Season Change

Like clockwork the rain started as soon a the last fruit arrived. It makes working a bit less pleasant, but a rather impressive show of textbook maritime climate.

Wine Hands

The last of the cabernet arrived last week and marked the end of the harvest season here in Northern California. One by one the tanks are being emptied of their extended maceration inhabitants and my hands are stained purple. I think it's permanent. We are still performing many punch down and pump-over techniques like the one above referred to as a delestage (del-ess-TAHJ). This benefits the wine by exposing it to oxygen and separating seeds, ultimately resulting in smoother tannins.

Tagging

Each barrel is tagged with a lot number, vintage, varietal, vineyard, type of oak and the last date moved.

Shh! Wine sleeping

The most serene place in the winery is the barrel room. Thousands of wines laid down to mature in oak and blow off their youthful, under-developed tones. Gregorian chants echo quietly here, and I like to wander through the aisles to catch my breath when the cellar gets too hectic.

In the Cali Sun

These tanks hold fermenting wines in our outside cellar. The grapes go from the selection table into one of these, and if it's a red, it generally goes into cold-soak for a couple days before warming to inoculate with yeast. The cold-soak process involves maintaining a low temperature by keeping dry ice in the tank 24 hours a day. It also keeps the fruit covered in a layer of CO2 which preserves its quality to extract color from the skins.
Cold inside the tank, but pretty pleasant working outside with the sun shining.

Chard Fest

Most of our Chardonnay came in last week. The fruit arrives on trucks of all sizes carrying these half-ton micro-bins. The vineyard name and block is specified on the sign, and it goes to the selection table or directly to the hopper, depending on the quality. The selection table is used for the more expensive fruit to insure the leaves and detritus is removed, whereas the lower quality fruit is used to make bulk wine for blending.

Young Love

I found a little bit of my vim hiding in these tanks of fermenting wine. Spending my days gazing into tanks has become a fascinating introduction to some intriguing young hopefuls. Watching them develop day after day has taken on some form of relationship--it's like I'm dating. There's a tempranillo in tank 310 that's peaking my interest, and the merlots with their sensual aromas are quickly becoming my favorites. Everyday I notice something new on the nose or find their colors becoming richer. I find myself wondering if I'll like some next week as much as I do now, and imagining the day I'll say 'goodbye' when they go off for barrel aging.
Perhaps the long hours and lack of sleep is finally showing.