Last night I fell asleep with my fingers on the keyboard of my laptop. I figure that 's a sign to go to bed. This morning Robin and I made a quick trip out to the winery. Scott wanted to start the fermentation on the three bins that were picked last Wednesday. I thought it would be a simple process of throwing in some yeast. Nothing is simple in a winery. First we have to heat the grapes up to around 70 degrees. They are still at a chilly 50 degrees when I arrive. Also, when you use any piece of equipment, any hose, any stainless steel that is going to come in contact with grapes, it must be cleaned. Some are simply steam cleaned, but the pump and the hoses takes a more involved process. First you make a garbage can size container with a product that is similar to Oxy Clean. This must be continuously run through the pump and hoses for 20 minutes. Then you flush everything out with water, then you do a citric acid run, then flush out with water again. You do this before you use them, and you do it again when you are done using them.
Last night as the grapes came out of the destemmer most of them were moved into the barrel room, where it's around 50 degrees all the time. One particularly exciting transfer was a huge stainless steel fermenter which as it was lifted actually caused the back of the forklift to come off the ground. Scott quickly grabbed a hand jack and helped to lift the load while several of the guys hopped onto the back of the forklift. At one point Scott and I are moving one of the plastic fermenters into the barrel room. Scott has neglected to give me the stupid end of the job, so I have the handle of the jack. When we have the extremely heavy bin in place I pull the handle all the way instead of easing it down slowly. I know I've made a mistake before Scott even says anything. And it strikes me, I could have cracked that fermenter, releasing over a ton of estate fruit onto the winery floor and down the drain. It still makes me shiver a little bit to think of it.
Last night as the grapes came out of the destemmer most of them were moved into the barrel room, where it's around 50 degrees all the time. One particularly exciting transfer was a huge stainless steel fermenter which as it was lifted actually caused the back of the forklift to come off the ground. Scott quickly grabbed a hand jack and helped to lift the load while several of the guys hopped onto the back of the forklift. At one point Scott and I are moving one of the plastic fermenters into the barrel room. Scott has neglected to give me the stupid end of the job, so I have the handle of the jack. When we have the extremely heavy bin in place I pull the handle all the way instead of easing it down slowly. I know I've made a mistake before Scott even says anything. And it strikes me, I could have cracked that fermenter, releasing over a ton of estate fruit onto the winery floor and down the drain. It still makes me shiver a little bit to think of it. Several of the bins were emptied into one of the huge wooden fermenters that I was cleaning earlier this week. In the photo above you can see Umberto emptying one of the bins into one of the larger fermenters. That board you see is the one we stand on when we punch down the grapes once fermentation starts up. People die doing this. When you crack the cap CO2 is released, and if you inhale too much you go head first into the mix and don't come out alive (but what a way to go!) Scott warned me about this and told me to be careful, because . . . well . . . it would ruin the wine!
To get the grapes to come up to temperature Scott has two instruments that transfer heat through the mix of grapes in the fermenter. One is a stainless steel hose that has another hose inside of the first. Water is circulated down the hose through the inside hose and back through the outside. The other instrument is a huge steel tank. The wine is run through some pipes inside the tank, and hot water is added to the tank. The system works really well and we go from 50 to 68 in about 30 minutes.
Then Scott adds the yeast. Well, first he adds some food for the yeast to make sure that they stay healthy. It's kind of like yeast multi-vitamins. Then he gently pushes his hand down and makes three little nests. This is where the yeast is actually placed. He will let it sit there for about 24 hours just to makes sure that the colony is well established. If you are a baker, it is something like proofing your yeast for bread dough. At one point Robin was up in the tasting room hanging out and some folks came in to taste wine. She asked Scott what she should do. He said he'd be right up. Robin said, "I have my pouring licence, would you like me to get them started?" Scott says that would be great. Soon there are several people at the windows looking down at what we are doing. I feel a bit like the monkey at Alf's. But I remember the curiosity. I so desperately wanted to learn how all of this is done, and wanted to be down there in the cellar asking questions about what was going on. It's why this experience has been so amazing.
Another reason is the food. We eat very well during crush. Last night Budd White make some amazing BBQ'd pork ribs for us. There was about 5 pounds of ribs per person! Lisa had made a beautiful, hearty soup earlier in the day for lunch with homemade tortillas on the side. I was so hungry both times. At dinner Lisa tells Scott to bring up something special to go along with the meal. He heads down into the library and comes back with a 2005 Renelles Block Pinot Noir. It could be my favorite wine that I have tasted at the winery. And it tastes as though it is still a baby--like it will continue to mature and develop for another decade in the bottle. Could it be possible that I'm helping to make something that amazing? Scott said that 2005 was another cool vintage. I hope and pray that it will be. And I also hope and pray that I don't do anything stupid and mess it up.
Robin grabbed the camera and took some shots of the vineyard while I was working. The one below could be my favorite shot of Coeur de Terre so far.