A Day in the Life....

of a Winemaker's Wife......

Our first grapes came in from the broker today, Pinot Noirs from the Carneros region of Sonoma/Napa. Hubby picked them up while I was at quilt guild and we set to crushing and de-stemming them as soon as he got home.

Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately) this does not involve stomping them in a big tub with one's feet as in the old days. We have a hand operated machina made in Italy--clever souls, the Italians--that does both for us and was worth every dime we spent on it. Crushing would be no problem, but let me tell you, de-stemming would be the pits and I'm thankful not to have to do it.

The sugar level of the grapes had become so strong due to the warm, warm weather we've had in the last couple of weeks that we had to add acid to keep this from becoming a dessert wine and / or stunting the yeastie beasties' ability to start the fermentation. Here you see my job--the winery chemist mixing tartaric acid solution and then the yeast mixture.

From today until probably early November our downstairs powder room will become a winery and in a few days the house will smell like the sweet fermentation of grapes. We feature nothing but the best in facilities, especially our custom sign, made by me.

We may be harvesting our own Cabernet Franc this weekend if the weather keeps up and we are also buying some Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons, so this promises to be a busy, busy season.

In the words of my late, beloved father:

Pour down the water in the sink,
Everyboday have a drink!