SMITH COUNTY (KYTX) -- Wine makers have a very good reason to celebrate this year. The mild winter and recovery from last year's drought mean grapes are growing better than ever.
It may be hard to believe in this day and age, but the grapes at Kiepersol Estates are still harvested by hand. This year--row after row--it's a record number of hands as nearly fifty seasonal workers fill tubs by the ton.
They're de-stemmed and then filtered and pumped into stainless steal.
"The week before Christmas we'll be bottling 2012 whites," Kiepersol owner Pierre de Wet said. "We're about a month earlier than normal thanks to the early warmer weather. Nice warm winter."
They're also getting healthier grapes and a yield that's huge, especially compared to last year's wild temperature swings and punishing drought.
"It's a second chance," de Wet's daughter and wine maker Marnelle Durrett said. "A new start to each year. You get to see a blank pallet of fruit, too. You get to see what you start off with and have a new direction to go with that wine each year."
Durrett won't admit to having a favorite out of all the wines she makes.
"You know, it's like asking a mom what her favorite children are," she said.
Her dad likes Syrah. But this year he's celebrating thanksgiving early--in a business that almost counted East Texas out.
"Nobody can understand how we can make a Pinot Grigio that good," de Wet said. "It's just a different climate, different soil, and close to God."
