Vintage 2013: One Day At a Time

While last year's harvest has come and gone, it still is fresh in my mind as I work with wine born during those 5 hectic months. About a month before the first grapes arrived I walked away from a huge part of my life since 2009, competitive cycling. I took me about 6 months to finally realize that training at the level I was attempting to was hurting my future health, not helping it. While it hurt to quit the sport that I still love, my family and friends helped me realize that it was only part of my life, and I am still whole without it.

My timing couldn't have been better as harvest is a beast that few people have the privilege of experiencing. I moved home to train, but also to apprentice under my father, a great winemaker who has taught a number of great winemakers the ropes in the beginning. Having worked harvest since I was 10 I thought I knew the gig, but the fives years spent at University in Santa Barbara racing bikes made me soft. With a Bio degree and lab experience, my responsibilities went far beyond my previous jobs of hauling hose and cleaning all the things. People have asked me what my position is, and the best answer I can give is Principle Gopher; I get things done. I learned to drive a forklift, a not insignificant task which requires four functioning limbs, when I have two that are fully responsive.

I managed labor crews in the vineyard, shocking them every time as I hopped out of the truck speaking passable Spanish. 

In addition to winery duties I helped coordinate harvesting at our vineyards in Arroyo Seco, an AVA close to Greenfield. Nights were spent meeting with machine harvesters and taking grape samples in the dark with the help of a headlamp.

Harvest was: long, exhausting, frustrating, enlightening, and a time of rapid education. People have a romantic idea of a Chateau in France, where wine emerges in a beautiful package. In reality winemaking involves getting stuff dirty and having to clean it.