Harvest into high gear!

First off, I hope that you enjoyed the last blog post by my friend Pinot Noir (if you haven't read it, check out blog post from Sept, 23rd).  It took a lot of convincing!! Anyways, back to the harvest.

Today was my first day at what harvest might look like once its really cranking.  It was a tough day and I was told you "ain't seen nothing yet."  I started the day by punching down a couple Pinot tanks that did not have the automatic punch down machine..... so it was time to put some muscle into it!  I punched down those two bad boys for about 20 minutes and my back, shoulders, and legs where screaming.  I thought I was in good shaped! After that we set up the equipment to receive white grapes, yup, finally harvesting some whites.  Instead of being destemmed and sorted, white wines, in this case sauvignon blanc, are dumped straight into the grape conveyor and straight into a press which is a large cylinder looking thing, grapes are pressed slightly then got straight into stainless steal tanks where it will age and become wine.  

The only reason red wine is red is because the skins are fermented with the grapes in primary fermentation.  Next, we pumped the primary fermentation of Pinot out and into stainless steel tanks, after the free run juice is sucked out you climb into the tank and shovel all the rest of the Pinot grapes which will be pressed to extract more juice.  All while doing this you have to be paying attention to what is happening with the sauvignon blanc grapes making sure they are going in and the juice is flowing out of the press into the tanks.

After all of the harvesting was done.... it was time to clean everything we got dirty.  The most challenging thing I did today was climb into the press, and spray it down with hot water.  It turned into a sauna in no time, seriously, it was just like a full blown sauna in there.  I was soaking wet by the time I was out of that thing.  However, I did notice that my skin was nicely exfoliated and moisturized... hahaha.... new business idea!  Have tourists clean the inside of press in order to exfoliate and learn a little something about wine making, all while charging them.... hahaha.  I presented it to Tom (owner) and he said no, hahaha.

Once everything was cleaned, we left, I grabbed dinner and some beer!  BEER you ask?? yes, I was in the mood for a refreshing pilsner.  I was at the store looking at a bottle of something called Pliny the Elder thinking Pliny maybe meant pilsner or something, then the guy at the store walked by me and said buy it!  Its soooo good.  I said, is it a pilsner, no its hoppy like an IPA he said, I said refreshing though, he said yes, best beer I ever had.  Cool thing is that its brewed in Santa Rosa and the brewer will not sell you the beer unless you say that it will remain cold from their dock to your store.  I know this is a wine blog, dedicated to all things wine however, however, this beer is worth a quick little review.  For me, most hoppy IPAs taste like fermented flowers, they are just too much.  This thing is so balanced it has huge hops but goes down so smooth with a little fruity after taste, maybe apricot or something.  Anyways, its super good!!  (Russian River Brewing Co.)

Tomorrow should be the longest day of harvest, Pinot, Pinot, and lots of Pinot!!!  I've been working none stop since last Wednesday!  Whoo!  Over and out!  

Yummmmmm!

Pinot Noir: A Memoir

Good afternoon, my name is Pinot Noir and will be a guest writer today on Quest for Wine.  I have been asked to write this memoir about myself at the request of this blog's everyday writer.  He has asked me to write on the topic of me and what I am about.  My hope is that we will get to know one another and if you haven't tried me before, you go out and get yourself a bottle wherever it may be from.... NOW (well after you read this)!  Typically, I would never write about myself, I'm shy at first and tend to open up.  The writer of this blog speaks very highly of me so I felt it my duty to him to write this.  As I sit, he is actually enjoying a 2007 Gary Farrell (Gary Farrell Wines), Me, Russian River Selection,what a lucky dog.  I would join him but I feel it odd to drink my brothers and sisters.  In any case, I am jealous, well happy, that he is not drinking me.

I am a very temperamental grape, I like to be grown in cool climates with little variations in temperature during my growing season.  I also need a lot of attention in the vineyard and winery.  I am sensitive to too much light exposure and need to produce bunches low in yield, so I can be super good.  I also need a lot of grooming in the vineyard, pruning techniques are key along with super soil.  I just love sending my roots into beautiful soil in search for food. My thin skin makes me susceptible to many fungal diseases, most notably bunch rot.  I'm afraid I am also prone to leaf roll and downy mildew.  Yes... I am difficult!

With the boring and scary things about me put aside.  I hail from many regions of the world however one region of the world has made me famous, France, specifically the Cote d'Or (Cote d'Or).  Arguably, the finest wines, regardless of varietal, come from here and they are also the most expensive.  I think the writer has mentioned this before but French Pinot's on average tend to be on the earthy and herbal side.  Which leads me to a very different type of me.  Another area where I like to grow and grow very well is California and specifically, in the Russian River Valley (Russian River Valley) in Sonoma County where I can be extremely concentrated on the fruit end, bold, bright, and sometimes almost Syrah (or Shiraz in Australia) like.  There has been some great happenings in other regions as well, I would consider France and California as the popular kids on the block, with Oregon and New Zealand being more like the new kids on the block.  However, in Oregon's case, I believe their first plantings were in the '70's but still fairly new compared to the first French plantings.... in 100AD!!!  Oregon Pinot's most resemble the French while the New Zealand are much more like the California wines.  However, I am doing somewhat of a disservice by comparing them.  As with all Pinot's, they are driven by their terroir, even one vineyard in the Russian River Valley can be totally different from a vineyard not 100ft from it, let alone a California vs a Oregon, French etc...  My advice is to try them out, from all over the world!! People all over the world really, really love me!  They do!

One thing I will warn you is that when purchasing a Burgundian wine you really need to pay attention to how the vintage was (year).  Try consulting a guide like Robert Parker's (Vintage Guide) or find a reputable local wine retailer that your friend, that's a wine geek, recommends!  haha.  One note on the vintage guide, you are looking for the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits for the Burgundy Pinot's.  The growing conditions in France are not as consistent as California. A French Burgundy can be amazing one year and utterly disappointing the next year.  California Pinot's are more consistent although when purchasing a "higher end" wine it's still worth talking to someone about.

I have caused many people to claim their love for me or even claim that I am complex, hedonisitic, sex in a glass, like falling in love, romantic, and mysterious.  The writer himself, tells me me that I am, much like dating, well speed dating, since drinking a bottle doesn't last years, months etc, just one night, typically.  He also says that for him, I am mysterious, it takes a little bit of getting to know one another.  It's a courting, typically not too revealing at first, it's always changing, in the bottle, and even when it's let out of its prison to check out the world.  While flattered by all of this I remain humble and thankful that I am Pinot Noir.

Well... that was a short little teaser about me.  As I sit hanging on the vine (I should have already been picked, very late harvest this year) writing this I realize that my fate is near, the weather forecast for the area is in the 90's for the next couple days and I shall be picked soon, so long as the heat causes my sugars to jump.  I welcome death as a grape and relish the fact that I will soon be reborn as a wine but I will wait to smell fresh air again as I anticipate that I will sit in a bottle and develop myself over the next 5-10 years (if the buyer is smart).  Does the inevitability of my prison scare me?  No, because I know that in that time, once that cork is popped, I will be beautiful and the lucky people who get to enjoy me will be moved to tears, a celebration of life!  I look forward to this day and welcome my slumber.  Come buy me, age me, and let me out!!!!

Until that day,

- Pinot Noir

Harvest has begun!

Before getting into the blog post and the excitement of harvest.  I want to tee it up a little, I want to let you know exactly what I am doing right now while writing this.  I feel it totally appropriate after a long day of harvesting and making wine.  I am sitting in Healdsburg, CA listening to Queens of the Stone Age (QotSA) and enjoying a 2006 Peterson Zinfandel (Peterson Winery) which is nothing short of amazing for 20 or so bucks!  Chewy, raspberry jammy spice, vanilla, nice!  When popping the bottle you will  be pleased with what is said on the cork, "No Soul-less Wines."  I don't think I have to go into what that means in these times! 

I'm on to the harvest....
First of all the harvest is running, on average, about 4 weeks behind normal due primarily to a cooler summer so there has been a lot of waiting. This is what my drive into work looked like on the first day of harvest, it was odd, and calming.  I immediately thought of Led Zeppelin's Misty Mountain Hop and had it on my Ipod in my car, so I rocked to that all the way to work it was sweet! 

And the fog ruled the mornin

I waited for about a week and a half for this day and it was a long long wait as I wanted to get this harvest going so bad.  We started off getting the a two Pinot Noir blocks in.  What does the harvest involve you ask?  Let me tell you, one intern stands on top of a stack of skids and as the grape bins are brought in via forklift you simply rake the grapes out of the bin into the conveyor for sorting (it reminded me of PLINKO from Price is Right) while harvest intern 2 sorts the grapes.  What is sorting you ask?  Basically, making sure no grapes of inferior quality make it into the wine, sun burnt, under-ripe, and also picking out leaves, plastic string and anything that doesn't belong.  We also grab samples from the sump in order to get the Brix (Brix Wiki) readings which is measuring the sugar content in the grape which is extremely important. 

These grapes are nothing like I have ever tasted which should be expected given that the wines are so amazing.  When I was sorting I couldn't help but to just munch on these babies the whole time I was sorting.  As you can imagine my favorite job is the sorter vs. raking preciously because I can eat the grapes!  haha.  The interesting thing about this is that when we went to a different vineyard or clone you could actually taste the difference in the grape eg) one sweeter, one a little more tart etc.  Unbelievable! Day 1 was complete, my stomach full of grapes, and my body sore, I went home satisfied in a hard days work.

I was standing on the skids in front of you, the sorting stand in on other side

Thursday we had off as none of the other vineyards were ready of picking so we ended up meeting at the winery to go out in the vineyard and check stuff out.  We were able to see all the different vineyards sites and the differences between the vines and grapes from different sites.  Truly amazing!  To see what I mean, check out this link which is a map of the vineyard with the different clones and plantings (Rochioli Vineyard Map).

I was back at work on Friday while we harvested more grapes, only working till about 1pm.  The weekend we have off as we are waiting to pick the other vineyards.   

Making Wine!!!

With that, as I continue to enjoy my Zin, and as the vines continue to ripen, I hope to have more soon!  Enjoy the weekend!

Where is HARVEST!?!?!?!

Happy first day after Labor Day!  I hope that your extended weekend was super!  

I really don't have much to update on, the winery itself is ready to accept grapes, meaning me and Justin (the other intern) have scrubbed the place down to where it is as sanitized as a surgery room.

Look how spotless, done by yours truly, we cleaned the inside and outside of about 20 of these!

On to the week that was, I worked from Wednesday - Friday.  We scrubbed the grape receiving bins (all 60 of them!!) and then topped up the barrels.  Which means adding wine to the wine that is aging in oak barrels, as the wine ages there is some evaporation so you have to top up the barrels.  After topping of the barrels we barrel tasted some of the Assistant Wine Makers wine, the estate Pinot, and the Ranch Red!  All were very good and still have some time in the barrels!!

After the tasting on Friday I headed back to the bay area and went into the city on Saturday.  Here is what transpired, through pictures....

SF model yacht club!! haha, for remote controlled boats, behind me is a little pond where they boat!

Up close, reads "SF Model Yacht Club."

Brunch starters, raspberry and cappuccino dipping sauce, at Beach Chalet, compete with beignets

Beach Chalet Highly recommend this place if you are ever in San Francisco.  I had the Corned Beef Hash and the picture of the above is the Chalet Beignets!! soooooo gooooooood!

With that... it's time for lunch.  Harvest should be here on Thursday or Friday, until then I am just waiting for the call to begin harvest.  Until then........