Left Foot Charley,” Nancy says. “Is the chemistry right? Is the brix (sugar content) and acidity right? Does Left Foot Charley have space in their schedule to do the pressing? Can we muster the people that we need to have to do the harvest? It’s a very collaborative effort and decision between the growers and the winemakers.”

Working together on the harvest allows for a catharsis of sorts, a collective feeling of reaching the finish line together and having a chance to celebrate.

“What’s neat about helping one another at the harvest, as opposed to all the other tasks we have throughout the year, is that it’s the capstone event,” Petzold says. “We come together; we all know what we’ve gone through that entire year as growers of small vineyards doing all the work ourselves. We appreciate that, and each other.”

Not everyone who helps owns a vineyard: Each harvest is greatly assisted by friends and family members in addition to the grower’s group.

“When I grew up, this was a cherry farm…and we all harvested cherries together, so this is sort of an extension of that,” says Michael’s sister Susan Hughes, who helped with his harvest this year. “Many of our siblings come, and many of Nancy’s siblings come, and it’s just a really fun family time.”

Nancy says she makes every effort to ensure those who help get some of the fruits of their labor when the finished product arrives.

“I try to keep track of who helps pick, and a year later when the wine comes out, I try to make sure that those people get a sample of that wine,” she says. “Today when we had (our harvest) lunch, we were pouring three different wines that came from our vineyard…and I take a lot of pride in that.”

Though these small growers aren't churing out as high a volume as some other operations, they are still an integral part of the region's increasingly recognized wine industry. 

“To me, that’s one of the really big rewards. We work really, hard, and when that wine comes out and it’s good, whether it says Eden Hill on the bottle or not, we take a great deal of pride in the fact that we helped make that happen,” Nancy says. “Good wine starts in the vineyard. I don’t care how good the winemaker is, he can’t make good wine without good fruit. Michael and I try really hard to deliver the best fruit that we can.”