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.