BBQ/Wrestling the Sea Monster

Saturday was the first of two annual "Allocation BBQs", meaning a large event at the main house featuring both of the current releases (Pinot Noir & Chardonnay) as well as a lot of library wines, and wines from other producers using Clos Pepe fruit. After working at the gate greeting guests for a couple of hours I joined the party, and 5 of my friends, for some wine and fun... a lot of wine and a lot of fun. To sum it up, the 6 of us drank a guesstimated 12 bottles of wine, enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner at the Hitching Post - which is highly recommended - and then continued the evening until closing time and beyond at a local cowboy bar called "Mavericks." John finally recovered from his hangover about 5 PM on Sunday.

After 3 tiring and stressful days of packing and moving the contents of my home to storage (Monday - Wednesday), I'm back in Lompoc and adjusting back to a life of serenity and agriculture. Today we went to the winery to cold stabilize Chardonnay. This involves pumping 6 barrels of wine from barrels to a single stainless steel tank, and then chilling the wine in the tank for a few weeks prior to bottling. The process of pumping wine out of a barrel and into another vessel is known in the industry as "racking." A major purpose of racking is to leave the yeasty sludge and sediment that accumulates in the bottom of the barrel behind, transferring only the clear wine to the clean tank. On paper, this operation is not that difficult, but everything that comes in contact with wine has to be rinsed, sanitized, rinsed again, sanitized again, and finally, rinsed... again. Imagine washing your car - twice - with a 1 1/2 inch inside diameter hose (and a pump to drive the fluids) while obtaining a sanitation level akin to washing dishes for an important dinner guest and you should get the picture. Chanda, assistant winemaker and Wes' wife, aptly described the process of draining the fluids out of said hose as "Wrestling the Sea Monster." That pretty much describes it.

The weather here is, as always, perfect. Foggy and upper 50's at night, clear and upper 70's during the day.

Cheers!

“I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself.” - Johnny Carson