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But all was dry Friday, and the pickers descended on the 15 or so rows of Marecha:l Foch grapes in the hope of denuding the vines of fruit by noon. By the end of the season, 12 tons of grapes once loading the vines will head up the lane for the winery, with an additional 1,500 square feet now dedicated to production.

With the original building designed to produce 10,000 gallons of wine and eventually managing 13,000, the expansion proved a must at the 5-year old winery. The expansion will boost production to 25,000-30,000 gallons annually, said Larry Satek, who owns the winery along with his wife, Pam . ...

The humid growing season pestered this year's crop, subjecting it to more than the usual stress. "This was a bad year for humid, wet weather through July. There was tremendous disease pressure this year. We've survived it, but a wet fall would not be good," he said.

He's pragmatic about each year's harvest. "Because agriculture is such an iffy thing, I try not to think of it as wine. It doesn't exist until it's in the building," he said.

With the winery employees and Amish pickers brought in for the job expected to clean the vines of a ton of fruit on Friday, he should have the much desired raw material necessary to keep him busy, at least for a while. The seven or eight pickings will yield 12 tons of grapes this year.