I suppose every vintage has its challenges. This one just happened to include a 6.1 earthquake with the epicenter a short 4 miles from Robert Mondavi Winery’s Napa Barrel storage warehouse. We have canceled the blocks we were going to pick tomorrow. The warehouse is a mess. We are not sure what was lost yet but it is a true miracle this quake happened in the middle of the night. If it was during the workweek I’m sure we would be missing more precious assets. The winery itself was largely unharmed minus 4 stainless tanks that decided to take a bit of a walk. I went in earlier this morning to help clean up. It was far less dramatic than it could have been. All the lab chemicals were unaffected. The equipment was still on the counters. My office was shaken up with the computer monitors tossed around and knocked over just like most everyone else’s. I spent some time cleaning up the winemaker’s vault with our lab manager. Most of the bottles on the floor were intact and just needed to be replaced.

The actual quake was very surreal. The massive boom woke Brian and I up first, then a full 20-25 seconds of intense rocking as if a giant was shaking the house back and forth. I waited, frozen, waiting for the crashes of broken glass I was certain would shortly follow. We had found the light by the time the shaking stopped and turned it on just in time to see the ceiling can rocking precariously above our heads. My first words? “That was BIG! If we felt that here then it was major!” I immediately turned to Twitter to see who else had felt the shaking since our house seemed to be intact for the time being. This was my first earthquake, which now rounds out my list of natural disasters. As someone who has experienced tornados, hurricanes, blizzards, Ice storms, floods, volcanoes and now an earthquake, earthquakes are at the top of my least preferred list right above volcanos and tornados. Granted the volcano that I experienced was not up close and personal so that would probably make a difference in the rankings.

We’ll see what the rest of this week brings. If you are interested in what I was worried about before the earthquake keep reading.

I can’t believe that it is Week 4 of harvest 2014 already!  We’ve made great progress on the Sauvignon Blanc which will probably be finished by the end of this week.  Pinot Noir started coming in last week with our first blocks and will move steadily along this week with a constant stream of Pinot every day.  Last week’s weather was perfect for grapes to ripen with cool nights and moderately warm days however this week it is supposed to warm up a bit.  The fog is forecasted to lift early tomorrow and bring warmer weather.

I always get nervous with potential heat spikes while picking Pinot Noir.  It is a delicate variety and usually does not ripen at a constant pace the way Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon does.  It has a reputation for being fickle and no where is that more prevalent with watching the Brix numbers on Pinot Noir.  It will stall for a week, sometimes more, then jump rapidly over the course of 2-3 days.  Anticipating these jumps is more an art than a science.  It’s a gut instinct where you have to take the numbers with a grain of salt and trust your tastebuds in the field.  Heat spikes exacerbate the wild swings and can turn what is a reasonably restrained Pinot block at 23 Brix into a raisined, jammy monster at 26 in the blink of an eye.

We’ll see what this week brings us but so far we are doing well and catching the jumps when they happen.  Anticipating what the Pinot is doing is also keeping my mind off of the fact that in 2 weeks I get the results from this year’s MW exam on September 8th.  I’m still in that happy world of possibilities right now where anything could happen and I can’t imagine that I failed yet again.  Having failed the same part of the exam 4 times does lead me to believe, just out of habit rather than real proof, that a 5th time is unlikely to change. However, I have a hope that this time might be different (Add in Liza Minelli singing “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret here!).  I can’t bring myself to actually prepare for another fail, not when I’ve spent the past 6 years thinking that I was going to be an exception to the rule. Common sense says I should, but deep down I’m a dreamer and the dreamer in me wants to believe that if I put enough time and effort into something I will achieve it regardless of the evidence to the contrary.

In the meantime, I’ll continue focusing on the Pinot Noir. Maybe glance at the Merlot and Cabernet (that are chasing the heels of the Pinot) at 22-23 Brix already and keep my mind occupied until I have to face reality, whatever that may be on the 8th of September.