Turkovich Wine Harvest 2016 Week 7

It's Like Tetris But With Wine

A Rite of Passage for a Wino

September 

Week 3

Monday
September 12th  2016

This week many of the reds have finished their primary fermentation and need to be pressed.  The whites that are currently in stainless steel tanks need to be racked and moved to other tanks. Space must be made for incoming fruit, and custom crush; so it's a cellar management game!
 How I see it, Tetris but with tanks and fermentation bins.
  If all the fermentation bins and tanks are taken up, then there is no room for new fruit to come in, be crushed, and start fermentation; it's actually quite chaotic! Pickers must be scheduled to harvest the fruit, space must be made, bins and tanks must frequently be sanitized since many of the wines are constantly moving places.
Make room for more grapes to go into bins and tanks, you win the game! Make one little mistake, and before you know it the blocks have stacked up so high it seems almost impossible to salvage the game. 

The fog is trying to roll over the hills today! so close, yet so far. 

One clone of Syrah is ready for the press today.

This is an example of the life cycle of this grape's fermentation; things get quite heated during the first few days! The yeast are working extra hard during the beginning stages. 

Juice is dripping out from the press, into the press pan, and being pumped out and into tanks.

Tuesday

September 13th 2016


The 2,500 gallon tank of Tempranillo has gone through primary fermentation and is ready to be pressed.  The hard part about working with tanks of this size is having to dig out the skins/berries and put them into the press to squeeze the rest of the juice out. 

Down the rabbit hole we go! 

Since there is still so much co2 in the skins and lingering around the tank, it makes it quite dangerous to just jump inside the tank and start digging it out; one can actually pass out and die if the tank isn't aired out and an assistant is near by to pull the digger out.

Pumping out as much juice as we can, and transferring it to another clean and empty tank. 

Winemakers Luciana and Chris Turkovich, they really have taught me so much in the matter of two months! I couldn't have asked for more patience, passionate, and inspiring teachers. 

Release the skins! 

As much wine as possible has been pumped out, now it's time to open the doors, dig out the skins, and put them into the wine press. 

I was quite nervous when I found out we were digging out the tank and pressing the Tempranillo today! With all the dangers that come with tank, you must be alert at all times. 

Chris Turkovich peering out the 2500 gallon tank

Wednesday

September 14th 2016

Here we are again, we are pressing Syrah-Viognier, and then another Syrah of ours, but from a different area of vineyards. 

Happy Grapes! Or at least that is what you many feel like if you eat one too many of them! Some whole cluster Syrah bunches have managed to escape the press; these grapes have already gone through fermentation, so eat a few but beware!

Saying goodbye to punching these bins down =D 

Where there's a mess...and there's always a mess during harvest, snap photos! There just may be some beauty in all this chaos, or more like...in all this mess to clean up.

Saturday 
September 20th 2016

Wine Club Pick Up Event


The food is ready, farm fresh tomatoes and basil are out, and the wine is ready to pour! Let's get this party started.
A few times a year Turkovich Family Wines will host special events for their wine clubs members.
The theme for this party....wine pick up! Pick up reserved wine (and bottles/vintages sell out quick for this winery!), stay for awhile, eat, drink, be merry, and enjoy a lovely Saturday at the winery.

My job for the day....giving tours of the winery and explaining the winemaking process =)

Free flow all day for wine club members

Fermenting Grenache is something interesting to see! The skins and  color of the juice is quite different from the Cab, Syrahs, and Zin we have fermenting. 

Goodies I got to bring home after the party

After a long day's work it's time for a glass of some much deserved wine.
Cheers vino lovers!