Saturday, I went back to Santa Monica - with a car full empty wine bottles (clink-clink-clink). It was time to bottle John's 2005 Syrah! He had three versions of the same grape, pulled from the oak barrel at different times. He had us taste all 3, and then he set about blending.
The bottling operation is a lot of work, because there isn't lots of fancy equipment at Casa Moneta. Containers, tubing, muscles, gravity, a corker, glue sticks...and lots of enthusiasm! Also, workers who are overjoyed to be paid in wine. Oh, I scored some of the amazing 2001 vintages and a couple of bottles of today's work.
John washed bottles, I filled and topped them, Dieter corked, and Sabine & Liesel (the marketing department) labeled. We filled 18 cases of wine! My hands are purple - so are my toes (from drips, because I wore flip-flops).
After finishing the bottling (the boss wouldn't let us sample the product while working), we drank the last bit that was left. And we got to taste the various wines John has in progress in the garage...um, winery. A 2006 Syrah, a 2006 Nebbiolo, the Cabernet (2 different clones) that we picked in October, and the Pinot Noir that we picked in September. We tasted each on it's own, and then John blended different ones together and we tasted those. Woooooooooo! John moved the 2007 Cabernet into the oak barrel to age.
Everyone was hungry, so it was off to Laures for mexican food, music, and margaritas. OK, I was a little tipsy by this point :-)
The bottling operation is a lot of work, because there isn't lots of fancy equipment at Casa Moneta. Containers, tubing, muscles, gravity, a corker, glue sticks...and lots of enthusiasm! Also, workers who are overjoyed to be paid in wine. Oh, I scored some of the amazing 2001 vintages and a couple of bottles of today's work.
John washed bottles, I filled and topped them, Dieter corked, and Sabine & Liesel (the marketing department) labeled. We filled 18 cases of wine! My hands are purple - so are my toes (from drips, because I wore flip-flops).
After finishing the bottling (the boss wouldn't let us sample the product while working), we drank the last bit that was left. And we got to taste the various wines John has in progress in the garage...um, winery. A 2006 Syrah, a 2006 Nebbiolo, the Cabernet (2 different clones) that we picked in October, and the Pinot Noir that we picked in September. We tasted each on it's own, and then John blended different ones together and we tasted those. Woooooooooo! John moved the 2007 Cabernet into the oak barrel to age.
Everyone was hungry, so it was off to Laures for mexican food, music, and margaritas. OK, I was a little tipsy by this point :-)
After dropping Liesel & Dieter off, we went to Patagonia's Santa Monica store for an open house with a some of the artists that design our T-shirts. A whole bunch of my co-workers from Ventura were there, Suz was performing and it was a blast!
Work is going to be crazy the next few weeks, so don't expect much news. I do have a few random postings for you...so check back!
Work is going to be crazy the next few weeks, so don't expect much news. I do have a few random postings for you...so check back!
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