Working in the winery
First off - I have no idea what is going on with uploading photos to this site. I'll keep trying to post pics but they may not make sense in the context of the post they are included in. My apologies, but hey, I'm not hosting this thing...
Today (Tuesday) was spent in the winery. Five of us - myself, the winemaker, assistant winemaker, vineyard owner, and another intern - were tasked with what seemed like the impossible: choose the three best barrels of Pinot Noir from the '05 vintage, 38 barrels of wine in all. It took about three hours, but it was worth the effort. The best three blended into a truly wonderful reserve selection. It will be a lot of fun to see how the "big blend" comes together - this is a blend of the remaining 35 barrels. I definitely learned a lot about Pinot Noir, and gained even more appreciation for those with well developed palates and their abilities to detect subtle differences between wines.
After the barrel tasting, blending, and a great/big lunch, it was back to the cellar to add SO2 (sulfur dioxide - a preservative used in almost ALL wine) and top the barrels. Climbing on the racks seems odd at first but quickly becomes routine. I certainly learned a lot about wine chemistry and winery sanitation today, and I had a lot of fun in the process.
Back in the vineyard, everything is beautiful as it always is. I'm still adjusting to an agricultural lifestyle, but I am really enjoying it and am not missing the city life at all, at least not yet.
“Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times.” - W.C. Fields
Today (Tuesday) was spent in the winery. Five of us - myself, the winemaker, assistant winemaker, vineyard owner, and another intern - were tasked with what seemed like the impossible: choose the three best barrels of Pinot Noir from the '05 vintage, 38 barrels of wine in all. It took about three hours, but it was worth the effort. The best three blended into a truly wonderful reserve selection. It will be a lot of fun to see how the "big blend" comes together - this is a blend of the remaining 35 barrels. I definitely learned a lot about Pinot Noir, and gained even more appreciation for those with well developed palates and their abilities to detect subtle differences between wines.
After the barrel tasting, blending, and a great/big lunch, it was back to the cellar to add SO2 (sulfur dioxide - a preservative used in almost ALL wine) and top the barrels. Climbing on the racks seems odd at first but quickly becomes routine. I certainly learned a lot about wine chemistry and winery sanitation today, and I had a lot of fun in the process.
Back in the vineyard, everything is beautiful as it always is. I'm still adjusting to an agricultural lifestyle, but I am really enjoying it and am not missing the city life at all, at least not yet.
“Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times.” - W.C. Fields
posted by Andrew Weber at 6:59 PM
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