winery tidbits

pink mountains at sunrise

sunrise

Ben. there are no words to describe him but he is pretty awesome

you are looking at plain white sugar... oh the dirty secrets of wine making

the crusher in action

Brittany and I with our favorite truck driver Larry

tippy tank in action 

sticky juice= mold everywhere

my very happy and productive yeast! 

this is what happens when the conveyer belt breaks, yes we had to shovel that all out

rainy days

hard at work with Paul, our other favorite truck driver

need a hose?? good luck finding one...

Work is coming to an end. We got our last grapes last week which was bitter sweet. 12 hour days are brutal. We go to work before the sun is up and leave once it is already dark. We barely have the energy to shower which means we definitely don't have the energy to cook. Kyle and I have been living off of toast and Doritos... not that I'm complaining lol.

I apologize for the lack of posting but you probably wouldn't enjoy posts about the gory details of cleaning. Once the grapes stopped we went into intense cleaning. Caustic soda is a highly dangerous chemical that will kill anything in its path- great for mold, not great for Olivia's face...

For those of you who romanticized wine making like we once did, let me fill you in on reality. Wine making is 80% cleaning and 20% working machines. If you see juice, that means it is on the floor and you did not do your job right.

That being said, we have both learned a lot about the incredibly complicated process of winemaking. It is a lot of chemistry and a little bit of art.
Here are some fun facts about life in a winery!

• our electricians name is Sparky (this is not a joke)
• our coffee breaks are called "smoko" breaks and take place in the "smoko room"
• it is called juice until it has undergone fermentation, then it is wine
• working with juice means being sticky for 12 hours straight- clothes, hair, everything
• cleaning in winery speak means hosing, but if you really want to get serious with it- get the power washer.
• if something is broken, get Ben. He can literally fix anything
• if it is shaped like a corkscrew, its proper name is probably an orga
• one of the many things we add to the juice is DAP, it is basically junk food for the yeast and makes them very happy... go figure

It is officially fall! Take a look at the seasonal change in just two short weeks!

before

now