Where did 6 months go???

My 6 month internship with Crushpad will be over in less than two weeks….boo hoo. I definitely remember the grueling 12 hour days during harvest, yet oddly, I miss those long hours and the physical work. Even though it was backbreaking, it was radical fun and something that doesn’t happen every day.

I’ll be heading back to LA at the end of the month and will once again be an unemployed bum looking for the next adventure. I’m still interested in the wine industry and am looking for anybody who has industry contacts in LA, so I might pursue this further there….or Santa Barbara…or other places.

Still don’t know what I want to do in the industry, but will fall back on my marketing expertise to get me in the door. I’ve honed my social media skills up here and have Tweeted more than you can imagine, and have met some fantastic wine bloggers. I’ve also had the pleasure of taking photos almost every day, so have probably put a few more dings in my camera, while becoming very proficient at Adobe Lightroom.

I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and having my own things & space, as opposed to using my roommate’s things and sharing space after living alone for the past umpteen years. I’ll miss the proximity to the amazing wine country…so, I’ll get in one last trip to Healdsburg this weekend with my great college pal, Laura Barrera.

Not sure how much of the blogging I’ll keep up, as I’m sure you could care less about my normal, daily life when it’s not filled with wine adventures. But, if something exciting happens, I’ll keep you posted.

Cheers - Linda

New Weight Loss Program

Found a new weight loss program – it’s called “Working at Crushpad!!!”

The summer program is Harvest and you get a 12 hour workout starting at 6am. The winter program is No Heat and you shiver pounds away.

At Crushpad, wine is our asset. We need to do all we can to keep our asset in tact. And that means, keeping the winery around 60, if not less.

So, during this cold spell in San Francisco (it was 40F this morning when I drove to work…I know, I know, LA has that, and my mid-west & east coast friends are rolling their eyes cuz that would be a heat wave for them), we don’t turn on heaters. Actually, I don’t think we even have a central heating system. So, I’m sitting at my computer in a t-shirt, a turtle neck, a scarf, and a down jacket, and I’m about comfortable. Feet are a little chilly, but body is warm. Had a wild hair and took the jacket off for a few minutes…not a good idea.

Every morning, I go to the winery (separate area from our office), and they don’t get much natural light (no sun warmth), and they definitely don’t have heating. As a matter of fact, they had the loading dock doors open, so we get a nice cold breeze coming in. It’s gotta be in the 50s in that building. One of the guys wore flannel PJ bottoms under his jeans today - LOL. Again, great for wine…not so great for people.

The best part is when I do product shots (yes, I’m the staff photographer) and I turn the lamp on. Yea, nice, warm glow of fake light to warm me up.

It's so damn cold that I had to move my garage rose' into my bedroom. Yea, too cold for the wine - have you ever heard of such a thing??? I gotta warm it up a bit, so it doesn't stall the fermentation. So, I have a 5 gallon carboy of pinot noir rose in my room - who woulda thought??

See you in LA over the holidays….hoping for warmer weather.

Cheers - Linda

Winter is Here

The city is beautiful now – clear skies, crisp sunny days and chilly nights. It’s gorgeous – as long as I’m in the sun…but once I cross into the shade, everything becomes instantly colder…like, add another layer colder. Even the cement feels harder. Not complaining…just telling you how I feel.

My garage rose’ experiment is definitely an experiment. My pinot is more like pinot water…almost clear with a slight touch of pink…would look better as a champagne than a rose'...nowhere near where a rose’ should be. My syrah rose’ has better color, but it’s not as crisp as I’d like it to be. They both taste a little like plastic to me…the lab manager says they smell like candy bananas (like Laffy Taffy) to her. Silly me, I was kinda hoping they would smell like wine.

I’ll have to wait and see what happens – they say it’s in its dumb adolescent stage, while going through malolactic fermentation…that’s when the malic acid turns to lactic acid, which softens up the mouthfeel. So, instead of dumping it down the drain, I’ll hang in there to see if it will taste & look like wine in the near future.

Took a trip to Roseville (NE of Sacramento) for Thanksgiving. Lots of fall colors up there – golden yellow, amber, burnt orange, cranberry red…all the colors we don’t get to see in LA or San Francisco. Then, went wine tasting in Placerville & Plymouth in the Sierra foothills – beautiful area, with even more fall colors. Fields of amber colored grape vines combined with end of day light made for a gorgeous photo opp!

I’ll be in LA for Christmas – hope to see some of you then!

Cheers - Linda