Remember the first time you ever stayed up past midnight?
The day started off early. I was out of the house by six, fueled
by a cup of oil-thick stovetop espresso made pleasant with ample sugar and half
and half. Destination: Keller Estate, also called La Cruz Vineyard. The midnight
pick of our 114 clone Pinot Noir was well finished and I was headed down to
make sure the fruit got loaded on the truck without fail and collect grape
samples from a few other vineyard blocks of Pinot Noir. I cruised down the 101
just before rush hour hit and made my way out some country roads to the ostentatious landscape. The
fog in the air was heavy and the temperature cool as the winds started clearing
the sky and the sunrise signaled another day of harvest.
Fast forward a couple hours, back in Santa Rosa, to the
grapes arriving at the winery stacked in giant plastic bins on the back of the
flatbed. Bob, the trucker, was happy to deliver. We weighed the valuable
freight and manned the sorting line. Today we would be making some very fine
rosé.
Half the grapes were sorted ‘whole cluster’ and dumped into the press; the
juice squeezed out over a two-hour process, aromatic dark pink nectar
reminiscent of strawberries and cinnamon with just enough acidity to tickle the
tongue. The other half, crushed and de-stemmed, put to tank to soak for 12
hours and leech some color from the thin purple skins. This latter batch would
be why tonight I had a flashback to the first time I stayed up past midnight.
I don’t remember too many details, but the image is vivid in
my mind: sitting in the den in my pajamas, maybe age six, with some sparkling
grape juice in hand nestled up to the television with family as we awaited the
countdown to the ball drop on a new year.
I don’t know what was cooler, sipping bubbly like the adults, seeing the
new year’s broadcast, or being able to be badass enough to be up past midnight.
During harvest being up past 12am is not only typical, it’s
pretty much certain. Added to morning starts often before sunrise and regular
recreation post workday, sleep becomes an afterthought. With the fact that the
grapes were not processed until after 9am and needed to sit for 12 hours so the
juice would have contact with skins, the
time to commence the second pressing
needed to be after 9pm. A two hour press cycle and a cleanup time of an
hour MINIMUM meant I was, today, at the winery until just after midnight.
Luckily I had my boss and another guy there to help, with Funkadelic blaring
and enough Lagunitas to make a guy happy. As we were finishing up, my feet
soaked through my boots, arms sticky with juice and hair matted down underneath
a beanie from an awkward sensation of sweating in the cool autumn night, I
carried a clean hose to the drying rack and laughed to myself…
Remember the first time you ever stayed up past midnight?