i knew the job was tough

I got up at 05:10 on Saturday to go to Los Altos Hills and pick grapes for Hallcrest, along with eight high schoolers who were raising money for their soccer academy.  We harvested about 2 tons of chardonnay and a half-ton of pinot noir.  After a midday break, i headed to the winery to experience the first crush of the season.  The chardonnay fruit was dumped straight into the press, and while that was being processed, the pinot noir fruit was crushed and destemmed, then packed away with a CO₂ blanket.  I was exhausted by the end of the day, and a full night's sleep wasn't enough to restore me.

On Sunday, after going to the garden and picking about a bajillion tomatoes, 2wanda, her mom, and i headed to Hollister to buy our pinot noir for this year's wine.  We bought it from the same folks from whom we bought it last year.  After that, we headed down the road to taste at DeRose, whose wine is notably higher in alcohol than average, but you wouldn't know it from its flavor.  I've been a fan of their négrette, but their late harvest viognier was a revelation; it was subtle and far from the sweetness you'd expect in a dessert wine.

i knew the job was tough

I got up at 05:10 on Saturday to go to Los Altos Hills and pick grapes for Hallcrest, along with eight high schoolers who were raising money for their soccer academy.  We harvested about 2 tons of chardonnay and a half-ton of pinot noir.  After a midday break, i headed to the winery to experience the first crush of the season.  The chardonnay fruit was dumped straight into the press, and while that was being processed, the pinot noir fruit was crushed and destemmed, then packed away with a CO₂ blanket.  I was exhausted by the end of the day, and a full night's sleep wasn't enough to restore me.

On Sunday, after going to the garden and picking about a bajillion tomatoes, 2wanda, her mom, and i headed to Hollister to buy our pinot noir for this year's wine.  We bought it from the same folks from whom we bought it last year.  After that, we headed down the road to taste at DeRose, whose wine is notably higher in alcohol than average, but you wouldn't know it from its flavor.  I've been a fan of their négrette, but their late harvest viognier was a revelation; it was subtle and far from the sweetness you'd expect in a dessert wine.