Well this week saw me with split loyalties between the vineyard for lots of berry and bunch counting, and the winery as....a cellar hand (of sorts).
Some people choose a career as cellar hands, whilst others treat it as their apprenticeship and a stepping stone up the ladder towards cellar manager and winemaker. Duties include everything from cleaning the massive stainless steel tanks (once after use and once before use), running wine from the barrels to the tanks, cleaning the barrels, the snow run (adding dry ice to the top of each tank to seal the wine from the oxygen at the top of the tank), driving forklift trucks....so on and so forth.
On the first day I got a good overview of all of the above activities and can draw the following conclusions:
1. The level of cleanliness in the winery is clinical....Whilst that may not be the case from winery to winery or country to country, there is absolutely no doubt the tanks, barrels and the winery itself are obsessively clean.
2. The reason I know this is because there are some scary chemicals involved in cleaning the tanks...I was somewhat in disbelief when I was standing in gumboots, head to toe overalls, elbow length v thick gloves and a face visor to mix and use citric acid and sulphur dioxide...I know you all want to see the picture of that but figured it wasn't the moment to whip the camera out for a holiday snap...not least cos I couldn't move my hands in the gloves!!
3. There are chemicals used throughout the process....on top of citric acid and sulphur dioxide, nitrogen forces the wine out the barrels and down the hoses into the tanks. It also forms the basis of the dry ice.
And all those chemicals are even before I get time in the lab with the assistant winemaker....to think I used to hate chemistry at school. Like statistics (used for yield estimating on the vineyard) it all just needs to get applied to real life and something you love for it to make so much more sense and be ten times more interesting.
My second day on the winery involved a full day of barrel cleaning. You know the size and shape of a wine barrel? Well my job was to turn it 180 degrees so the hole is at the bottom and all the lees (or yeast extracts) can slop out the bottom. You then have to turn it slightly back towards you to stick a "moog" into it which steam cleans the barrel. Lift it back to 180 degrees to run the clean at 90 degrees Fahrenheit, turn it again to get the moog out and replace it with a cooling moog, turn it back to 180 degrees to run the cooler and remove. Easy!! Well no it's not...WHEN YOU'RE CLEANING 72 OF THEM in a day in 27 degree heat with non breathing waterproof overalls and gumboots on!!!
THE MOOG
THE SLOP
THE FRUITS OF MY LABOUR (no pun intended)
Further lessons from Day Two on the winery:
1. If you were to think about what goes into making your beautiful bottle of wine you may not ever drink it again....the cleaning chemicals and more importantly the lees falling out the barrel with the look, feel(?), and sound of a cow splat being produced (sorry but why should I suffer alone).
2. There is absolutely no glamour in the production of wine....it's dangerous chemicals and gases, it's protective clothing, it's almost engineering, it's slop, it's repetitive, it's hot....it stuffs up your hands as proven below
3. That said the barrels all have character, the smell of the wine coming out the barrels and the slop is beautifully sweet, knowing you're part of the process that ends in premium wines is hugely rewarding and each and every one of us talks about wine on the way there and on the way home...addictive and obsessive and passionate.
On a separate note, I said last week I'd tell you about what's happening to wine over here. In brief (cos I don't want to bore you)...in the northern hemisphere a wine tasting would start with Pinot Grigio then move to Sauvignon Blanc, Chsrdonnsy, Riesling and finally Gewurtztraminer....basically dry to sweet. New Zealand being New Zesland (and not confined by the rule book of the old world legislation) is mixing things up. They're adding oak to Sauvignon Blanc whilst taking it out of their Chsrdonnay. Their Riesling is dry not sweet. Their Pinot Gris is off dry and full of flavour. True to form they are throwing convention out of the window and looking for every avenue to differentiate their wines (not least due to the number of vineyards in the one area that run a danger of all tasting the same).
This week I...
...HUNG OUT at Nelson Lakes and The TopHouse bar, St Arnaud, Nelson Lakes...a very quaint equivalent of The Drovers in Loch Lomond and surprisingly it was built for drovers!!! New Zealand's smallest bar (and an honesty one at that) with the most spectacular views over the hills and valleys
...WINED ON...a cellar door tasting at Seifried Nelson with the following standouts...their 2012 Riesling, their 2011 Zweigelt and their 2012 Sweet Agnes Riesling 2012. Also a Loire Valley tasting night hosted at the local wine merchants.
...DINED ON...on a beautiful chicken, chilli and coconut salad at Siefried winery (getting a sense of where I spent the weekend) with aforementioned Riesling and friends old and new...only thing missing was my dedicated nurse cousin!!
Next week....less wine, more tourist
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