I had an almost surreal feeling today at Coeur de Terre. Maybe it's the numerology of the day (11-11-11), or maybe it's the sudden change in weather with a pretty steady stream of rain on the horizon. Suddenly I am pretty much done with my internship in the vineyard and it just feels so strange. I've kind of centered my life on the place for the past two to three weeks, and now it's pretty much over, and somehow I just didn't see it coming.I went up today to prepare lunch for the crew. It was a joyous occasion with most of the regular work crew, a couple of other guys who are working on the house and all of the Neal clan. Lisa asks me if that's OK. I tell her that I have portion control issues, and that I could probably feed twice that many people, and that turns out to be about the case.
Ryan uncharacteristically decides to crack open an '05 Estate Pinot Noir for lunch. It is bright and beautiful, and is showing beautifully what good wine will do in the bottle. The flavors are getting more and more complex. But, I believe, it's not even close to being as good as it will get. Scott chooses to make wines that taste good right away, but will age wonderfully, and this '05 is
a great example. Scott decides we should taste the '06, '07, and '08 as well. Oh my. Each vintage has a common aroma and flavor component, but they are so different from one another. Kind of like children. By the way, Coeur de Terre is pouring a special vertical tasting the next two Saturdays for club members. I would suggest you go up and join one of the clubs and have a taste.
After lunch Scott, Abby, Talulah and I grab a basketball and shoot some hoops. Lisa comes down to join us. She shoots two or three shots with her right hand and then just switches up and goes with the left without skipping a beat.
Berto is cleaning out the last of the barrels. There is a special sprinkler that gets hooked up to the steam cleaner and left to run inside the barrel for ten minutes or so. It's the last step in cleaning the barrels before the wine will be added to them.
I glance into the winery. It is so full of barrels. That's a lot of wine we're making. There is a dense blanket of warm, yeasty, moist air that enfolds you as you enter the room. My camera lens fogs up right away, but the light effect with the windows is really cool, so I keep the shot.
I also went for a walk around the vineyard after lunch. The leaves are mostly gone and the vines stand as lonely sentinels on the hilly slopes. A few strangling grapes are still in place but mostly it is empty and quiet. There are no more beautiful clouds and sunny skies. It is, and will continue to be, overcast. The photos I find now are more still life, and less scenic. The vineyard is telling me that the season for grapes is over. The harvest is in, and it's time to move on.
I'll be going back up to the vineyard next week just to check in, and I've told Ryan that I'll run the cash register Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. I haven't gotten a chance to experience the retail side of the winery, and, heck, I might as well just jump in right on some of the busiest days of the year.
I know I've said it before, but I just can't believe how blessed I am to have gotten this experience. I'm so thankful to Scott and Lisa Neal the owners of Coeur de Terre for allowing me to get my feet wet making wine (quite literally on many days.) I'm thankful to Ryan for answering a myriad of questions about the industry and about hospitality. I'm thankful to the crew of workers at Coeur de Terre and their patience with me and my inability to do many of the tasks that they seem to do so easily.
At the end of the day my good friend, Jeff Peterson, comes up. He has a great discussion with Scott and Lisa while I loose a game of horse to Abby (but I beat her at around the world.) Then Jeff and I go up to taste some wines. Ryan makes the mistake of saying he thinks it would be great to have an intern at the winery. Jeff is not the guy you want to say that to, if you don't want to have a detailed discussion about it for half an hour or so.
Jeff enjoys some of the corn bread I made for lunch, we enjoy some wonderful wines, and then it's time to head home. I'm ready, I miss my community at McMinnville Cooperative Ministries. I've missed the wonderful people like Jeff and Courtney. But I'm so glad I got a chance to do this. Truly, this experience goes to eleven.
