I have always been one to try to do everything possible all at one time. I had an excellent role model for this in my Mother. I am, to this day, convinced she has figured out his to squeeze 4 extra hours into every day. This weekend, Brian and I decided to tear out our master bathroom. It is the last room in our house that we haven’t gutted and remodeled and it seemed like the perfect time since our life is already crazy between both our full time jobs and raising an almost two year old. I love manual labor. There is something incredibly satisfying about ripping down walls and opening up new possibilities. I thought, as we were covered in the fine white dust of destroyed drywall, that it is a good symbol of life. Tearing down and gutting what was to bring forth something new and exciting. Change is not always easy for people but I have come to embrace change as opportunity. The “If God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window” saying is one of my mottos in life. I’m currently re-reading Frances Mayes’s Bella Tuscany, her sequel to Under the Tuscan Sun during my precious 30 minutes before bed. I’m often struck how amazing it is to have the courage to purchase a home in another country and completely remodel it. As challenging as our 4 year project has been, I can only imagine what it must be like in a different language and living at the house part time.

At the winery, we continued to have good weather for Pinot Noir this past week with several very warm but just shy of hot days. It was exactly what was needed to jumpstart some of the Pinot whose sugar accumulation had stalled. I’ve also seen the variable flowering come back to bite us again. The Brix are jumping in the tanks post crush. We call this phenomenon “Soaking Up”. It is a common problem with Zinfandel but I have never seen it this widespread on Pinot. Luckily between taking cluster samples and allowing those samples to soak overnight in a bucket (my old Zinfandel method) we have been able to anticipate the Brix jumps. We should be through with nearly all the Pinot Noir by the end of the week. Our first dry tank only took 4 days from inoculation to dryness and it looks awesome! It was our first pick at a modest and elegant 23 Brix and it rocketed down to 0.05 RS and 12.5% alcohol beautifully. It sits on skins, readily developing further tannins and flavors, waiting to be pressed when we feel it is at the most harmonious. We also have our first native (indigenous) Pinot Noir fermentation going as well. I am excited to see our results with some of our best fruit since we had not ventured into this territory last harvest. All in all it seems to be a solid year for quality regardless of the crazy flowering. We’ve just had to adapt as winemakers to be prepared for it.

The remnants of the earthquake from last weekend can be seen readily in the Pinot Noir vineyards in Carneros. Many decent sized cracks have opened up where the earth shifted. The vines seem uninterested but it was slightly unnerving to see on my walks.