The Grape Harvest at Stone Bluff Cellars: You're Invited!

It's June and Bob and Sandy McBratney out at Stone Bluff Cellars - just southeast of Tulsa in Haskell - say the vines are letting them know that it'd be nice if they could be picked later this summer.

And, their crop will be abundant.

Meaning, they need our help.

Who said a wine lover needs to go to Napa Valley to partake in grape harvest festivities? It's an experience anyone, including the kiddos, can have right here in the Tulsa area, and not just at Stone Bluff Cellars. There are several vineyards in Green Country that host harvesting parties, so it's easy to find one near you and get to pickin'.

This year the harvest at Stone Bluff will come in two strings - one in August for the white grapes and another in late September for the reds. Each harvest will be held on a free-and-easy Saturday.

And get this: If you help harvest at Stone Bluff, you get paid some cold, hard cash. The McBratneys pay $4 per 25-pound lug of grapes picked. A good harvester, they say, should pick 3-4 lugs an hour.

Hello! Can you say wine money?

If you and your kids want some cash for some easy (albeit hot and dirty) work, this is an opportunity to squirrel away a good amount of the green stuff in a short time, not to mention that it's a way to pry the kids away from the TV or computer screen and teach them a little something about honest work and the great outdoors.

But, here's the deal - space for harvest is limited to the first 50 people for the white grape harvest and to 100 for the red grapes.

If you'd like to be placed on one of the harvest lists (or both!), send the folks at Stone Bluff Cellars an e-mail. Be sure to put "Harvest Help" in the subject line and to include your name and phone number and which harvest with which you'd like to help.

In peace, love and Oklahoma wine,
TDT