Driste

Vin, Vino, Wine

Pinot Noir in bin, fermenting

Pinot Noir off the press

Lalo at the press

Chardonnay Grapes from Oliver's Vineyard

Chardonnay grapes being poured into press

Chardonnay being pressed off

Barrels

Barrel Room in the Cellar

I HATE HARVEST.....

Okay, so hate is a strong word, and I don't like using it. But as I mentioned in my last post, I volunteered to help with punch downs yesterday. As a result, I was at work until 7:30 last night punching down by myself. Our lab tech was doing pump-overs (some fruit goes into our big tanks. For these, we take a hose and a pump and pump the juice from the bottom of the tank on to the top), and the rest of the cellar workers were bringing new barrels into the barrel room and prepping them for the press. Usually when I help out with punch downs I'm one of three or four people, so end up punching down maybe 6 or 7 bins. And even then I break out a sweat. After punching down 30 bins last night, I'm in pain today. I've got massive blistering on my hands, my abs are spasming, my back is spasming, and my triceps are.... well.... they hurt. And that means I'm a wimp because the cellar workers do this three times a day, every day, for several weeks.

I tip my hat.... no..... I bow to the feet of those cellar workers and winemakers all over the state working 12 to 15 hour days 7 days a week during harvest (which can span mid August until late October or even early November), making these wines. Also, to the vineyard crews and managers who are in the vineyards harvesting from 5 a.m. until well into the afternoon. They are at the will of the weather, kicking it in to 5th gear at any sign of rain (rain during harvest equals bad fruit. Think osmosis) or heatwaves (heat spikes the sugar levels). I have friends who bitch about the price of good wine. But once you see the backbreaking work, sweat, and tears that go into every bottle of wine (well, not every bottle.... Charles Shaw and other bulk-wine makers are in a different arena, as far as I'm concerned), you understand why.

That being said, I still hate buying wine without my industry discount.

I'm so cheap.

Harvest is HERE!

My favorite time of the year, harvest is in full swing here at the winery. Bins of Pinot Noir are coming in from the vineyard, sorted on a vibrating table, partially destemmed (some are fermented whole-cluster or partially whole-cluster), then placed back in a 1-ton bin and trucked into the winery right under my office. Once the grapes begin to ferment, punch-downs begin! Every day, three times daily, we grab one of these (only ours have handles at the top), climb up a little scaffolding, and punch down each bin. The main objective is to break up the "cap", which is the berries, stems, and skins that float to the top, and push it back down into the wine. This way, we keep the cap moist, we introduce more oxygen to the bin (which in turn helps speed up fermentation), we dissipate the heat that naturally occurs in fermentation, we keep mold  and harmful bacteria from forming, and we enrich the wine with color, flavor, tannin, and other phenolic compounds. After a few days of sitting and fermenting with the skins, the wine is pressed off and transferred to barrel.

Chardonnay goes through a more simplified process. The grapes come in, they're sorted, destemmed, then pressed. The juice is then transferred to barrel where it will ferment sans skins.

My yoga practice has gone out the window since I've volunteered for punch-downs this week. Manual labor really takes it out of you. My pecs feel like they're ripping open at the side seams. I am reminded every time I move my upper body that my obliques are  suffering as well. My triceps are like jell-o. If I tried one controlled chaturanga, I think I'd fall on my face. Seriously.

Instead of physical asana, I've been spending more time meditating, which is a challenge for me as I am a mover. My nose itches. My butt itches. Sitting still is very difficult for this one. But I'm seeing improvement.

Next week I'll try to weasel out of some of the punch-downs so I can resume my ashtanga practice.

SHOES

Okay, so here's the truth. The reason I decided to wear my wedding shoes in Yellow's wedding instead of buying gold strappy shoes is because I found THESE shoes. And I'm obsessed with them. And I'm wearing them right now.

My feet are in shock as they have not seen the inside of a shoe (besides hiking shoes and flip-flops) in I don't know how long and neither do they. But every so often, even the lowest maintenance non-shoe wearers such as myself have to splurge on a pair of show-stopping, outstanding heels.

When I woke up this morning, I had been dreaming that I was sick. I was lying on the couch, and my mom was bringing me chicken soup, Nana's soup, Jell-o, 7Up, and soda crackers: all the foods she would feed me when I was sick as a little girl. My alarm went off, and I felt sick. I made it to my mat (somehow), got through standing, then went right into Savasana where I promptly fell asleep. I felt a little guilty not pushing myself through primary, but I can't afford to get sick right now. Have to be at optimal health in order to help Yellow orchestrate this weekend's events. I O.D.'d on Vitamin C before I left, drank a litre of water, and now I'm feeling much better. Must remember to pick up Airborn on the way home this evening.

We have an event here at the winery after work: a mixer of sorts for all tasting room and industry staff in the area, and it should be great fun. All wineries are bringing wine from their cellars, and we're pouring our single vineyard Pinots, which will be released Sept 1st and which are FABULOUS. My only reservation for this evening is that Sara (our winery caterer) will be making her famous bacon-wrapped almond-stuffed dates. Those are going to be difficult to ignore, but I'll just think of little piggies and slaughterhouses and RESIST TEMPTATION! Ahimsa. The Republican is coming up from Santa Barbara to surprise everyone (he used to work here before moving down south), so we'll do dinner after.

In other work-related news, we're making a dry saignee rose' of Syrah! I'm so excited because I love dry rose's, and PINK WINE IS THE SH*T as long as it isn't white zinfandel. I'm heading up the label design, as our black Bishop's Peak label just won't cut it for lovely, playful, pink rose'.