No Permit For Blog This Harvest

As courtesy to the owner of the winery that I will be working for this harvest, I will only be keeping my own private notes . However I would like to share this gorgeous view that I get to take in every day.... It's like a little piece of *Burgundy nestled in our own California backyard.

Oakville, California

*By Burgundian similarities I mean the hilltop vineyards and similar view I took in last year in Cote de Nuits... (see photo below)

2010 Harvest photo in Burgundy

I'd love to share my harvest experiences with you all at a later time, so please do not hesitate to ask me.

I will occasionally update my blog on tastings that I do in and out of the Napa area, and will definitely have some good photos of food, wine, and the like!

Also, stay tuned for my Aussie adventures:
Come January 2012 I will be happy to provide insight into my Australian experiences !!

2012 will most likely be my final trot around the globe, and I can't wait to find out where it takes me and what shenanigans I will get up to.

G'day mate!

South Africa Memoirs

Wow, so I guess this blog kinda turned into a flop while I was in South Africa. Sorry about that, I guess I just became more preoccupied than I expected to be! I blame it on the boy. *cough*


In a quick summary, here's what I have to say about my time spent in South Africa ... it was... incredible.
The winery-experience was outstanding. I couldn't get over how the tasting rooms were so resort-like. This is a picture sitting on the balcony at Vrede en Lust during a tasting in January.
The vineyard scenery's were breathtaking.

But don't get me wrong, it was tiring as well. I worked long hours at the winery and got down and dirty in the cellar. In two weeks my appetite doubled and my pant size dropped 2 sizes.
We brought in 650tons in 2.5 weeks and spent the following weeks tending to the rack and returns

Being goofy while shoveling out grape seeds, pips, from the Pellenc Destemmer shoot after a long day during harvest
Merlot, or Cab must/wine draining into a cauldron during a rack and return (2 stories above this, at the top of the tank, another person is holding a hose and wetting down the cap of the juice/skins) Easy peasy.

EYE-OPENING: learned some important life lessons, such as how to drive a stick shift, and how to keep your wits about you. AT ALL TIMES. I had the battery stolen from our work delivery truck while I was parked overnight off site... that was an awkward early morning phone call to the boss lady.... And, not to mention the poisonous snake that came lurching in our house on my first night on the farm.

Fun: Spent a lot of fun times soaking up the rays, kicking back, and enjoying the local wines and scenery. Stellenbosch was, hands down, my favorite town to hang out in. It's an adorable Dutch town with a killer University and Uni night life! I'll pass on the can and cream soda though..
Watched my first cricket match! Which was very exciting... for the first 8 hours, and then we left, at the half-time. Crazzzy long game.
Lounging at the cottage house pool was a luxury I took advantage of quite often when guests were not visiting!
Louise, Liam and I stranded on a rock during our end of harvest boat trip with the VnL team. For some reason the captain thought it'd be funny to leave us behind.
A photo of Table Mountain in Cape Town during the exhilarating boating trip

Delicious: mmm nothing beats a burger with black pepper gravy on top! I was a fan of the food, all around, from boerewoers to malva pudding.

A local's favorite! Burger with black pepper sauce.

An epic braai, bbq,that Craig and I made on our day off. Sooo good.

Hilarious: WOW, I've never met such funny people in my life.


I was treated so graciously by my host winery and I hope to visit again soon. South Africa is a beautiful country that should be on everyone's bucket list as a must-visit.
The view from Lion's Head Mountain - 12 Apostles Mountain, Cape Town

Thermometer-In-Tank Issue

So you're probably wondering why I dropped the thermometer in the tank. Well, not because I wanted to see what would happen, though I have often wondered, but because I was working fast and apparently not as efficiently as I had planned.

Since I was doing the yeast innoculation on this 16,000 Liter tank of Shiraz, I was using the thermo probe to check that the temperature was right for the yeast as I brought down the temp closer to that of the tank. Then, while executing this task, Susan mentioned to me that three of the other tanks needed wood powder additions. Great, I'll do those additions as the yeast here sits and becomes active before I add it to the Shiraz. I'll put the thermometer... here in the yeast mixture, so I can check the temp once more before throwing in the yeast. POOF. Thought gone as I race off to weight out the wood powder.

Check - powder added to the tanks. Check - yeast ready to go. And toss in the yeast.... Ah, shit. Where's the thermometer? Yep. In the tank. Oh no... my heart sinks, my head races and I feel sick to my stomache. I quickly grab a bucket, tie string to it, and begin fishing around in the yeasty grape juice. There it is~ I spot it, but lose my grip on the tan as I hoist myself lower to push the bucket down into the juice with my foot. I quickly contemplate my actions and retract my foot: what's worse, risking my life or a thermometer?

After telling Susan about the problem and realizing the consequences of this mistake I feel miserable. Even 24 hours later I couldn't bring a smile to my face, nor look people straight in the eye, as my confidence was shot. My self esteem gone.

Luckily I'm on the up and up after a successful day at work this morning, as I managed the rack and returns (R&Rs) without a single mess up. It may not sound like much, but it's an accomplishment for me...

Like a ring leader I manage two pumps at the same time as wine drains from the tanks into cauldrons on the bottom level and pumps up the guys on the 3rd floor.

The cauldron, pump and ladder in use as the tank drains from above

A good foamy cauldron of fermenting wine as it drains from above

As they sit and wet the cap of the tank, I must constantly keep watch of the flow of the wine, speed of the pumps, and coordinate my actions with the guys up top, or in other words, I have to master the art of multi-tasking. Meanwhile, I watch the time for each Rack and Return, checking the sugar (Balling/Brix) and temperature, and make any needed additions of super food, NH4, or Tartaric Acid.

Baron and Cyril doing the pump overs on the 3rd level of the winery

Then once 30 minutes has passed I switch the lines to the next to tanks and carry on until all of 13 big boys are done. 3 hours later, one cycle of rack and returns is complete and the next cycle starts up again 2 hours later. What a hectic race!

During a harvesting day it proves to be even more difficult with the noise of the Pellenc destemmer, press, and other pumps running, as noise creates the worst distraction possible. Also, not to mention, the many other obstacles I have to work around.

Unfortunately this task has also brought me shame as I have broke 1 other thermometer and 2 hydrometers during my turmoil to work fast and efficiently. Again, no so efficient. :(

So yes, I have learned from my mistakes and as much as I hate to own up to them, I will. I just hope that my curse doesn't carry over to my next harvest!

Over and out,

d'laur the Smasher

Not Feeling So Lucky This Harvest

Saturday March 26, 2011

Finally, some peace and quiet to myself. It's a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon and I have the rest of the day to enjoy at my leasure as my pumpover shift is done for the day. The last two weeks are somewhat of a blur in my head as I never found a chance to pick up a pen and jot down notes to organize my thoughts and differentiate the days. Even as I write this notebook entry I can feel my eyelids weighing down heavy over my eyes. I'm physically exhausted, drained of energy and yet my body hasn't given up yet. At some point during the week I told Louise this job felt like winery bootcamp. I have noticed the fat slowly shedding from my body as the muscles replace the weight. I become less winded as I climb the stairs to the third story of the winery, and my physical stamina surprises me sometimes. But here I am with a moment's rest and a chance to pause and relax.

Work is fun, no doubt about that, but these 14-15 hour days, back to back are getting to me. It doesn't help that the bright sun taunts me from outside the cellar every day as I envision the free time I once had in it. Nor the fact that I wish I could spend these last few weeks here with a special guy I've met. But alas, I know he's working hard just the same at a neighboring winery down the road.

So I'm making the most of my time at work. Our fruit intake is now at 350 tons with both red and white coming in every day - pumpovers and press cycles are running constantly from sun up to sun down. Various varietals have slipped through my fingers during processing, and I try hard to think back on what I remember about grapevine ampelography.

Merlot: one long stem, and two broad shoulders (right! like a man! Merlot the man.. check.) Shiraz: long and skinny cluster...phalic looking, haha, but true!

Malbec: Big round berries.

Cabernet Sauvignon: medium round berries, punch hole sinuses

Petit Verdot: itty bitty clusters.

Pinot gris: looks like Pinot noir, but has grey skins, duh!

Sauvignon blanc: green, green, green. Chardonnay: none lobed leaf.

Viogner: unique floral aroma, susceptible to bunch rot, slight golden tinge on berry. As well I get to learn about new varietals...

Pinotage (the trademark grape of South Africa): cross btwn Pinot noir and Cinsault, thick thick skins.

Chenin blanc: big white round berries with visable veins.

Cinsault: very big berries with little color

So I am learning a lot, but still feeling a bit stupid at the same time. I'm making mistakes that, granted I'll NEVER do again, but still mistakes I thought I never would do. I blame it on my dwindling energy, the countless distractions around me, and the sole pressure I put pn myself to work fast and efficiently. Sometimes I need to rethink that work moto to include carefully.

Actually, I think I'm cursed. Seriously. Within the last two weeks I have managed to break, knock over, or drop into tank almost all of the thermometers and hydrometers. FML. Really!? I'm THAT intern?

It's hilarious at this point, but I don't know how Susan, the winemaker, can continue to trust me and give me responsibility still in the winery! But, back to the dropped-thermometer-in-tank issue. What it boils down to is I'm an idiot, the grape must is fine at this point, but the potential for the thermometer to break is the issue. If it breaks, luckily Mercury will not pour out as this is no longer in thermometers, but the shards of glass could damage the press once we drain the tank after fermentation. I'm doubting that they will, but another thing to consider is the red dye/ terrible aroma that will be added to the wine once the glass breaks! This is irreverisble. So fingers crossed that the pomace won't crush the thermometer once we drain the wine out of the dank in, oh, 7-14 days...

Baby Brown Cobra

First night on Vrede en Lust farm

Tuesday night proved to be more eventful than expected as Liam, Louise and I returned home from a six hour long cricket match (which was only HALF the game as Louise and I, thankfully, persuaded Liam to leave early…) As this was my first night here I was still learning the ins and the outs of our farm house. Situated out along the main road through the vineyards, our place is nothing fancy but chock full of all the amenities that we need to call it home for the remainder of our stay here. With millipedes inching across the floors and the occasional mosquito darting around, I tried my best to relax as best I could while defending my bubble. After de-millipeding the arm chair I eased up a bit and relaxed. My room and bed had been properly searched earlier and I was content to settle in for the night.

Propped up in the living room and in the midst of conversation, Louise draws our attention to an intruder in the room. Just below Liam’s chair, a small brown snake head pops out. Taking care to not disturb it we all retract our legs but remain focused on its whereabouts.

Shit! A snake. Is it poisonous? None of us have a clue. I sit there a moment contemplating our actions as Louise begins shouting at Liam to take control and call for help. Slowly Liam exits the room, but returns quickly to snap a shot.

“Shit, Liam, Go! What if it’s poisonous and bites you!” With that he turns and runs two doors down to ask for help and confirmation of the danger we think we might be in.

During Liam’s call for help, Louise explains the seriousness of this situation to me as I watch on calmly. “It could be two kinds of snakes – both of which are poisonous and deadly if they bite you. If you get bitten by one, the snake venom moves through your blood to your heart and the instant it hits your heart, you die. You have exactly 20 minutes to get a dose of the antivenom to live. The other snake’s venom eats away at your skin cells and kills them one after the other.”

Oh shit, really!?

“Yes, really” Apparently not wanting to scare me, Louise and Liam purposely did not mention the dangers of crossing snakes in our area. But look at this snake, it’s brown – not danger colors like red or orange – so perhaps its just a garden snake?

When Liam returns moments later he is armed with a pitch fork and our neighbor, or savior more like, Jonas, by his side yielding a wooden spear. With caution, Louise lifts the chair towards her and with a quick, brute force Jonas lops the snake in half with the long end of the spear. The snake dies instantly.

“What is it?” We question, “Is it poisonous?”

“Oh, yes” Jonas answers

“Really? Oh god. But do you know what it was?”

“Brown cobra”

Shit!! The reality of the situation sets in. We laugh at our stupidity, and the mortal chances that were just at stake. To think, that if Louise had never spotted the snake lying below Liam’s feet – he could have been bitten by that baby. A baby with no control of its venom and more lethal than a full-grown snake as it would release more venom upon attack. We would have no more than 20 minutes to drive to the nearest hospital, which unfortunately for us is 15 minutes away. So even if we lost no time, our chances of saving Liam would not be good.

But thankfully, the latter was not the case and we are all healthy, alive and ready to start work on Monday. Now I feel I have been properly introduced to the South African farm lands and I will constantly keep my wits about me – even if presented with another cute baby snake. There’s talk of a king cobra roaming the property still, so maybe we’ll be eating a nice brai (or bbq) come harvest ;)

Outings for the L Team

The breeze blows in one window of my room and sweeps out the other. Whirlng around my body as it enters, I breath in the sweet figgy smell of the neighboring tree – one more week of ripening to go, I expect, and those figs will be ravished by yours truly. With great leisure I relax on my bed, netbook in hand, and download my recent pictures from this week – little tokens of memories that will forever be with me as “my first week in South Africa”. Not bad, yah? Yah, yah. I wish I could capture all that I see, feel, and experience, but I cannot. My pictures don’t do this adventure justice, so with words I try my best to explain.

(Unfortunately not all of the pictures that I have collected this week are in my possession, so you will have to be patient. Thanks :)

No work has set upon me yet so with pleasure and greed I take advantage of my endless days and nights by sleeping well, soaking in the sun, enjoying a bloody mary here and there, and exploring the surrounding wine regions, beaches and towns.

Last night was my first “official” night out, in terms of staying out past 11pm and witnessing “Tonight’s Gonna be a Good Night” blaring on the dance floor, while drunken teens celebrate their respective best-nights-ever. Right, so to set the stage a bit more, I should mention that this Friday night I found myself in Stellenbosch, the nearby college town, rather than in my own living room killing brown cobras…. A stark difference for sure, but more of that later. So, surrounded by giddy first years marking the end of their first week of college I sit back and take in this spectacle of a surprising amount of mullets whipping back and forth on the dance floor. Who knew that mullets were all the range (way) down south? My total count for the night was 5, but I aim to beat this number on my next Stellie outing.

Despite my obsession with counting mullets, I had a great time sharing a few drinks with Liam, Louise, their friend Craig, and his friend Jen. With both Craig and Jen as locals to Stellenbosch, I think it is safe to say that the Vrede en Lust “L Team” was in good hands for the night. After a few Castle beers, and a brandy and coke I found myself amoungst those lovely swaying mullets too and was able to show off my handy salsa moves to "pas parle Americano". A good night indeed. Stellenbosch has some amazing bars and I would recommend any college student to study abroad here.

Cape Town

Hello loves,

Here I am in Cape Town. I have no internet in my backpacker (hostel) so I find myself in a coffee shop down the road with FREE WIFI! I was excited to see this sign the other day and have been coming back to this coffee shop often. Three days in total, so these 12Rand ($2) coffees shouldn't hurt my budget too much... but still, a bit pricey for South Africa. So other than finding a great location to kick it and sooth my addiction to the internet, I have found Cape Town to be a truly fantastic city.

Everyone I have met so far is so friendly, generous and helpful. Through various acquaintances I have made, I have been able to get out of my residential part of town and see the hot-spots, eat some great food, and finally get a taste for the local wine. Last night I had a really nice picnic with two friends - a local and used-to-be-local who I met in Calistoga this winter - before seeing a hilarious version of Taming of the Shrew at the outdoor theatre. The picnic included a bottle of crisp white wine (...), local figs, berries, creamy Camebert cheese and fresh cheesy bread. We ate ravishly while catching up and laughing at the unique species of birds that encircled us.

During the play, which was just short of a Cirque de Soleil-esque show, my attention was quickly drawn to the sky as my eyes caught a firefly flying overhead. Upon realizing what this was, I scrambled to pull my hands out from under the blanket to point it out to Linah... but it flew away. So she thinks I'm crazy... especially since I couldn't find the words to describe what I saw and I started laughing uncontrollably. But all in all we had a great time together and Corina, the local, was such a treat to meet. Thanks to her I am beginning to understand, more or less, the ins and outs of South Africa!

In addition to this outing, I was lucky enough to meet up with another local on Sunday, Jo, who I met in Burgundy in September. Jo works for Francois Freres here in South Africa, and is a key player to the production of great wines in the surrounding areas. She was generous enough to take me out with her boyfriend for the day to see the sights. Firstly - we conquered the heights of the Table Mountain 1600 meters above sea level, by riding up in a Cable Car. From the top of the Mountain we could look down on the entire city and surrounding natural landmarks - Cape of Good Hope, Lyon's Head, Devil's Peak, False Bay, V & A Waterfront, etc... It was breathtaking. All around the Mountain adventurous souls flocked. Paragliders were floating over the ocean, rock climbers were adjusting their ropes and hikers were burning their calories for the week. I questioned my own adventurous soul, but decided I best wait for now. It was lunch time, nonetheless, and it was time to eat some seafood. So that's what we did.

After riding the Cable Car down and getting a 360 view of the town, Jo, Willy and I went to the Waterfront for some sushi, fish and prawns, along with a few glasses of Chenin blanc and Shiraz. Yum. Afterwards we walked around listening to music and grabbing some ice cream cones to cool off.

So I am very excited indeed to be out and about, and now I must sign off on this Tuesday early afternoon to meet up with Liam and Louise, my fellow interns, to catch the India v. S Africa cricket match!

Love you all. Over and out,

d'laur

PJs and No Job

Hey all,

To catch you up from since I last posted in early November...

My harvest job ended in Burgundy, France and I am back in Nevada City, California with my parents and Penny, the pole dancing cat. Not really sure how that name came about for her, but it seems fitting... Anways, the expensive and anticlimatic holidays have come and gone and the new year is upon us. I made no resolutions for this year, but I definitely see some major changes occuring in my life as this year goes on.

Next week I will be flying out to Cape Town, South Africa for a cellar hand position with Vrede en Lust Winery in Franschhoek. This will be my first travel to the country and I am getting very excited/ nervous at the same time. At some moments I question my sanity for taking on a harvest job in a far-off land I know so little about, but luckily those moments are fleeting and I look past them. I am very lucky to have this opportunity and I am looking forward to working with the VnL crew and getting to know the people, and learning about their culture and history. Susan, the winemaker, has been so helpful in planning my stay and has setup a cottage on the farm for myself and the two other interns during our stay.

After my short two month internship with VnL I will be flying directly to New Zealand in March and working another cellar hand position with Indevin in Marlborough. Here I will be one of eighty or so interns monitoring the crush of grapefruit and grassy Sauv Blanc and living in a make-shift dormitory. Crazy times are expected... and promised!

But for now I am enjoying the luxury of sitting in my PJs at 1pm in the afternoon, sipping coffee and feeling the warmth of Penny's rump on my shoulder.

Cheers to a seasonal internship!

Scones for Peace

For this Veteran's Day/Armistice Day I baked up a batch of apple cinnamon scones for peace.

Who would want to fight when these fluffy, flakey scones are brought out of the oven? No one.

Well, except for my sister Maureen and friend Rocky, that is, if they had to pick sticks for the last one... But that's another story. So for those people, double the recipe!

D’laur’s Apple Cinnamon Scones

Note : Key to good scones, biscuits and pie doughs: Be careful to not over-handle the dough! Unlike doughs made with yeast, these are made with baking powder and require little to NO kneading.

Okay, so now that we have that covered, go out there and get your hands buttery!

Ingredients

2 ½ c cake flour

1 tsp pure vanilla extract ( or 15g sucre vanille)

2 1/8 tsp baking powder (11 g levure chimique)

1/3c sugar

1/3 cup (75 g) cold butter (I used salted, but non-salted works too with an addition of 1/4tsp, 2.5g salt)

1 small golden apple, peeled, cored and sliced into small pieces

1 lemon, squeezed ; 1 Tbsp juice

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 c crème fraiche, heavy cream, or sour cream

1tsp cinnamon and 2 Tbsp sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Place rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and flour round biscuit pan.

Toss apple pieces with lemon to juice and set aside.

Blend flour, sugar, baking powder, (and salt). Cut butter into small pieces and cut into four mixture with 2 knives, a pastry cutter, or my preferable method, with your hands! Stir in apple pieces.

In another bowl, combine cream, beaten eggs and vanilla (if using extract). Set aside approx 2-3 tbsp of mixture for topping, then add the rest to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix! Pat dough together just until a ball forms. Divide dough into 8 round balls and place in pan, again, be careful to not over-handle each portion. Don’t worry about perfection here, it’s all about the taste and flakiness in the end!

Top each scone with remaining cream and egg mixture and cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake 15-20 min. But check after 15min, perhaps they might be done! No? Thought so, why not go dance around your kitchen for the next 5 min? That’s right. Turn up that music, break a move and breath in those sugary fumes…

Don’t get too distracted there! Pop those scones out!

Cool in pan. But why wait? Burn your tongue, it’s worth it! Bon Appetite!

Vive la France!

Sorry for the lack in updates recently. I really have no other excuse than exhaustion from work, well, and maybe a little lazziness in between.

Last week was a very productive and eventful week as all decuvages were completed, and my parents came and went in a flash, and I attended the Confrerie des Chevaliers Chapitre dinner at the Clos de Vougeot.

So to start, I will fill you in on what a decuvage is by showing you some pictures..

First, we drain the tank of the fermented juice (red wine!) and pump it into a stainless steel tank for storage until Jean-Luc has time to move it into barrels with gravity flow. (SORRY, NOT PICTURED) And then the fun starts! A brave soul, such as myself, jumps into the tank of grape skins and seeds, shuvel in hand, and begins the decuvage. Shove-full by shovel-full, the grape remnants are tossed over the side of the tank and into the recieving cage.

As shown above in the picture, Mariette excellently shovels out her first (but not last!) tank.

After the cage is filled, it is carried over by the fork-lift, inserted into the Vertical Press machine and WAMO!

The fermented grape skins are pressed down into a thick dry cake as the lovely juice runs free and joins its juice counterparts in the steel tank.

So this physical activity was my work regime for the last two weeks, and now that we have 31 empty wooden tanks lying around, what better idea is there than to clean them all this week!?

So long story short, the red stains on my hands are washing off nicely as I scrub down these wooden surfaces with hot water, and then alcohol.

No complaints here though! Most 1.5 hour lunches include a nice glass of wine from the cellar :)

Now, back to the parental visit of last week.

My parents in front of the Palais des Ducs in Dijon

With strikes and manifests going on all around France over the pushed-back retirement age (60 to 62), my parents had an unfortunate encouter with the dissatisfied workers of this country. While they had a pleasant visit here in Paris and Dijon, they missed their flight home due to the train strikes and had to sleep in the Paris airport :( I am really sorry for their misfortunate event, and hope that this doesn't keep them from venturing to this country again. As my coworkers reminded me during our long and tiring day of work, not ALL French people are striking... exactly, just the people whom everyone else depends upon... train, bus, airlines, gasoline! But I guess wine is the more important item in this country anyways...

And to celebrate this fact! I attended the Confrerie des Chevaliers dinner two Saturday's ago!

Here at the Clos de Vougeot, this brotherhood of wine lovers in Burgundy served up a delicious 8 course meal for the brothers, their wives, and selected guests. During this 4-hour meal, songs, plays, and speeches were carried out, and everyone was waving their hands in the air to the Burgundy "lala lala lalala LA la" song in the end (for the 10th round).

It was definitely a night to remember, and thanks to my handy-camera, and my escortee for the evening, Pascal, I was able to capture some of the moments!

Caroline and I in the courtyard of the Clos de Vougeot during the dinner

Louis-Marc giving a speech on the mainstage where various speechs and acts were given throughout the dinner

Rob Keeney singing along with the other Confrerie men dressed as traditional Burgundian winemakers (Bourgogne vignerons)

Caroline, Rob, and Marcie swaying and singing to one of the many Confrerie songs of the night

Pascal and Arnaut happily waving their napkins in the air

And it wouldn't be right if I didn't show you at least one course of the dinner. This was poached eggs and bacon served in a Burgundy wine sauce over bruscetta. Yum!

Cheers!

10 Day Harvest in Burgundy

Wow, it's hard to believe that harvest has already come and gone!

I apologize for not updating my blog during the past two weeks but I had little time outside of work other than to eat, sleep and shower. On average I worked 12 hour days with 1 hour lunch in between, but occasionally we had our longer and shorter days. Thankfully, Vougeraie provided lunches for us, and I was able to refuel with a 3-4 course meal each day. Yeah, pretty incredible right? And this is why my coworkers joke I may gain weight rather than lose it during my internship here! I really hope I can prove them wrong.... But seeing as I won't have this luxurious meal after harvest, and will continue to have pumpovers, punchdowns and eventually decouvrages (shuveling out the grape remenants after fermentation and tossing them up and over the tanks), I should be alright!

La Mode de la vendage

Harvest fashion: my "waterproof" attire that I wore before climbing inside the press to clean it.

Starting on Monday, September 20th we received our first cases of fruit, and by the 30th all fruit was in. On the following day, the 1st of October, we finished sorting through the last bit of the Musigny Grand Cru grapes as Pierre Vincent, the winemaker, belted french songs from atop the wooden cuve as he worked on punchdowns. Ahhh... another Vive la France moment that I may never forget.

To give you an idea of harvest I will try to sum up the main processes that we carried out at Domaine de la Vougeraie:

All clusters were hand harvested and brought in by tractor to the winery, where each case was emptied out onto the sorting table and carefully scrutinized by the cellar crew and myself. Luckily we had some extra hands during the sorting process to keep the table running 12-14 hours each day.

The sorting process was quite demanding this year as there was a lot of mold on the grapes, beaucoup de pourri et oidium (grey Botrytis and Powdery Mildew), and most had to be removed by hand or with hand clippers. While the Pinot noir proved to be less affected by either fungus, the Chardonnay got hit hard this year so much attention was focused on the sorting table as the grapes came into the winery.

Mariette sorting fruit as Blandine dumps the fruit into the cuve, Jean-Luc guides her and Pierre stands by for moral support

After the sorting was through, all Pinot noir was directly destemmed and put into large wooden tanks, cuves, and kept at 12-13 degrees Celcius for a week. Since Burgundy is very appellation driven, each parcel of vineyards received its own cuve to carry out fermentation. Each cuve received a pumpover each day (by either myself of Mariette), and once the fermentation started up, punchdowns were carried out (by Thibault, Pierre, and myself on one occasion with the help of Ian, a retired Englishman who came to help out for the harvest).

The wooden cuve (with metal refridgeration cooling tube) before fruit

The cuve after the fruit was dumped in

For the Chardonnay, the grapes were pressed whole cluster in a bladder press and the juice was put into stainless steal tanks to be settled. The settling and racking of the whites were carried out for longer this year to encourage more of the oidium and Botrytis to settle out with the lees, bourbes.

The first Chardonnay pressing

All fermentations were natural and no yeast was added to any of the reds, and only one white wine appellation was innoculated (as the Botrytis was noticably higher on the fruit, and a natural fermentation was risky).

Now we have been seeing very fast and happy fermentations with both the reds and the whites, and Pierre seems to be quite pleased with the outcome. To recieve more aromatic character from the yeasts however, he has been prolonging the fermentations a few days by chapitilizing the Pinot noir cuves (adding sugar) just before the alcoholic fermentation completes. As strange and wrong as this sounds, it makes a lot of sense as the sugar content is lower this year and as the fermentations have been finishing in 5-7 days (which is 2X faster than the average fermentation.) The other question you might be asking yourself is "is that legal!?" And yeah, in Burgundy it is very much legal to add sugar to your must in order to achieve the right alcohol level (12.5-13% alc) but you must keep record of how much you use as the process is very much controlled!

Each day I continue to ask why, what, and when and have been jotting down notes left and right. By the end of this week I hope to do some grape stomping with my feet, and will no doubt share the photos with you all!

Wishing you all a very relaxing Sunday! Cheers!

Relax, Reflect, Refresh

This weekend finds me relaxing in lovely Dijon for the first time in awhile. Since Pascal and his son, my host family, are out of town this weekend I have the place all to myself. Wahoo! So I've gone completely wild by doing my laundry (I know!), shopping at the market, cleaning my room, and baking a fondant au chocolat (recipe given to me by my coworker, Mariette :) So, yeah, Pascal just might kick me out when he gets back...but anyways... I have a long list of other shenanigans to do too since this is my last free weekend before HARVEST on Monday!!

And apparently I forgot to bring the croissants to work on Friday, whoops. (Yeah, real smart relying on the girl with broken french to bring the goods at the end of the week!) But in any case I plan to make up for it on Monday, and maybe Friday if I have the energy..

So this past week at the winery involved a lot of water. And I've come to realize that there is NO way to stay dry when you play with water... which is the reason mouillee, wet, is now in Laura's french vocabulary. But now our cellar and all of the harvesting equipment are clean, and are ready for some major Chardonnay and Pinot noir processing!

However the grapes this vintage are not as prepared as we are since it has been a difficuly climatic season. With rain falling throughout August and September, the ripening period of the berries, Burgundy has been seeing a lot of pourriture, bad Botrytis, and odium, mildew. Which in other words means that the fruit is rotting on the vine. Not good. The Chardonnay especially has been hit hard, which means less good fruit is available for picking and that the expected volume of juice will be lower. And for me, as the harvest intern, this means my time on the sorting table will be quite lengthy and tiring (as I will have mal aux dos, pain in the back)

But dispite this difficulty, Domaine de la Vougeraie will trudge on, and I am excited to see how we process all of the different vineyard parcels (which are typically less than 1 hectare, or 2.5 acres). After visiting and sampling in our most southern most vineyards near Beaune, in Savigny Les Beaune and Corton-Charlemagne yesterday, and working in the more northern vineyards in July (Gevrey Chambertin and Vougeot) I now have a better understanding about where the fruit is coming in from, and how the appellation and terroir has an affect.

i.e. the reason I came to Burgundy :)

So now I must get back to my wild shenanigans of planning out my life after harvest. With a harvest position lined up at Vrede en Lust in South Africa in January, I am now working hard to find a suitable winery in New Zealand to take me afterwards in March/April. Hopefully all goes well and I can conquer exactly what I've set out to do!

First Impressions of Burgundy

I was asked recently what my first impressions of Burgundy have been, so I've mulled it over and this is what I've decided:

Burgundy is more than just a region of haughty wine and traditionalist winemakers. It is a culture proud of its fine food, wine and terroir; a culture that strives for the best quality in each of these categories and succeeds. From the prospective of a wine student from California, whose knowledge base of wine includes more science than experience, I entered Burgundy with a bias toward winemaking practices in California. However, not even two months into my internship and I believe I may be swayed toward the traditional, yet innovative practices utilized in Burgundy. Winemaking begins in the soil, moves through the plant to the fruit, and needs little to no intervention afterwards. This concept seems obvious here, but I believe that there is a disconnect sometimes between the land and the wine in other regions. In Burgundy, there is no disconnect. Here, there is a respect for the terroir and the vines which dig their roots into its soil. Quality wine is attained through great attention to the land, vine, and fruit. In the same way, quality food is attained through great attention to the local, fresh ingredients. In Burgundy, this is all understood and implemented. A good wine is just as easy to make as a good meal, you just have to know what elements to focus on. So perhaps a good life follows the same pattern, and Burgundy has attained the ultimate balance we all strive to attain.

In any case, writing this excerpt on the region was quite difficult for me. It made me really think about what I thought I knew about Burgundy, and what I think I've learned now. It made me ponder about what I have gained so far, and in what direction I'd like my career to head from here. My dreams went wild, and I couldn't find the words to express my desires. But then I realized that I might be confusing my dreams with my views of Burgundy...but maybe they were one in the same?

60th Tastevinage

So why am I in France? Well, because a fraternity of men here in Burgundy (known as the Confrérie des Chevaliers) are proud of their region and it's wine, and wanted to support students like me to come and experience the wine practices and the life in Burgundy.

And so I am, and have continued to do so every day since I landed in Paris on July 11th.

While I have seen much of France and Burgundy during my vacationing, not until last Friday, September 3rd, did I get a glimpse and taste of what this fraternity is so proud of.

Friday, 3 September 2010, marked the 60th Tastevinage for the Confrérie des Chevaliers at the Chateau Clos de Vougeot. Dressed in suits and ties, the men paraded into the castle with their red tastevins hung around their necks. With a little unease, Caroline and I tried to follow suit, but did as good a job as two zebras could do in a hurd of giraffes. Like sore thumbs, we stuck out as the only women under 25, in a crowd of 100 men and maybe 10 other females. But once the tasting began and our introductions were announced, we settled into our seats with ease and picked up our glasses with confidence.

The 18 wines that I tasted through with my table were non-appellation specific and were marked as either "Bourgogne" or "Bourgogne -Pinot noir", and a few roses from regions unbenounst to me. The red wines, I later found out, were unique for my table, as all of the other 15 tables were tasting wines from different, specific appellations in Burgundy. All wines were presented anonymously in sock sleeves so that the Domaines were unknown and no biases could be made, and were tasted in groups of three.

As judges, we were asked to rate the wines from 0-20, 0 being terrible and 20 being the best wine you have ever had. If the wine was rated as 13 or higher it was then considered to have the Confrerie des Chevaliers stamp of approval, which is a sign of quality and distinction for all wine consumers. Along with this rating we took notes of the good and bad qualities of each of the wines, and discussed amoung the table our preferences among the wines.

Following the tasting we were served an extravagant 4 course meal in another grand room in the castle. As an interesting contrast to the tasting where I was seated with all very Burgundian, French-speaking men, at lunch my table consisted of the only English speaking people present at the Tastevinage. Which all in all, may have been for the best, as I was able to meet a nice lady who lives in South Africa and happens to know about the winery I will be working for come January! Small world..

As a general appreciation for food, I thought I would share with you what I ate during the lunch. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the main course as I develed into it very fast ;)

But this was the 1st course: La Canotiere de Cabillaud Confit aux Petits Coquillages

A delicious seafood chowder with oysters, scallops, and fish

If only we could live and dine like this every day...

It was definitely a day to remember, and a wonderful glimpse into the Chapitre dinner at the Clos de Vougeot which I will be going to in October!

Cheers!

Barrels and Pascal

Now that it is September I am back to work in the winery, and already I am beginning to feel pain in those little muscles I never knew I had... For the last few days the Domaine has been receiving many orders of barrels and we have been working hard to circulate the old barrels out and the new ones in. But by out, I really just mean outside to be washed, dried, and brought back in to be sanded down and then put back into the caves. All of this is surprisingly time consuming and tiring, but nevertheless fun and entertaining as I try to perfect my barrel-moving-skills (which is prooving difficult!) Thankfully, Mariette, Blandine, and Jean-Luc encourage me rather than laugh, though they do get a good giggle in once and awhile.

I can already tell that this is going to be a really great team for harvest as everyone here is very upbeat, positive, hardworking, and accomodating to my limited French. Mariette is another intern like myself, Blandine is the enologist, and Jean-Luc is the cellar master. Supposively we are going to get another intern for three weeks during harvest, but that may not be for awhile since harvest is delayed this year. Right now they are expecting harvest to start on the 25th of September, but if the weather stays cool like it is now, it may not be until October! This is almost 2 weeks later than the average harvest date! It will really be interesting to see how the Pinot noir grapes look when they come in as they already have thin skins, but on top of it are being handled in a Biodynamic way. With an extended rainy harvest season, this may just be bad news all around! Maybe my view of Biodynamic practices will change after this.. but we'll see...

In any case, it was announced today, and many times at work, that Pierre Vincent, our winemaker at Domaine de la Vougeraie was awarded Best Winemaker of the Year at the 2010 International Wine Challenge in London, England!! Super cool. I can't wait to see what tricks he has hidden up his sleeves this harvest... jk but I do feel as though I am in good hands!

So all in all work is dandy and I am happy to report that I have a (free) roof over my head in Dijon! Pascal, the Tastevin liason (for lack of a better title), has graciously opened up his home to me and given me a room to hang my hat in for the duration of the harvest. It is quite spacious and is in a wonderful location in downtown Dijon. I still feel like I am intruding a little on him and his son, so my use of the bathroom and kitchen are a little awkward still. But other than that I really enjoy getting to know Pascal better as he is a very generous and amusing person.

But as I look at the clock and see that it is 15 minutes past 9PM, I realize that my body is slowly but surely turning into a pumpkin. So I will update again soon to report about my experiences at the 60th Tastevinage at the Clos de Vougeot last Friday (Burgundy winetasting with rich men in a castle), and my camping trip to the Jura and Switzerland with Caroline!

Cheers and love,

D'laur

Tid-Bits I've Noted

When a German and an American attempt to converse in French it sounds a little bit like Portuguese.

Listening to The Beatles' "Look at all the Lonely People" doesn't really fit in France

Bob Marley is all the rage.

Vespas have their place.

Work just as much as you have to, then stop.

Spending money on good food is always worth it. Always.

If you have the luxury of owning a second home, put it in the south of France.

Listening to live jazz can put you in a state of euphoria.

So can rain.

Avignon Yesterday, Today Lyon

Over the weekend I visited the small town of Avignon in the South East of France. Situated on the Rhone River, it is near the better known village and appellation, Chateauneuf du Papes. Since my train ticket passed through this town on my way back to Dijon, I decided to stop off for a few days to see if this town was just as cute as I had remembered it to be. The result: mixed feelings, unfortunately.

Cute candy shop I remember from the 1st time around

Since I visited Avignon two summers ago with DEVO, the wine club at Davis, and had only spent fleeting moments on those cobbled stone streets (with beverage in hand), this time the town did not appear quite the same. Somehow I missed the tourist-infested streets and bums-lying-in-wait first time around, but took note of them this time. With the exception for these people (and a common foul stench of dog poop), Avignon was just the same as it was before: quaint and historical, with a little more edge this time.

The graffiti scene is awesome. This was on the outside wall of a bar.

The Pope's Palace is indeed not to be missed, and a few other hidden treasures I found second time around: the Cinema Utopia, a jazzy establishment which shows independent films non-stop 2-10pm daily

Cinema Utopia

And the African-influenced restaurant, L'Empreinte. At this restaurant I had the tajine de poulet et citron, which is a dish of chicken, olives and couscous prepared in a clay pot from Mahgreb (Northern Africa). While the food was definitely good, the reggae music playing in the background set a very peaceful and enjoyable atmosphere as I read my book outside on the cobblestone streets.

L'Empreinte patio

The only thing that could've made it better was the company of a friend. C'est la vie quelquefois.

Today I am in the larger, more northern city of Lyon! Here I am surrounded by Rhone varietals of Syrah, Syrah, Syrah, Marsanne, Roussane, did I say Syrah? Oh, and a lot of food, a lot of really good food.

Surprisingly Lyon started out as a village of silk weavers, and eventually morphed into the gastronomic city that it is today. Also, this city attracts many movie buffs as it is home to the first (first!) motion picture to be filmed, La Sortie des Usines Lumieres. So, long story short, Laura is definitely happy here.

As I've told my friends, I plan to eat my way through this city, known for its food, as it is within the very country, known for its food. But, unfortunately I cannot afford that Michelin rated restaurant... Le Bec, as the menu starts at 118 euros.

So today for lunch I settled for the cheaper menu of Boeuf Carpaccio, Dijon Vinagrette Salad, and Potatos au Gratin with a slice of Tart Chocolat for 12 euros. Miam Miam, as the French say!

In between meals, I spent my time in the Musee des Beaux Arts and the Musee des Miniatures et Decors du Cinema.

The Museum of Beautiful Art, was indeed just that, as it is home to many famous paintings and sculptures which date back to nearly 300 and 400 B.C.! Everything in between then and now was just as fascinating, and I throughly enjoyed the Egyptian exhibit on mummifying and the tiled paintings from the 1600's in Turkey. In one painting or another I came to think about a lot of my family and friends, and wished I could share these moments with them.

(Or somehow steal a vase or two to give to my grandmothers...)

Egyptian tombs (I left the mummified hand and head off the site for the precaution of squirmish readers :)

In the miniature cinematic museum I became greatly absorbed into each miniature recreation of cinematic themes, and the realistic appearances of them all. The detailed work that went into each masterpiece on display was astounding.

A recreation of the famous restaurant, Maxim's

The miniature scene used for the set of Jurassic Park

A Painter's boudoir

Also just as interesting, were the costumes (and face recreations) on display from famous films such as The Terminator, X-files, Being John Malcowich, and V for Vendetta!

The Jon Malcowich mask used by other actors in the film Being Jon Malcowich

After tasting a few Rhone wines at the nearby Wine shop in Old Lyon I climbed the hill to my hostel to regroup for the evening. As I hear there is jazz playing tonight near the Beaux Art Museum, I feel a nap (une sommeil or petit siest) is called for in the meantime.

Best wishes and love. D'laur signs out.

Cheers!