Earlier last week it looked as if all the SB grapes would come in by Friday, but for some reason the brix were hovering around 1 percent less than the winemakers wanted. We did one press load (4 tons) on Thursday morning, after doing two on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully the rest will come down by next Tuesday. We have inoculated 6 tanks so far, with roughly 13,000 gallons of juice hissing and bubbling in the tanks. Also, there may be some Viogner grapes coming in by the end of next week.
Even without grapes to crush I was staying pretty busy over the last couple of days. Between field sampling, processing the grape samples, racking, additions and cleaning, my feet have become rather sore (now I know not to wear rubber boots all day!). The boiler is down right now, which means hot water at this time, so when we rack the tanks (3000 gallons) they have to be scrubbed by hand. This makes for a rather sweaty, wet (soaking) and tiring job. But hey, it needs to be done, and my body doesn't need the calories... plus, I don't feel as guilty having that splash of wine in the evening.
Yesterday we had a nice BBQ lunch will all of the production crew, and a couple of the folks from the business office came down too. It was a potluck and there was plenty of food... burgers, sausages, tri tip, chips, garlic bread, pasta salad, corn, cake, brownies etc. All served at a long table. It made for a nice break in the day, and I think it served as a good time for everyone to enjoy company and some good grub. As crush picks up we will be having more and more of these.
At the end of the day my girlfriend met me at the winery, and I had a chance to show her around. Jason gave me the green light to do some sampling with her, and we got to try some of the wines that are in the tanks waiting to be bottled on Monday.... O'brien vineyard Cabernet Sauvingon, Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Biagini Pinot and Chard, and Erwin Pinot, which is a limited production and we are actually out of in the tasting room. We also did a barrel sample of some of the younger Pinot in the barrel. It was the most fun wine tasting that I have done!
I am really falling in love with the job. It is a lot of hard work, but I like hard work when it is something that I am fascinated with, and want to learn as much as possible. I realize that this time is something that I will always look back on and cherish, a very special time that I don't take for granted.
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