Well folks, the 12 hour shifts have come to an end, yet the winery is still operating on 24 hour shifts. We're (un)lucky enough to have scored the 11pm to 7am shift, so we're currently readjusting to night shift (we'd begun to work days a few weeks ago) and beginning to decompress from the madness that was vintage 2008.
The good news is that the end is in sight - May 9th (or 10th or 11th???) will be our last day of work. May 12-21st we'll be traveling around the South Island saying goodbye to the country that's been our home since mid-December. May 21st we fly home and after 24 hours of travel we'll hopefully be back in the USA.
Thanks for all the emails and comments from all of you over the past months. As the work hours come back to are a more manageable level in the next few weeks, hopefully we'll get a chance to write more.
Cheers,
Steve
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The 84 hour work week
How do you make half a month disappear? Why you work 12 hour shifts for 3 weeks straight, that's how. Finally, after 3 weeks, we have a bit of some time off. It's not really a "whole" day off, but more like we're switching from night shift to day shift (note to self: bring sunscreen).
So here we are, it's mid-April, and we're well into vintage. I believe we've processed slightly more than half of the grapes that we'll receive this vintage but there's still much work to do. The end of the perfect growing season has been a bit of a wild ride, weather wise, with colder temperatures (frost=bad), rain and birds affecting the grapes that are still on the vine. Some grapes you see coming in are in good condition, and others are suffering from botrytis or slip rot. Luckily, each block of grapes is kept separate from the others so the good ones aren't affected by the bad.
So what have we been doing from 7pm to 7am each day? A mix of things really. First of all, the thing that takes the most time out of our work day is finding all the necessary equipment to complete your assigned task. When it's busy, you're hard pressed to find the pumps, hoses, fittings or other assorted stuff you need to complete the task. That coupled with people who don't put away their equipment after completing their project is really frustrating. Equipment is in such a short supply at times, that I've actually had my project poached by others while I'm still gathering up things to get started. Let's just say this made me REALLY mad.
Much of Jesse's day is spent at the receival dock where the trucks dump their grapes into a bin. The grapes are then sent through a destemmer/crusher and pumped directly into a press or into a tippy tank where they wait until there is a press available. Careful attention must be paid to how much goes into the press or into a tippy tank. A lapse in judgment can cause quite a spectacular explosion of grapes.
There are so many additions of chemicals and solutions to the juice to turn it into wine that frequently we find ourselves schlepping 5 gallon buckets full of Bentonite, Potassium Metabisulphate, Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) up a 30 foot flight of stairs. Who says wine isn't healthy?
Also, we spend a good deal of time racking and transferring grape juice from tank to tank. As part of the wine making process, grape juice is put into a tank and allowed to settle. The clean juice is then "racked" off the stuff that has settled out, or lees. The lees then are filtered and sometimes readded to the clean juice.
Cheers,
~S
So here we are, it's mid-April, and we're well into vintage. I believe we've processed slightly more than half of the grapes that we'll receive this vintage but there's still much work to do. The end of the perfect growing season has been a bit of a wild ride, weather wise, with colder temperatures (frost=bad), rain and birds affecting the grapes that are still on the vine. Some grapes you see coming in are in good condition, and others are suffering from botrytis or slip rot. Luckily, each block of grapes is kept separate from the others so the good ones aren't affected by the bad.
So what have we been doing from 7pm to 7am each day? A mix of things really. First of all, the thing that takes the most time out of our work day is finding all the necessary equipment to complete your assigned task. When it's busy, you're hard pressed to find the pumps, hoses, fittings or other assorted stuff you need to complete the task. That coupled with people who don't put away their equipment after completing their project is really frustrating. Equipment is in such a short supply at times, that I've actually had my project poached by others while I'm still gathering up things to get started. Let's just say this made me REALLY mad.
Much of Jesse's day is spent at the receival dock where the trucks dump their grapes into a bin. The grapes are then sent through a destemmer/crusher and pumped directly into a press or into a tippy tank where they wait until there is a press available. Careful attention must be paid to how much goes into the press or into a tippy tank. A lapse in judgment can cause quite a spectacular explosion of grapes.
There are so many additions of chemicals and solutions to the juice to turn it into wine that frequently we find ourselves schlepping 5 gallon buckets full of Bentonite, Potassium Metabisulphate, Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) up a 30 foot flight of stairs. Who says wine isn't healthy?
Also, we spend a good deal of time racking and transferring grape juice from tank to tank. As part of the wine making process, grape juice is put into a tank and allowed to settle. The clean juice is then "racked" off the stuff that has settled out, or lees. The lees then are filtered and sometimes readded to the clean juice.
Cheers,
~S
Saturday, March 29, 2008
First Real Night Shift - Rain
So I believe someone above is laughing at us. To add insult to injury of going to work at 7pm and ending at 7:30am, the powers that be decided to bring on torrential downpours for 90% of our evening shift, including the bike to work. Now, normally, this would/could be expected, except this is Blenheim. It hasn't rained one drop since we got here a month ago. The sun has been out all but two cloudy days. Needless to day the rain made work very damp and cold, especially for those who had to work prolonged stints outside.
Now that the rain has stopped, it's cold and windy. I guess fall has finally arrived.
Funny thing about adjusting to night shift. Usually when you stay out all night or don't sleep on a normal schedule, it's because there's alcohol involved and waking up the next morning involves a hangover of some sorts. However, waking up at 2:30 pm today feels slightly less miserable. I opened one eye, saw it was light out and braced myself for the standard feeling of dry mouth, headache, nausea associated with being over served. Delightfully surprised that none of those symptoms became apparent, I was caught off guard when the dead weight of being up all night hit me like a sack of potatoes. I certainly hope it's like skiing, where if you can pull through the third day, you can rally on the fourth.
~S
Now that the rain has stopped, it's cold and windy. I guess fall has finally arrived.
Funny thing about adjusting to night shift. Usually when you stay out all night or don't sleep on a normal schedule, it's because there's alcohol involved and waking up the next morning involves a hangover of some sorts. However, waking up at 2:30 pm today feels slightly less miserable. I opened one eye, saw it was light out and braced myself for the standard feeling of dry mouth, headache, nausea associated with being over served. Delightfully surprised that none of those symptoms became apparent, I was caught off guard when the dead weight of being up all night hit me like a sack of potatoes. I certainly hope it's like skiing, where if you can pull through the third day, you can rally on the fourth.
~S
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Let the Savalanche Begin!
The onslaught (Savalanche) of grapes has begun. This week we've worked one 12 hr shift already and are gradually moving towards "the night shift." Tomorrow we work from 12 noon to midnight. I have 3 filtering jobs lined up (more diatomaceous earth) for tomorrow and Jesse's scheduled to receive 350 tonnes of grapes.
If you're curious, we've picked mainly Sauvignon Blanc and a little Chardonnay. The Pinots (Gris and Noir) are still hanging out on the vines, increasing in Brix.
Oh, so we learned that next Monday, they're going to feed us "lunch" once a day, for free. This probably works out for our 1 am meal, but I'm always pumped over free food!
Cheers,
~S
If you're curious, we've picked mainly Sauvignon Blanc and a little Chardonnay. The Pinots (Gris and Noir) are still hanging out on the vines, increasing in Brix.
Oh, so we learned that next Monday, they're going to feed us "lunch" once a day, for free. This probably works out for our 1 am meal, but I'm always pumped over free food!
Cheers,
~S
Friday, March 21, 2008
White Wine Survey Results
Winning the previous survey was Sauvignon Blanc with 41% of the votes. Readers are possibly attracted to the dryer more herbaceous flavor with hints citrus and flint.
Next off was Pinot Grigio with 25% of the votes. Obviously readers haven't had an experience of being overserved Pinot Grigio like I have. Since having too much of one of those LARGE bottle of Luna de Luna, I haven't touched the stuff.
Chardonnay took home 16% of the votes. Personally, I think oak and wine should be limited to red wines, however, I can see how the creamy smooth Chardonnay flavors can be attractive.
The last two wines, Riesling and Boone's Farm took home 8% of the vote each. Throughout our trip, I have had a few Rieslings that were pretty decent. Both were better than a bottle of Boone's Farm, but I think it's safe to say that our readers prefer non-sweet white wines better than the sweeter varietals.
Thanks for voting, next week please vote for your favorite red!
Cheers,
~S
Next off was Pinot Grigio with 25% of the votes. Obviously readers haven't had an experience of being overserved Pinot Grigio like I have. Since having too much of one of those LARGE bottle of Luna de Luna, I haven't touched the stuff.
Chardonnay took home 16% of the votes. Personally, I think oak and wine should be limited to red wines, however, I can see how the creamy smooth Chardonnay flavors can be attractive.
The last two wines, Riesling and Boone's Farm took home 8% of the vote each. Throughout our trip, I have had a few Rieslings that were pretty decent. Both were better than a bottle of Boone's Farm, but I think it's safe to say that our readers prefer non-sweet white wines better than the sweeter varietals.
Thanks for voting, next week please vote for your favorite red!
Cheers,
~S
Two weeks down, still no grapes
This week consisted of more learning, cleaning tanks, and getting the winery ready to receive grapes. Yet we still haven't seen any grapes yet. Rumor has it that next Tuesday (after the Easter holiday) we'll get our first 150 tons of grapes.
To reinforce the sheer volume of grapes that we'll be receiving, Nobilo loaded us on a tour bus and took us to see the different vineyards around the area. Around the Marlborough region almost every available square meter (we roll in the metric system here) is covered in Sauvignon Blanc. See the pictures on our website to get an idea of the hectares and hectares of grapes planted around here. I'd say that probably 95% of what's planted around here is Sauvignon Blanc, with the remaining 5% consisting of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio for ya'll who are familiar with this Italian varietal), Pinot Noir, Semillion and Riesling.
To reinforce the sheer volume of grapes that we'll be receiving, Nobilo loaded us on a tour bus and took us to see the different vineyards around the area. Around the Marlborough region almost every available square meter (we roll in the metric system here) is covered in Sauvignon Blanc. See the pictures on our website to get an idea of the hectares and hectares of grapes planted around here. I'd say that probably 95% of what's planted around here is Sauvignon Blanc, with the remaining 5% consisting of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio for ya'll who are familiar with this Italian varietal), Pinot Noir, Semillion and Riesling.
Friday, March 14, 2008
One week down, no grapes yet.
We made it one week at Nobilo winery as cellar hands. This week we experienced all the "haphazardness" of any first week of work. No one knows what to do, everyone's giving 100% to try to not let anyone else down, and mistakes/accidents are plentiful. Both Jesse and I have avoided any major disasters, however some other coworkers haven't been so lucky. We've had a fellow coworker fall down a set of stairs and burn his foot with some caustic soda. Yikes!
At the end of the week, we celebrated a successful completion by sitting around drinking beers. Yes, I said beers. It's kind of ironic that a bunch of cellar hands and wine makers sit around drinking beers, isn't it? But I kind of understand this, after being around wine 24/7 (smelling, tasting, moving, spilling), the last thing you want to drink is wine when you're "relaxing".
So anyways, what did we learn this week?
First off, we learned how to make hoses. On and off this week, both Jesse and I cut large 3" diameter hoses to different lengths and put ends onto them. All in all, I think we made 10 hoses. When you put the ends onto the hose, you must use two hose clamps to secure the end. The tools required to do this job are both antiquated and terribly hard to handle, making the task much harder than it should be.
Next we learned how to pump out and clean a tank. Using a centrifugal pump which is difficult to prime, you can pump the wine from one tank (anywhere from 50,000L to 250,000L) to another. After removing the wine from a tank, it must be cleaned, expecially if the wine's been sitting in there for some time. To do this, you must rinse the tank with caustic soda, water, citric acid (to neutralize the caustic) and then water again. That's at least 4 rinses per tank. If the tank is extra dirty, the small mixing fans in the tank must also be cleaned. That's 4 more rinses per tank. All in all quite time consuming.
Since my specialty this vintage will be filtering wine, I did some work with different types of filters. Two of the filters use something called Diotomatious Earth (DE) which coats metal plates. Wine is drawn through these plates and the particulates in it stick to the DE. Dirty wine goes in, clean wine goes out. My favorite part of filtering is something called "tasting off". When you finish filtering a batch of wine, you have to then flush the machine with water. However, due to the length of hoses and pipes, you have quite a bit of wine left in the system. To loose this wine would be quite unprofitable, so you try to pump as much as possible into the tank, before it gets too watery. To do this, you must taste the wine that's going into the tank (with the help of a T-valve) and "determine" when it's too watery. When it gets too watery, you open the T-valve (closing off the receival tank) and let the water work it's way throughout the filter and hoses. Then you being to clean out the filter using the 4 step rinses described above. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, each filter machine has between 5 and 50,000 knobs, gauges and dials that must be turned in a specific order to ensure proper filtration. Turn the wrong one and you're liable to spray wine on your foot or worse.
One of the other filter that I have to run uses a centrifuge to spin wine at 6000 rpm. When the wine is spun up it gets dizzy and the particulates fall out (not quite). But particulates are trapped in a mesh and the wine goes through. When the particulate trap is full, the machine "ejects" the particulates with such a loud bang, it sounds like a howitzer is going off. The machine is actually reinforced in the area where the particulates are ejected from the centrifuge because of the force with which the particulates are ejected. I've taken to yelling "fire in the hole" to warn passer by's of the impending boom.
Next week, we'll get another 12 new employees with 6 coming to night shift with us. Rumor has it that the grapes are coming late next week, but again, that's just a rumor. Until then, we'll enjoy our 8 hour days and weekends off. Next weekend is Easter, so we'll have 4 days off (maybe).
Cheers,
~S
At the end of the week, we celebrated a successful completion by sitting around drinking beers. Yes, I said beers. It's kind of ironic that a bunch of cellar hands and wine makers sit around drinking beers, isn't it? But I kind of understand this, after being around wine 24/7 (smelling, tasting, moving, spilling), the last thing you want to drink is wine when you're "relaxing".
So anyways, what did we learn this week?
First off, we learned how to make hoses. On and off this week, both Jesse and I cut large 3" diameter hoses to different lengths and put ends onto them. All in all, I think we made 10 hoses. When you put the ends onto the hose, you must use two hose clamps to secure the end. The tools required to do this job are both antiquated and terribly hard to handle, making the task much harder than it should be.
Next we learned how to pump out and clean a tank. Using a centrifugal pump which is difficult to prime, you can pump the wine from one tank (anywhere from 50,000L to 250,000L) to another. After removing the wine from a tank, it must be cleaned, expecially if the wine's been sitting in there for some time. To do this, you must rinse the tank with caustic soda, water, citric acid (to neutralize the caustic) and then water again. That's at least 4 rinses per tank. If the tank is extra dirty, the small mixing fans in the tank must also be cleaned. That's 4 more rinses per tank. All in all quite time consuming.
Since my specialty this vintage will be filtering wine, I did some work with different types of filters. Two of the filters use something called Diotomatious Earth (DE) which coats metal plates. Wine is drawn through these plates and the particulates in it stick to the DE. Dirty wine goes in, clean wine goes out. My favorite part of filtering is something called "tasting off". When you finish filtering a batch of wine, you have to then flush the machine with water. However, due to the length of hoses and pipes, you have quite a bit of wine left in the system. To loose this wine would be quite unprofitable, so you try to pump as much as possible into the tank, before it gets too watery. To do this, you must taste the wine that's going into the tank (with the help of a T-valve) and "determine" when it's too watery. When it gets too watery, you open the T-valve (closing off the receival tank) and let the water work it's way throughout the filter and hoses. Then you being to clean out the filter using the 4 step rinses described above. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, each filter machine has between 5 and 50,000 knobs, gauges and dials that must be turned in a specific order to ensure proper filtration. Turn the wrong one and you're liable to spray wine on your foot or worse.
One of the other filter that I have to run uses a centrifuge to spin wine at 6000 rpm. When the wine is spun up it gets dizzy and the particulates fall out (not quite). But particulates are trapped in a mesh and the wine goes through. When the particulate trap is full, the machine "ejects" the particulates with such a loud bang, it sounds like a howitzer is going off. The machine is actually reinforced in the area where the particulates are ejected from the centrifuge because of the force with which the particulates are ejected. I've taken to yelling "fire in the hole" to warn passer by's of the impending boom.
Next week, we'll get another 12 new employees with 6 coming to night shift with us. Rumor has it that the grapes are coming late next week, but again, that's just a rumor. Until then, we'll enjoy our 8 hour days and weekends off. Next weekend is Easter, so we'll have 4 days off (maybe).
Cheers,
~S
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