It went from maybe two weeks of beautiful, clear sunny days in the 70s to dark, cloudy days of pouring rain in the 50s…oh yea, add wind to that, so the rain is sideways. Forget the cheapy collapsible umbrella in my trunk – it turned inside out while I was still trying to open it. I’m still wet from walking ½ a block and it’s after noon.
Whatever, guess it’s raining in LA too, but they’ll get back to the 70s in a matter of days.
I’ve eaten more grapes than you can imagine. I taste everything that comes in – cabernet sauvignon, syrah, chardonnay, pinot noir, viognier, and so forth. The fruit & seeds are usually small & intense. Very sweet.
My hands are still purple, and so are my teeth. I love that friends are tuning into our Crushcams – you know who you are – thank you for watching & chatting!!! For those of you who haven’t checked it out, we’re at http://www.crushpadwine.com/ccam. You can request control of the camera and move it around.
My rotation in the winery is extremely tiring work. Gotta hand it to the guys who do it every day, 6 days a week. Thanks to Andy Popinski who visited & worked 4 days in a row – at least one of my friends can appreciate and understand how & why I’m so exhausted. First time in my life… I heard Andy say “I’m tired”.
My grapes are now in the early stages of wine. In only 1 week, they went from a 1 ton bin doing their fermenting thing & being punched down every day to having all the liquid pressed out of them. The wine (yes, it has alcohol at this point) is now in a barrel with my name on it and the aging process has begun.
Every couple of days, I remove the bung (the stopper) and smell the liquid. It smells like wet oak and is making bubble noises, kind of like an open bottle of soda. My barrel is 3 rows up on a rack, so I climb up the rack like a monkey, cause it’s too narrow for a ladder to fit.
The benefits of this job? My arms are pumped and rock solid. I went golfing (no, I’m not a golfer) in Palm Springs over the weekend for a friend’s bday, and I drove the bar farther than I ever have before. And, my fairway shots were the longest I’ve had as well. I’ll have to figure out a way to keep it up after harvest is over, cause I’m loving this arm workout.
I’m in the winery 10/14-16 and 10/21 from 6a-6p, so tune in an watch & chat. If you can’t see me, post a question asking if I’m there and they’ll answer or get my attention.
Cheers - Linda
