Don't get mad.

I don't think I can blog about work anymore. I think my blog may be jinxed. I talked about two possible mentors who no longer are my mentors here anymore. I feel if I talk about my co-workers, that something might happen to them and then they won't work with me anymore. And, you guys, I really like my co-workers. I don't want them to get sick or stupid or anything. I am sorry for being so vague but all I can say is that I still love what I am doing and I really can't imagine doing anything else. Even though things are super busy at the moment. I worked 7 days this week, long hours each day except for today, which will be a 6 hour day or something like that.

We crush, we press, I do a lot of lab work (which is one of my favorite things to do at work), we clean, we move wine, we rack wine (which is the same thing as moving wine except you are taking the clear juice/wine off of the lees [which are the heavy solids that settle out after you crush and press] and moving the clear juice/wine to another tank), we clean, we do pump-overs, we clean.

Have I already given you some definitions? No? Ok, well here are some and these definitions are in my own words, so I hope I am right. I will be fact checking as I go along (did I mention my boss knows about my blog [Hi Big D$$!] so I hope I don't make an ass of myself and tell you that one word actually means something completely different, although I doubt BD$$ actually reads my blog but just in case he does: My boss rocks!)

Racking: removing juice/wine from the settled out solids, lees or sediment

Pump-overs:a procedure which gets the cap back in contact with juice/wine during fermentation so that the wine can get more skin contact which in turns helps with tannin structure and color extraction

Cap: the skins and seeds of red grapes(the must)that forms in the tank during fermentation

Topping off: using one batch (either the same or a different one) to fill a barrel completely so there is no air space in the barrel. Over time, the air space in a barrel will increase as barrels are not air tight. Also, winemakers will extract small amounts of the wines aging in barrels to run quality control tests on them.

Crush: a machine or process which, usually, de-stems the grapes and gently crushes them to release juice, which is called free-run juice.

Press: In whites, this happens immediately after crushing. The free-run juice goes into a separate tank while the pomace is pumped to the press (ie: the modern-day grape stomper). There are different kind of presses, the main ones being the bladder press and the basket press. The bladder press is a large cylinder on its side with a delated bag on the inside. During the press, either manually or on a program, the bladder will slowly inflate and push the pomace to the sides of the cylinder where there are slits to allow the juice to flow through and down into a press pan. From the pan, the pressed juice can go into another tank or the same as the free-run juice depending on what the winemaker wants.

With reds, this usually happens after fermentation is complete or when the wine is dry. The juice is drained out of the tank and the pomace is taken out of the tank and transferred to the press. The press cycle begins and the pressed wine is usually put with back with the same wine.

That's all I can think of right now. As I said, I worked 7 days this week but I do have tomorrow off. But right now, must...take...nap before heading back to the winery to do evening pump-overs!

Things I have learned

These are a few things I have learned since working at the winery:

1. Winemaking is 60% cleaning things, 37% moving heavy things and 3% drinking beer.

2. Stainless steel can hurt your fingers, especially your fingertips. It doesn't matter if you thump them, bump them or tap them against stainless steel, it WILL hurt.

3. Muckmaster boots (aka waterproof boots) are awesome but will leave a semi-permanent mark around your calves and don't keep your feet from staying dry when they are sweaty.

4. Although some at the winery will argue this is the number one rule: Don't be a P---sy! (Although I think to myself whenever they say this: I have one, what does that mean? Anyways, I digress.)

5. If you try to explain to customers intricate processes, they will only remember about 1/4 of the information and then re-gurgitate some bullshit and therefore, make you look stupid. Let them stay ignorant until they actually want to learn more for learning more sakes and not looking to tidbits to throw into the next party convo.

6. I still have A LOT to learn.

7. I still have A LOT of spanish to learn.

8. I still have A LOT in the way of wine tasting and palate refinement to learn.

9. It doesn't matter what I do or wear, at the end of the day, I look haggard, tired, and I stink. At least though, there is a glow in my eyes that encourages me along this path.

10. There is no way possible to be pregnant and do this job. (Btw, I am NOT pregnant, just would like to have on sometime and trying to figure out how to do this while still doing what I love).

Those are the top ten right now. And I am sure there will be another top ten in a couple of months.

Thanks for reading!

Finally.

I have composing this blog in my head about my internship for a while, usually when I am at the winery, doing some cleaning in the Texas heat (in the shade, though, so that's good).

First off, before the nitty gritty details, the WINERY ROCKS! I clean barrels, tanks, bins, floors, etc...I have also lifted 60 lbs barrels, unloading a truck and putting them onto racks, worked 12 hours a day bottling wine which means dumping cases of empty bottles onto a conveyor belt, loading bottles into cases and lifting the filled cases onto a pallet. I have also run tests on the wine, ranging from the sugar content to the acid content to the amount of SO2 in the wine.

Today I punched down the cap of a fermenting red wine. I didn't literallly punch it down, I used a stainless steel tool that is like a paddle and I push it down on the must (the skins and seeds of the red grapes which we keep with the juice until the end of fermentation and then we press the skins some more to get some more juice...)

Tomorrow we get more grapes in, red and white.

The nitty gritty details: my first day of my internship was a little unusual as there were some changes going on in the heirarchy of the winery which wasn't an expected and it was very surreal as Dave, the assistant winemaker, frantically tried to get records straight, notes in order, wine to be bottled, etc...I spent the first week in the tasting room, which was very frustrating to me. But Dave did an excellent job keeping everything together and done in such a diplomatic way.

The second week I switched from going from the tasting room to the back, where mainly I helped Serafin with his chores and not really understanding what I was doing since I was just following orders.

The third week brought the interim winemaker, Greg H. who is this guy. For the whole first week, though, I just knew he owned a winery in Washington, is originally from New York, and was a winer buyer for about 15 years or so. Read the interview from the link, then you will see my shock after I googled him the weekend after meeting him.

Holy cow.

I even went to a wine tasting he was invited to at a posh wine bar in downtown where I was so intimidated by being with him and other sommeliers that I couldn't even taste the first four wines of the night. Then later on, I proceeded to pour wine all over his hand. Yikes.

But mainly, it's been workworkwork. My body is still adjusting to working physical labor for over 8 hours a day. I have lost weight, mainly inches and not pounds, but I figured out why the pounds aren't coming off...working at a winery is like weight lifting all day. There's no cardio. So I am building muscle but not burning fat at the same rate. Eventually, with more muscles, I will have a higher metabolism because muscles use more energy than fat.

Anyways, in the meantime, Chris has been fabulous. He makes me coffee, breakfast and lunch almost every morning. He cleans house and does laundry. He is also looking for a job, so keep your good thoughts coming this way for that area.

I am glad I finally got to blog. I only get on the internet about three times a week now and when I do, it's email, myspace and facebook...in that order. I barely have time to read poshdeluxe anymore, which makes me sad as her blogs always cheer me up in some way.

Have a great and cool August everyone! For me, August means harvest which means workworkwork.