Living On Borrowed Time
A Rite of Passage for a Wino
October
Week 2
Thursday
October 13th 2016
This was the week where all the hard work caught up with me; what I feared may happen...getting sick! Nothing to worry about though, it was just for one day, but my body decided it was done! This whole time I feel like I have been living on borrowed time; I say this because working a wine harvest is some seriously hard, labor intensive work, and somehow I have survived...and I am glad I have!
This week a lot of barreling down is taking place; I've discovered a new favorite thing of mines, filling new oak barrels with wine! The aromas that come out of the barrel while filling them is something to get excited about!
The toasting level, how the barrels were toasted, and where they are from will give off different aromas. Now I can see why Peter says, "that smell never gets old."
This week a lot of barreling down is taking place; I've discovered a new favorite thing of mines, filling new oak barrels with wine! The aromas that come out of the barrel while filling them is something to get excited about!
The toasting level, how the barrels were toasted, and where they are from will give off different aromas. Now I can see why Peter says, "that smell never gets old."
Testing, testing, let's see what the wines taste like after 1st fermentation.
Always testing, always tasting...a winemakers palate is quite different from a somm's
Luciana is looking for what may be wrong with the wine, and how she can fix it before it's too late.
Time is of the essence in winemaking, the sooner issues get resolved or corrected the better the finished product will be.
Pressing Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and our hillside Cabernet Sauvignon.
I'm going to miss the berry aromas that come from the press pan, but I will not miss the bees!
After fermentation, and maceration these berries press easily.
Is it me, or does the Cab look like red bean dessert?
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| As I am pressing, Peter is toiling away filling barrels! There is wine being barreled down, there is wine being pressed, and there is still many bins of Petite Sirah and Mourvedre fermenting inside. |
Friday
October 14th 2016
Barreling Down
The barrels I got to fill were just some of the many different barrels Turkovich works with.
As harvest comes to an end I will get to fill more new oak barrels (hopefully of different toasting levels, and from different countries) and will be sure to include the details, and the wonderful aromas I experience coming from the barrels as they are being filled.
(MT + TH)
The first new barrel I filled, MT means medium toast with toasted heads of the barrel. This sort of toasting uses flame toasting and as I filled the barrel it smelled of berries, spices, cedar, or as I put it...Christmas =D
(TH) (CT)
TH means toasted heads, and the CT stands for convection toast 'by hot air' this is when the barrel gets so hot it toasts the wood leaving aromas of a camp fire and s'mores 'burnt marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers'
(SHT + TH)
SHT=Sweet heavy toast, this means the temperature of the toasting goes so high that the oak caramelizes more, leaving behind sweet char like aromas.
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| It's raining in California! Luciana got all of us rain gear =) of course today of all days I wear my blue shirt. I look like a minion! |
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| Googled wine minion and this is what popped up =D |
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| New oak barrels to be filled |
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| Today is Peter's last day =( I'll miss you Peter! You have great taste in music, and are one of the most patience and encouraging people I have ever worked with. |
Rain, rain, go away, come back when we aren't barreling down outside!
Looking to see how close the wine is to the top of the barrel; we have to be careful not to overfill it, or else the wine can stain the barrel and attract bacteria and mold.
The barrels being filled right here are 'neutral' barrels, which means these barrels have already seen their 3 years of use, and no longer impart flavor to the wine, but these barrels are still useful for storage and micro-oxidation.
Saturday
October 15th 2016
I feel like Cinderella! If I finish all these punch downs before noon, I can make it to my family's World Series blind wine tasting competition, and heirloom tomato tasting.
As I am punching down the Petite Sirah, Luciana's father tells me, "all good wine needs hard work." I then got to try some of this fruit he picked out back =D In Argentina it is called tunas, or known here at prickly pear/cactus fruit. This fruit didn't give off strong aromas or flavors, but it is certainly thirst quenching! The perfect fruit after doing so many punch downs.
I made it!
I was a little late, and the blind tasting competition had already begun, but that didn't stop me from tasting some delicious wines, tomatoes, and eating my fill of Larry's bbq turkey.
The Tomato Man, or so they call him =)
Heirloom tomatoes are all they hype in California it seems...lucky me! These are all grown by my family and the garden it just right outside these doors.
This one was by far my favorite.
Wine, heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, cheese, and bread tasting...what's not to enjoy?
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| Yumm BBQ turkey |
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| The dessert table |
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| My student's would always ask me in Asia, what do American's eat, what do you eat with your family? Here it is you guys! Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and chicken salad accompanied by home grown cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes. Most of what is eaten in this house comes straight from the garden or nearby farms . |
A view of the ranch house
There was so much dessert left over we had a bit of pie for breakfast! This is a first for me...the pie for breakfast that is.
Pie, coffee, and that early morning fresh air...carpe diem! I want to bask in this moment forever.
All those white things decorating the fence are abalone shells. My great grandfather was quite the fisherman; my grandmother told me I would name every fish Mary Poppins, and would carry some of the fish around like teddy bears.
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