I moved to Oregon in September of 2004. Hard to believe that was five years ago! I was hired by Erath Vineyards and, although I took a job in sales and marketing, my intention was to get closer to the source to learn more about viticulture and/or production. I wanted to eventually land in the realm of winemaking. Five years later, I never really got into the winery or vineyard, as I had hoped. Some of my employers allowed me to dapple in some fruit sorting or other light tasks of harvest work, but I never was able to fully experience what harvest was all about.
This year, since I had a more flexible schedule in consulting, I decided it was time to work crush. In March, I had contacted my friend and colleague, Thomas Houseman, winemaker at Anne Amie Vineyards. I met his winemaking team and signed on for harvest cellar work.
I started in early September with bottling some of the 2009 wines. It was a great way to get familiar with the cellar and winemaking team. By mid-month, I was helping with organizing and numbering new barrels. By October, we were in production.
My tasks as a cellar worker ranged from sorting fruit; cleaning and sanitizing equipment and tanks (which I did a lot!); following various work orders; monitoring fermentations (and by this I mean sampling for pH, gathering Brix and temperature data); punch downs; barrel topping; and so on.
Here I am sorting Muller Thurgau grapes..
The best part of harvest is working on a crew. I would say it’s like being on a pirate ship. A collegial pirate ship. You work very long hours doing really hard work. You plunder, and by plunder I mean you steal your crew mate’s galoshes and fill them up with water. You walk the plank over a tank to do your punchdowns. It’s exhausting and at times dangerous (you might slip on deck!). You are accountable for your work and your team relies on you to pull your weight.
There is a romance about making wine. Most people imagine bringing in baskets of pretty grapes and carefully placing the fruit in large baskets where beautiful women proceed to stomp the grapes with their perfect bare feet. Okay, maybe not. But, there truly is a romantic notion about making wine. And, every person who has ever worked on a cellar crew knows that the reality of it is that you are cold, wet, dirty, physically beat and bruised, and tired. It’s not romantic at all. But, what it is – well, it’s something hard to describe. You have to work a harvest to understand.
Here I am in rain gear, connecting a hose,
getting ready to hose down the sorting line…
There is a Zen nature to doing harvest work, in the meditative repetition of tasks. When I would hose down the sorting line or do my early morning rounds of collecting samples from tanks of Pinot noir, and even when I got to do punch downs, I felt a rhythm with nature and science, with space and time. I was very content. My “real life” seemed far and distant. I had been transported to a place that clamored with the sounds of beeping forklifts, wine pump-overs and loud hip hop or new wave music. I was fed well by an incredible chef who catered to our culinary needs. I was made fun of, harassed and prodded in good fun - hence, being part of a pirate crew. I dished out as much as I could. But, mostly, I learned a great deal from the excellent people who challenged me to experience a real wine education.
This was my first harvest, my first crush and it sure as hell won’t be my last. Arrrr!
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