Fire!!

On the 25th, Eric and I were heading south to San Francisco and came across this field fire which looked like it had just started. It was moving pretty fast towards us on Stony Point Road. I snapped a couple of shots and then we got the heck out of there. Scary. http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080925/NEWS/809250260

So when we made it to Ed's place in the City they were already in the process of processing a bunch of Rosella's and Garys' Vineyard Pinot. For lunch, Ed pulled some corks (a major fringe benefit of working harvest) and I was knocked over by the 2007 Roar - Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir. The best Pinot I have had in a long time. Thanks, Ed!! Ed is pretty busy at his facility in the City making wines for Roar (as of the 2007 vintage), August West and Sandler. You should check them out and buy some!

http://www.roarwines.com/

http://www.augustwestwine.com/augustwest/index.jsp

http://www.sandlerwine.com/index.html

Well, we are in the middle of our biggest week at Freeman (yes, to me Monday feels like the middle of the week!!). We will be bringing in fruit from six vineyards this week starting with the Heintz Ranch Chardonnay this morning. On Wednesday, its the fruit from Buck Hill for our 2008 zinfandel - I am very excited for that!

Well, I've got to go. By the way . . . WHAT TIME IS IT? GAME TIME! GO RAVENS! (and thank goodness for Tivo).

I almost forgot . . .

. . . to tell you a quick story from today. The picture is of the press machine - a large contraption used to squeeze out valuable juice from the grape skins after you have already drained off the "free run" juice. After that is over, it must be cleaned out and that's a big job. Tonight, while I was completely inside of the big cylindrical tube, the lower doors shut and wouldn't re-open. No big deal except I had just used hot, steamy water to clean it and I was now trapped in my own little steam bath. The good news . . . I may have lost a few pounds and I discovered that I am not claustrophobic. When Eric rescued me from my winery cage, that sucker was clean - I can promise you that.

Chardonnay Soon

These pictures are from Heintz Ranch. Notice the old gnarly twisty vines? Pretty cool. At the end of a nearly twelve hour work day, taking a vineyard sample at a place like this hardly seems to qualify as work. Half the fun of taking vineyard samples to determine if the fruit is ready for picking is the drive to the vineyard. Although most of the vineyards Freeman sources from are only a few miles from the winery, the drive to the vineyards often includes winding, twisting roads which are sometimes reduced to a single lane or even dirt/gravel. Sure beats the Beltway.

Tomorrow, after another early start at the winery, we head to the City to help out Ed down there. It should be a fun change of pace. BTW, around here, when folks refer to 'The City', they are always referring to San Francisco. It's never Oakland, Sacramento or any other city. While San Francisco may technically be closer than the other major cities in northern California, the reference isn't simply a matter of geography. It's a recognition that San Francisco is just a special place.

More Pics

Gualala, CA Trip Pics

A Day Off

Well, as you can see its been a few days since my last post. I chose to spend them with Katie rather than by a computer. :-) Katie got to see the operation in full swing Thursday afternoon and Friday. She was a trooper - even punching down Tank 2 which had just begun to ferment and was very hard to punch down and through the cap. We were able to get away on Saturday (my first day off!) and head north along Route 1 on the coast. If you have never travelled along the Pacific Ocean on Route 1, you need to add that to your "TO DO" list. Stunningly beautiful scenery. We got back in the area in time for Katie and I to knock out the Sunday afternoon punchdowns. Tanks 2 and 3 were quite a workout - a nice jolt back into harvest reality. We have all 8 of the five-ton fermenters full (plus LOTS of T-Bins) so when they all start to ferment its going to be lots of hard work. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, bringing in the fruit is easy . . . working with it in the winery is the hard part.

Great Days

We have had a few great days. The weather has been perfect, the work has been going smoothly and we've had some good times. Monday, although the amount of fruit we brought in was less than expected, some friends of the winery helped out and then made us a catered lunch. I'll just say this - duck fat fries. Awesome!

Tuesday we didn't bring in any fruit which allowed us to start barreling down the first 2008 Pinot out of one of the 5 ton tanks. Amazing dark color to the juice - almost looks like syrah. That afternoon, some friends from back east stopped by. Talk about perfect timing (the winery usually doesn't accept visitors during harvest). We were just slowing down and finishing up so we were able to put some glasses in their hands and show them around. Three hours later we let them leave. :-) I think Scott and Ann may be fans of the winery now!

Yesterday was another great day. While putting the rest of tank one into the press, we also brought in ten tons of Keefer Ranch Pinot (with more still to come). The fruit looked and tasted excellent. In a year when many growers were hit hard by frost (including Keefer) it's remarkable how they have farmed such high quality fruit with large yields. Well done. We finished off the day with dinner at The Underwood in Graton. I love that place.

I am in a great mood today as you can probably tell. I'm expecting a visitor . . .

Ahhhhh

Ahhhh. It's Sunday morning and we don't have to be at the winery at the crack of dawn. It feels like I'm cheating!! I can drink some coffee because I like it, not just because I need some caffeine. After leaving the winery after sunset and arriving before dawn yesterday, this morning it feels strange to lounge around and find some time to return some e-mails and update the blog. Friday night there was a time while I was alone at the winery when I stopped and realized how amazingly cool it was to be there. I was bleeding some juice from two of the 5-ton fermenters (rose' anyone?) while I was also adding yeast to some juice in two of the "T-Bins" and thought: "Wow. I better not screw this up!" Actually, it was just cool to be involved in actually making wine. So much of what we do as interns is glorified janitorial work. That is not a complaint. It's just the reality that things need to be CLEAN!! After making homebrew, one thing I understand is the need for everything to be clean.

Yesterday, my buddy Tim visited the winery and put in a few hours of work - thanks for the help, Tim!! We actually had several people come by the winery yesterday and help us process about 5 tons of fruit. Again, it went really well. We then re-checked the remaining fruit at Sexton vineyard. OK, what happened?! Suddenly, the fruit remaining there which looked pretty rough and tasted green just the other day is looking fantastic and tasting really good. We got a similar report yesterday about the clone 23 hanging at Keefer Ranch (remember the pics?). That fruit has come around very quickly also. It seems the cooler days/nights have allowed the flavors in the fruit to catch up to the record setting sugar levels. A very good sign!

Just an aside - the brix levels on the fruit cold-soaking in a few of the five-ton fermenters was so high, we couldn't read it with our hydrometers. Eric had to buy a new one so we could read the levels without having to spend extra time making calculations that we weren't entirely comfortable with. Well, it turns out our high readings were right. The point is this: higher sugar levels can lead to higher alcohol wines (that is a major simplification) which isn't the style of wines that Freeman likes to make. Before deciding how to deal with it, you want to make sure the readings you get are accurate. So, I will just say this . . . If Freeman decides to bottle a 2008 Rose', back up the truck - it should be excellent.

Hopefully the fruit we bring in over the next couple weeks will be more winemaker friendly so Eric won't have to worry so much. :-)

BTW, I know I foreshadowed an '07 Zin update - I haven't forgotten. I'll write about that soon.

The Katie arrival countdown is in full swing . . . !! Sure hope this week goes by fast.

Tricky Vintage

So, we had an interesting trip yesterday to check out the fruit at Keefer Ranch. I have to run so I will explain later but see if you notice a difference in the pictures. Later tonight, I'll update this post and explain in some detail what the pictures show about the 2008 harvest.

UPDATE: All four fruit pictures show fruit from the same row of the same vineyard. This is fruit from the Clone 23 Pinot Noir fruit that Freeman gets from Keefer Ranch. Pictures 2 and 4 show fruit from the side of the row that get less sun and 3 and 5 show fruit from the sunny side of the row. Even though the big clusters (they look like cabernet!) in 2 and 4 look pretty, they are not ready to be picked. They have thick skins, pulp and green seeds. Most importantly, the flavor isnt't there yet. On the opposite side, the fruit is starting to raisin and is much closer to being ready to pick. The clusters are fewer, smaller and tastier (at this juncture). So the picking decision is tricky (unlikely to pick on one side of the rows at a time). The fruit needs to come in before the one side shrivels so bad its all raisins but not before the flavors on the other side come around.

The weather has cooled down the last few days which has let us catch our breath a little bit. It will be warmer today through the weekend which will bring some anxiety - higher temps can accelerate the increase in the sugar levels in the fruit - sometimes before the the flavors come around. We have seen some of that with some of the fruit we have brought in. The skyrocketing sugar levels (brix) in shriveling clusters had to come in from some vineyards before the flavors were where you would typically want them. We have some of the highest brix levels ever for Freeman currently being recorded on the fruit currently in the fermenters at the winery. It's giving Eric and Ed some major headaches. You can't just leave the juice with these numbers or you'll be looking at Pinot Noir with outrageous alcohol levels. All kinds of things are considered - bleeds, water adds, acidification, etc... It's a tough time to be a winemaker. California winemaker's who make great wines in this vintage will have earned their money, that's for sure.

Changes

One thing I remember about my short stint out here last year is the need to be flexible. Plans change constantly - sometimes it reminds me of the phrase: "The only constant is change." Yesterday morning was a perfect example. First, the weather. For the first time since I've been here this year, it was a cool, foggy morning. In fact, it was the first time it was colder outside the cave than inside the cave. That's a weird feeling. Second, we thought our custom crush client was going to be bringing in fruit yesterday - nope! He got down to the Santa Lucia Highlands and determined that it wasn't ready. That can happen despite the fact you might have taken a fruit sample earlier that seemed good to go. Mother Nature - a fickle lady.

So, speaking of samples, with some extra time on our hands (that one really makes me laugh) we headed to some of Freeman's vineyard sources to pull some samples. We travelled to Sexton, Rayhill and Guidici (joo-dah-see) vineyards. Lots of really nice fruit still hanging on the vine - should make some awesome juice.

The pic above is Eric with my fellow intern, Ray Walker. Ray is a good guy from Rohnert Park who has been helping out since bottling. Since he has been around a little while and I was here last year, I think (?) we have been able to get rolling pretty quickly on some things but I could be wrong. Anyway, Ray has already left his world in finance and is making big plans to start his own label. And guess what? He also has a blog!! http://vine2glass.blogspot.com/ Part of me wishes I had been his age when I caught the wine bug. He reminds me of one of the young star poker players that Norman Chad on ESPN jokingly derides as: "Ahhhh. He's just a kid with a dream." My guess is we will see some good stuff from Ray in future if he doesn't wipe himself out driving his fast cars!!

Next post: The '07 Zinfandel update.

Some more pics from the vineyards yesterday:

Sunday - Short, Easy - NOT

So we were expecting to bring in around 5 tons or so of fruit on Sunday. Unusual to pick on Sunday but no big deal so we roll in around 8ish. On the way we stop off at the vineyard where the pick is going on and the vineyard manager seems pretty animated. Hmmm. Strange. Well, it turns out that he is running out of picking bins and needs us to process three tons asap so he can re-use those bins to finish what turns out to be around 11 tons. So there goes an easy Sunday at work. We crank it into high gear and finish up around 6:30ish. We would have been there much longer if Ed and Akiko Freeman hadn't stayed around to help us with the clean-up. That was awesome. Throughout the day it was fun being part of a well running team. Everyone worked really well together and anticipated the next move or thing to do. Good stuff.

BTW, I hear the RAVENS took it down Sunday. Guess I'll have to wear my jersey every Sunday now. :-)

So you want to be a winemaker? Better learn how to operate a forklift in tight spaces. That's Ed Kurtzman getting it done in the cozy tank room of the winery. The low ceiling is just something you have to work with.

A couple of random thoughts:

Roz Savage has successfully completed the first part of her row across the Pacific Ocean by making landfall the other day in Hawaii. Totally frickin amazing. I have her website link posted - if you haven't already checked it out.

Today marks the debut of the Joe Flacco/John Harbaugh era for the BALTIMORE RAVENS. It's certainly not ideal to start the season with a rookie QB, a rookie running back, and a rookie head coach, but that's how it has worked out this year. We'll see. Although I'll be missing my brother's backyard BBQ at his new crib, I am wearing some Ravens swag to represent out here. What time is it???? GAME TIME!!!

Speaking of sports teams, Ed is a Notre Dame fan and a diehard fan of all Boston teams. It's a wonder that we are able to communicate. Just kidding, boss!!

A New Technique

The heat this year is changing the way things get done. For the first time ever, Freeman Winery is using dry ice pellets (CO2) in an attempt to cool down the fruit immediately after processing. When we bought it Friday, the guys there said they couldn't make it fast enough. Wineries everywhere are scrambling for it. The concern is that standard methods to cool the fruit for its cold soak will not be enough when the fruit comes in later in the morning. By that time the outside temperature is already in the nineties - certainly not ideal. Higher fruit temps can lead to an unexpected fermentation, VA (volatile acidity), and other problems beyond my pay grade. The cool part is the addition of the dry ice leads to quite a display - reminiscent of an '80's rock show. The tricky part is you definitely do not want to get that stuff on your skin - that would be bad.

Long Hot Days

Well, we are into it now. We have brought in fruit three of the last four days with more to come Sunday and Monday. The weather has been screaming hot. By early afternoon, drinking water becomes a major priority. I have a mean redneck working!

The last couple nights Eric and I met a custom crush client (someone who hires the winery to make them their wine) and worked out some details concerning his wine. Being at the winery at night is very very cool. It is pretty serene to look skyward past the redwoods at all of the stars in the cooling night. Then reality hits and you realize that it's pretty tricky operating a forklift in the dark loading a truck full of picking bins for the following morning's fruit.

One night (I forget which) I walked up the adjoining hill to the winery and for the first time checked out the new vineyard the Freeman's have planted. In a few years, the winery will have estate grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir - I'm sure they are very excited about that for several reasons.

Anyway, yesterday (Friday) we took advantage of the fact that no fruit was coming in and emptied out half of the cave and then power washed it. We have been moving barrels around like crazy. At 120 lbs per empty barrel, it's significant work. Of course, once the cleaning is done the barrels all go back into the cave.

Fruit!!

Wednesday we started bringing in fruit with the Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir - Swan Clone. This fruit is actually for Keefer Ranch's own label - affectionately called Keefer Keefer - as opposed to Freeman Keefer or Kosta Browne Keefer or numerous others. By the way, that's Craig Strehlow - Keefer's grower and winemaker - in the bottom picture working on zero sleep goofing with the camera. Anyway, the fruit looked great and the processing went real smoothly especially since it was our first fruit day. Easy with the jokes, Matt.

Eric and I celebrated by joining some of his friends at a local Irish bar and listened to some of the worst live Irish music ever performed on stage. After a few Guinness and an 11 hour work day, we didn't really mind. As it turns out, processing the fruit as it comes in is actually pretty simple and not too physically demanding - yet. As we start bringing in more fruit and the subsequent work that is involved that will change. But for now what has been wiping me out is the work in the afternoons with moving barrels around. Holy cow. If I hadn't started working out a little before I came out here, I would be completely useless right now. Between my soft lawyer hands, tricky back and aching feet, I really have to concentrate in the afternoons so I don't screw something up! During all of this, I have been really impressed with Eric's work ethic and dedication. The dude is strong as an ox and won't leave until its all done and its all done right. The man gets it done.

http://www.gitrdone.com/

Showtime

Whoa, I am beat. I forgot how tough this job can be. Today we moved about one hundred old barrels out of the cave (see the pic) and moved dozens of new barrels into the cave. With the word coming late today that we are bringing in our first fruit tomorrow, the excitement of harvest is underway big time. Everything is ready to go. We have cleaned the sorting table and destemmer a couple of times - my hands are feeling the sting of percarb and citric acid - and everyone is excited. We get rolling at the winery at 6:30 am tomorrow so it should be a long day.

By the way, just so you can get a feel for the folks I work with, Eric (my boss) - the guy who is supposed to be learning me on all this wine stuff - instead insists that I watch the following video today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDFgtFXfnv0

Work Begins

It's 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and I am sitting here with tears running down my face. After four amazing days here in California filled with fun, friends and lots of travel, Katie just left for the airport to fly back home. I don't remember it being this hard last year - my only guess is that I love her more now than I did last year. Right this minute the doubts creep in about whether this whole thing was a big mistake. But I know that's only temporary. I leave for work in a few minutes and I will very quickly be so busy I won't have to time for doubts!!

So, there is so much to tell already and no time right now to go into much detail. We started working yesterday at the winery getting things ready for fruit this week. It looks like we are going to be rocking very soon with the recent heat spike here - it has accelerated everything. We got to check out the Buck Hill Vineyard last night where we are buying more fruit this year for our '08 Zinfandel. Everything there looks great. Our barrel tasting of the '07 Zin yesterday was a total blast. I am very pleased how that is coming along.

Well, I've got to run. I'll try to update tonight with more info and pics. Do me a favor - give Katie a big hug for me when you see her back home.