Wine is a living thing, and fermentation brings it to life. I have been amazed this week at the transformation that takes place when we bring the bins up to temperature and add yeast. The colors get much richer and the aromas are intensified. And every single batch is different--just like children. One fermenter, the one I'm calling Big Bertha, is a petulant child, in a big hurry 
to get going, and becoming over heated in the process. (We had to cool her down.) And, of course, I have my favorites. Bin #10 with Talulah's Run is my baby. Her fruit was amazing coming in.. She started up fermentation at a nice easy clip, and she's picked up wonderful color and body in the process. And she tastes just amazing. In one procedure I have to push my hands into the cap of the fermenting wines, and it's so warm, and so like opening up a living organism. Abby's Block just got put to bed last night and is in a cold soak in the barrel room. I know it is time to press a few of our Pinot Noirs because I can't read my notes any more, they are too covered in juice. Scott told me that the first three fermenters will be pressed and placed in barrels tomorrow. Or, rather, since it's 1:15 in the morning, they'll be pressed today. The crew will be showing up to the vineyard in four hours or so.
If you look at the photo to the right you can see how much the color has changed in this sample. Also the specific gravity has gone down. When it gets to zero we know it's time to get the wine pressed. I spent the entire day in the cellar. I started by doing the punch downs and taking the temperature and specific gravity of each fermenter. I also got to bring one of the batches to life today. I brought it out of the barrel room, got it up to temperature, and then got to add the yeast. The yeast is placed in little pockets in the cap and allowed to work for a bit before it is incorporated into the whole batch.
I ended up taking kind of a long lunch today. Lisa and I just got into an awesome conversation, and I just didn't realize how much time had gone by. When I finally arrive back down in the winery Scott tells me he's going to dock my pay. "On second thought, I'll double it" he tells me. Zero is such a fun number. In truth I would have paid him to do all of this. It's kind of like a wine making boot camp. It's fun because I'm starting to get confidence in the process and what needs to be done. Now Scott can just kind of give me the shorthand and I know what to do.
I ended up taking kind of a long lunch today. Lisa and I just got into an awesome conversation, and I just didn't realize how much time had gone by. When I finally arrive back down in the winery Scott tells me he's going to dock my pay. "On second thought, I'll double it" he tells me. Zero is such a fun number. In truth I would have paid him to do all of this. It's kind of like a wine making boot camp. It's fun because I'm starting to get confidence in the process and what needs to be done. Now Scott can just kind of give me the shorthand and I know what to do.
There is a wonderful system for joining together different pipes and plumbing in the winery. Every fixture has a flange on it that is one of two sizes. An "O" ring nestles inside that flange. The hose ends have a similar flange. You join them together with a clamp that kind of looks half of a set of hand cuffs. Scott tells me the system is fool proof. But I am gifted when it come to leaky plumbing. I've never put a set of waste pipes together and not had them leak. I turn on the water and wait for that horrible sound of a leak. Similarly in the winery when you hear water flowing it can be unnerving. The most paranoid I get is when I am getting a sample out of the valve at the bottom of Big Bertha. I have nightmares where I open the wrong valve and hundreds of gallons of wine flow onto the floor and down the drain. I can't believe how many different ways there are for a person to
create catastrophe in a winery. What if one of the instruments I use broke and a glass shard fell into the wine? What if I break one of the fermenters when I'm moving it? What if I mess up a connections when I'm pumping the wine and it spills onto the floor? I guess the fact that I realize how you can mess up is a sign that I'm learning more about the process. I still have Scott come out and look at my set ups before I run wine through them. I'm still just a bit paranoid, I guess.
I had a break around 4:30 today, and when I walked outside there was a half moon shining brightly in the sky. I wanted to see if I could get a photo of it with the big oak tree at the top of the property, so I climbed up quickly before the light faded completely. When I got up there I happened to look back towards the winery. That's the photo at the top of the page. You can see the lights of the crush pad lit up where the crew is sorting fruit. I ended up taking a couple of hour break for dinner, so that I could sit down with that woman who lives in my house--I think her name is Robin. She says she's a vineyard widow. But it won't last much longer. All of the fruit is harvested and in the winery. And they are beautiful, well above average children.