Little Buggers!!!

When I was a kid having a ladybug land on you was good luck. We now have the Asian lady bug here in Niagara that was introduced to control aphids on the soybean crops. With the late harvest due to rain the ladybuggers have come down to feed on the grape crops. In 2001 the vintage was almost completely destroyed by these little buggers. Since all the grapes are primarily picked by mechanical means millions of these buggers were dumped in with the grapes for crushing. When they are squished they let off a foul odour from a substance known as pyrazine. Many of the wineries now have shakers that shake these bugs off before entering the crushers. There have always been bugs and spiders in your wine but when it is by the millions you will not forget the smell or the taste. Sheila bought a little car vac to vacuum them in our house. The shot you see is out our front window. Don't worry they're on the outside looking in. In 2001 customers would pull up as close to the studio as possible and make a mad dash thru clouds of these nasty little buggers.