More wines and an oyster adventure

Today we harvested the Thieriot vineyard for their chardonnay. This is the one chard that Neyers does with skin contact and almost without exposure to oxygen. We iced everything (Dry ice/co2): the bins, the juice tray, the tank, the barrels, even gassed the line. And we did skin contact for about 2 hours. Tadeo had told me earlier in the day about the first time that he tried skin contact with the chard, back in '06. In that year, there was a bit of Botrytis in the vineyard but he went ahead and let 'em soak for a bit. He only did 1/3 with skin, the rest were normal-strait to the press. At bottling, all were blended except for a bit of the skin contact that he kept for himself...and it turned out fantastic. The skins give off a bit of tannin and that year there was also a bit of Bot that gave off a bit of a honey, candy smell that you wouldn't know was Bot if you weren't looking for it. Any way, after de-stemming the '08 Thieriot, I gathered up all the discarded grapes and the run off juice from the sorting table/de-stemmer in to a bucket. The grapes consisted of bunches of beautiful/healthy grapes with splotches of raisins, some Bot, some sunburning. All in all, about 2 gallons worth. I then topped it up to 4.5 gallons with the last bit of juice from the press. Ill fermnet all this ON THE SKINS. Something very unusual and different, just to see how itll turn out. I have also been collecting the wooden bungs (stoppers) from the new barrels which are made of the same oak the barrels are, just not toasted. I chipped them up so that they would fit into a carboy and tossed them into the toasted. No, not some fancy gizmo we have at the winery, a regular bread toaster. 5 in all, about 5.44 ounces of oak-toss them all into the carboy so the wine will ferment on them. I also gathered up 5 more gallons of just the strait juice from the end of the press. Sure it is the hard press stuff that looks kinda like apple juice but it is from a fantastic vineyard and I want to see what it tastes like next to the stuff fermented on skin. This juice did get the 2hr skin contact though. Also the press only got up to 1.7 bar so not really all that hard anyway. I also tossed in the same amount of oak bungs, medium+ toast. All were inoculated immediately, no natural ferment for me, I need these babies to be dry in time to bottle and taste before I head out of here. So now I have the Neyers Underground 2008 Thieriot Chardonnay Skin and Sans-Skin batches bubbling away. We should get the lab report tomorrow so ill know if any adjusting needs to happen with the sugars/acids or if the yeast will need any food.

Last weekend Marie, her roommate Elizabeth, and I all headed to the Hog Island Oyster Company in Marshall, CA. The drive was amazing along 1 and the country side also. This place was a oyster farm that had a picnic area out back where everything was BYO (except the oysters, you bought them there). When we called they had said that they were booked through November! So we planned on just buying some oysters and headed to another beach/park area to eat them. Luckily when we got there they said that since there were only 3 of us, just grab a table and if someone who reserved one shows up then we'll have to leave. We had only brought some wine, lemons, and crackers. Oh-how could have done it up. The groups around us brought cases of beer, bottles of wine, cheese platters, charcoal for the oysters, steaks, sausages, etc. And the scenery was beautiful across the bay. With our simple fare we had a blast and stayed for 2 hours. Next time we'll gather a whole group and really do it right. It was the first time I had had raw oysters (or even oysters period). They were OK, kinda salty and the texture was a bit like snot, but it was still fun all the same and I would really like to try them grilled....mmmmm. After 'lunch' we continued south and stopped by a park and who pulls up next to us, but Amigo Bob. I had never met Amigo before but Marie had. He is the organic farming consultant for the Neyers ranch and also advises a bunch of other vineyards. Interesting guy and a bit of a juxtaposition. He looks like a complete hippy flake now ranting about organics but in reality he was very down to earth and was a wealth of knowledge about agriculture and such. We had the blessing to see him again, this time at the Neyers Ranch. They had called him in to check out some vines that weren't doing that well so Marie and I tagged along. The main problem with farming here is water, there just isn't enough of it at the right times. We talked a lot about cover crops, mulching, every-other-row tilling. Also, apparently you can use whey as a fungicide, who knew? They are also having a turkey problem on the Ranch-they are eating the fruit. And the organic solution? Shoot them, they're are a pest in the area anyway. I offered my services to Barbara Neyers. Maybe we can have turkey for lunch one day, or even save some for Thxgiving.

Welch's vs. Pato

All the reds so far (Zinfandel and Petite Syrah) have come in at a bit higher sugar level, or brix, than Tadeo would like. If the Brix is too high then you end up with a very alcoholic wine and it is questionable if the yeast will be able to ferment everything completely and in time. So to correct this we have drained a bit of juice from each. This will lower the total brix but increase the concentration of juice to skins so that no flavor or color is lost. We all talked about what do to with it, Roberto saying freeze it and make grape-pops and Bernardo saying mix it with tequila for a tasty beverage. In the end I kept a gallon of it in the fridge to drink, and damn is it better than Welch's grape juice. Rich, sweet, slightly creamy, and tart it is delicious. I also kept a 5 gallon batch to try my hand at rose!

So what about Rose? I had talked to Tadeo about my beer making ventures and he told me that I could use anything here to do with as I liked. He has tried to make Zinfandel rose but says that it just doesn't come out right, that the good stuff comes from Merlot and Grenache. So I passed on the Zin, but the Petite Syrah was tempting. I siphoned off 5 gallons and started my the Neyers-Underground 2008 Pato Ranch Petite Syrah Rose. Because the brix was high and Rose is supposed to be light and refreshing, I diluted the juice to about 25 brix from 26.8. In doing so, I also diluted the Ph. This is not desired, Rose being light and crisp needs a quite low Ph through fermentation and I had diluted it from 3.8 to 4.7. So I added tartaric acid in the order of 1g/litre to bring it back down to about 3.7. Ideally the Brix would be more like 23-24 and the Ph more like 3.3-3.4 but since I am only working with 4 gallons, it would be too much playing around to end up with a reasonable wine. We also have a bunch of barrel plugs that come in new barrels and are made from the same wood. I thought about tossing some of these in as 'chips' but decided against it. For this batch, ill just stick with it as is. There will be several to come as the Merlot, Cabernet, Syrah, and Grenache all come in. I plan on playing with each as a rose. Actually making the calls on this wine and doing the testing is already teaching me a ton about wine making.

On fermentation, Neyers allows all their wines to start ferment naturally with native yeast and then inoculate. This way allows the native yeast to get a foot hold and begin fermentation when the juice is ready and create the individual flavors that each yeast makes and then the ferment is finished by the cultured yeast which can handle the higher alcohol and finish in time for bottling.

Last weekend Marie and I went to Mendocino and toured around. Amazing little place but very small. Both the coast and Red Woods were breathtaking.

First Grapes

We got the first grapes of the year in today! 5 tons of Zinfandel. Marie, Roberto, and I started at 7 am this morning by preparing the sorting belt, destemmer, must pump (auger), hoses, and tank. Tadeo, Bernardo and his brother Sergio started at 4:30 am in the field to supervise the picking and then truck the grapes back to the winery. All Neyers grapes are sourced from vineyards in the area, so there are no actual vines on the Neyers Winery property-everything is trucked in. By picking early they are able to get the truck loaded and to the winery before it gets too hot in the day (as long as the vineyard is close enough). They are also able to preserve the natural acidity, which is highest during the cool hours of the night. When sorting we looked mainly for rot and there was very little of it. Rot is a problem with zinfandel grapes because the bunches are so tight, air cannot circulate and moisture encourages growth of nasty things. Cabernet Sauvignon, conversely, has a very loose bunch and so can tolerate much higher humidity and rain with out rotting. But luckily is has not rained for a bit, at least since I have gotten here and it has been quite hot, breaching 100 F during the day. So the grapes that came in were quite ripe and some of the bunches had completely rasinated. In tasting, they were delicious very sweet and chewy but the raisins are not so good for the wine. They can add intense flavor but can also unbalance a wine with too much sugar/ripeness.

So all that was Tuesday. Wednesday Marie and I did the early shift and followed Tadeo to the vineyard at 5 am. An early start, but nothing that doughnuts and coffee cant cure. We were harvesting mostly Zinfandel and a bit of Petite Syrah from the Pato vineyards way down in Oakley. Everything was harvested by Mexicans and then loaded into bins pulled behind the tractor. Marie and I would ride with the bins and do field sorting, pulling out leaves and rotten or other unacceptable bunches. The Zinfandel vines were amazing. They were all bush trained vines meaning they had been pruned to form a bush, no trellising, just big stumps with tendrils growing off the top. Many were over 100 years old, the average probably being around 60 years. All were also planed on their original root stock meaning that they could potentially be attacked by phylloxera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylloxera). These vines, though, grow in such sandy/loose soil that it is very difficult for the pest to live and so unlikely that these vineyards will have any trouble. The Zin that cam in was plagued by the odd patch of rot and quite uneven ripening. Some parts of the bunch would be plump and juicy while others were dry and raisiney. This is apparently the difficulty of growing zin, it is very a very ornery plant. This is also a symptom of growing old vines, you have mass variation in yield, health of the vines, and quality. The Petite Syrah on the other hand was fabulous. From much younger vines and trellised, the bunches were evenly ripe and had no signs of rot.

About the harvesters, I really felt for them. They were paid by the number of bins that they harvested so all were running and harvesting as fast as possible. It was incredibly backbreaking work done by the spectrum of young/old male/female workers. It was relatively cool in the morning but by the time the sun came up, it was scorching hot and dusty dry. Very brutal work. People bitch about food prices now, imagine if we actually paid these people a wage relative to the work they do. It struck me as out-sourced slavery.

Snooping around Napa

View Larger Map
So this was my route out here when all said and done. Out of curiosity of my MPG and in case anyone was planning a similar trip in a '03 Ford Ranger 2.3L 4 Cylinder 2WD truck; here are my totals for gas and such:

Average Price: 3.807375
Total Quantity: 150.033
Total Cost: 565.71
Total Miles: 3714
MPG: 24.7545539981204

Here are some pictures from water skiing, we went out again on Wednesday afternoon. This time I felt much better on my legs. Once I got the feel for it, it was a lot like snow skiing and I was able to cut back and forth across the wake and even get a lil air! Near the end of the day I started trying to slalom but was not quite able to get up, but it was close.



Wednesday morning Marie and I headed out to Calistoga to visit some wineries and check out the scene. Many were close to her house so we packed a couple of bottles of Neyers Merlot to tip especially cool people and took off on bikes. The first, and by far the best that we visited, was Envy Estate. Their only white was a Sauvignon Blanc done the in the fume style (a little bit of oak) and were nice. Their reds, thought, were great. Petite Syrah, Cab, and a Bordeaux Blend. The guy who showed us around just walked in from the cellar with dirty hands and all, I love it. We gave him a bottle.

The second was Vincent Arroyo, tiny little place who only sells from their cellar-no distribution. Nice atmosphere and the wines were very nice.

The third was August Briggs. First a note about tasting rooms: some are just open hours and anyone can show up, the rest are by appointment only. The first two and the last (Storybook) were by appointment while August Briggs was open. To get a more personal experience, I highly recommend the appointment wineries.

Last was Storybook. The story behind this winery is that it was originally built way back in the day by two brothers named Grimm. Yep, the same Brothers Grimm. Anyway, it burnt down and then was re bought by some other guy who liked the history and so he incorporated it into the name and label of the winery. The engraved barrel below is also the logo/label for the wines. The vineyards are also from here, amazing views of the hills and mountains from this winery. One interesting thing is that they coated all their barrels with a "Non-toxic, breathable anti-fungal coating" because "if you are going to spend $1300/barrel, they might as well look good". To me it looked like a lacquer or wax coating. I am curious as to how this affects the wine, sure it is "breathable" but I doubt as breathable as bare wood. And whats wrong with the classic mouldy cellar? Some places are just meant to be messy.

Final Leg

I made it to California on the 23rd. After a nice couple of days in SLC, I headed out and did about half the drive one day stopping in Winnemucca, NV and then finishing the trek on Saturday. And thank god I did. If I had to find this place in the dark, I would have been sleeping on the side of the road. The place I am staying is amazing. The Johnstons own a little cottage next to their house that consists of a single bedroom, living room, and kitchen. It is perfect for me. Even better is that they live on the same drive off the main road as Neyers Estate meaning that my commute to work every day will be a 1.5-2 min walk, maximum. After that I found out that they have a ski boat and love to take it out. I think I may be in paradise. No phone service and no Internet at the house but I can use the winery's computer whenever.

The night I arrived, after settling in, I headed over to the house for dinner with Cindy, Tom, and their daughter Chelsey. We had a great, simple meal of home grown lamb and salad (did I mention that they raised sheep?). They broke out a bunch of wine that Cindy makes from grapes grown on her mothers property that was amazing. Their friend David Arthur, who is a vintner here in Napa, stopped by with his daughter and her fiance. What a better intro to the area. Well, it gets better. Sunday we all went out to the lake and spent all day water skiing and tubing around and had Elk sandwiches for lunch. I was able, for the first time, to get up on the skis and was just getting to the point where I could get outside the break by the end of the day. Today my back and legs are killing me but it is such a good pain.

Today was my first at the winery. I finally got to meet the winemaker, Tadeo, face to face after months of talking to him on the phone. It was an easy day and it looks like grapes won't be coming in for at least another week or so but it is nice to be able to ease into the swing of things and learn how they do things here. Our crew will consist of Me, Tadeo, Marie (another intern, from Texas), Roberto, and Bernard. Both Carlos and Bernard speak little to no English so I got to dust off the cobwebs from that part of my brain which, felt quite nice. A very small operation, Tadeo is expecting about 22o tons this year. In comparison at Villa Maria we processed a total of 11,500 tons and some nights I would work through 300-400 tons in 12 hours. This week will be a bit slow so I plan on touring around the area and hopefully finding some trails to bike. Apparently, if you are in the business, the other wineries will wave their tasting fees....

SLC

Drove into Salt Lake City on the 19th and dropped some stuff at Carl and Elisa's storage to lighten my load. The cottage that I am staying at in Cali was originally going to be completely unfurnished so I was packing folding chairs, cook ware, sheets, etc. Last week, though, I got a call from the owner and it turns out that it will instead be completely furnished! So I am able to leave all that stuff behind for when I eventually move out here permanently. That night I set out with Keith and BE to go see Garrison Keillor on the Rhubarb tour at an outdoor amphitheater, which was hilarious. Yesterday I spent the day stocking up on various supplies I needed and then hiked around in the afternoon. Words and pictures are pitifully inadequate at expressing the true beauty of these mountains so I will not even try (and I forgot to bring my camera). Just know that every section of every path is as breathtaking as any inspirational calendar and with infinite variability. Today more hiking is on the agenda with the cousins and then Sam's 3 year B-day bowling party tonight. Happy birthday Sam!

Wyoming

After Albuquerque I continued North-West and made my way to Moab. I had put enough miles on the truck so when I stopped for lunch in Gallup, NM I also had the oil changed. On the way to Moab I took a side route to Four Corners as I thought that it would be cool to stand in four states at one time, and it was a really pretty drive. But when I got there, they of course wanted to charge me $3 and had the 1/2 acre around the area fenced off so I said "screw this, its not worth $3 to straddle some imaginary lines"



In Moab I stayed at the coolest hostel yet: the Lazy Lizard Hostel. At only $9/night it was by far the best deal and had the best people. The local liqueur store also had a fantastic selection of wine. For a controlled state, who ever is stocking the stores is doing a great job and at great prices. I got a Castano Hecula and Burgans Albarino.

On to Wyoming. Off the exit for the ranch I passed dozens of brand new wind generators that I thought were looked great. The image the convey is something of hope, that there might be a bright future after all. I just fear that the more of these that we build, we will begin to slow the winds through those areas and through that cause climate change - the very thing that they are meant to avoid.



On the ranch I jumped immediately into the hay harvest with TJ, Allen, and Pam. Allen raked the cut hay while TJ baled, and I loaded the bales on the (slightly) modified school bus that Pam drove. We did this for two days and then I helped my brother Carl with re-roofing on of the houses. Today we took a break and wen to Sill's for breakfast and three of us ordered scones along with our meals. What we were expecting were the triangular, biscuit type scones...what came were more like elephant ears, great big round slabs of fried dough slathered in honey butter. This afternoon Carl, Allen, and I took the guns out to some BLM land to do some target shooting. Since I am not out here all that often, we pulled out some fun stuff. First were the 12 gauge shotguns and a skeet launcher. After that was target shooting with a 30-06, .22, .17, and a 30-30 (Remington, lever action - an awesome gun and one that I would love to get one day). A good day.