This week we bring you a special guest post as originally written by our fearless NightRiders leader and Assistant Winemaker, Brendan Carr, for the Xanadu Wines Newsletter. We enjoyed it so much that we, like most of the music we listen to, pirated it before its official release. Consider this the extended mix version only available as a B-side on Japanese vinyl never touched by any marketing team.

Ahhh, another vintage has rolled around.

First things first, I’m going to level with you. In my experience, most of these daft ‘vintage blogs’ you will read can either go two ways. First up, you have the pre-vintage blog, written in a tone dripping with a feverish, nervous restlessness of the winemaker before vintage commences. He or She will explain their perennial excitement for the upcoming crush often in a very short, hurried statement. Normally reheating some cheesy puns, they will tell you of their enthusiasm to see the culminations of a year work in the vineyards come to ‘fruition’, whilst secretly they wonder if they have ordered enough yeast or when that darn press will arrive.

Second, we have the classic post vintage report. In my opinion, these are characterised by an almost delirious drunken glow. The winemaker, who is now rendered a drinking lightweight by a few months of 12+ hour days, sits down at their computer a few sheets lighter into the wind after a one or two long-necks, a self reward for being roped into doing one of these darn ‘blogs’ by the marketing department in the first place. Bordering on a hubris haze, they will tell you how this vintage was definitely the ‘best yet’, let you know how good that new press was (really it was a month late), and implore to you that they always knew those natural Chardonnay ferments were definitely, unequivocally, certain to go bone dry.

So what sort of vintage blog it this I hear you ask? We’ll as it is my first ‘vintage blog’, I’m not even sure… Perhaps think of this one as a half time running report. But without the rose coloured glasses. Yep, winemaking isn’t as glossy as those photos in those overpriced coffee table books make it out to be.

This is more of a blog from the trenches, embedded with Xanadu Nightshift Company. This year, we have United Nations team of Frogs, Yanks, and of course, (ferment) diggers from New Zealand and Australia. We have crushed and pressed the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc offensive, but now the red army is approaching and we are about to come under heavy Cabernet fire. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s a sticky war, we have lost a few good pumps and hoses out there. The battlefield is filling up fast, and now we have to be very tactical with our tank movements. Nevertheless, moral is high as we hope to get another shipment of coffee up to the front line soon.

And like any war, this vintage is comprised of a series of battles. We pride ourselves at Xanadu on letting many of our ferments go ‘natural’, which in our very humble opinion gives rise to increased complexity and character to our wines. However, it also gives rise to increased headaches to our winemaking generals, as these ‘natural yeast’ are sometimes as consistent as a my attempts to cook a good homemade risotto. However, just wait for our ‘post vintage blog’ and we’ll tell you we honestly didn’t have a care in the world.

Even the vintage conditions themselves have been a interesting battle. However, if I’m being honest, I think here in Margaret River we live in a bubble. A very, good bubble mind you. We are always extremely fortunate with weather throughout the ripening season here. Even our ‘lesser’ vintages would be the envy of many other regions. This is particularly pertinent when one thinks about the droughts, fires and floods that have affected eastern Australia in recent vintages past and present. However, this year we find ourselves in somewhat of an interesting situation. Let me explain…

So far this harvest, we have found at flavour ripeness, the sugar levels for this years white wine have been lower than in comparison with previous vintages. This will bode for lighter, and hopefully more refined, delicate and subtler styled wines. Not a problem for a white wine I hear you say. Let the fruit do the talking… Less alcohol, less hangover, a welcome change to all that riper vino on the market, we could go on and on. And I have to say I agree completely.

However, before we shut the book on this one, this has stimulated some interesting discussion around the winery which has got us thinking about true meaning of a ‘vintage’. So where does one turn when looking for the true meaning of anything in this crazy, high-tech world today. You guessed it, Google.

The definitive guide to life, ‘Google’ defines a vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. However, most countries allow a vintage wine to include a portion of wine that is not from the year denoted on the label. In countries such as Chile and South Africa, the requirement can be as low as 75% same-year content for vintage-dated wine while in certain areas of the United States, the requirement can be as high as 95%. Here In Australia the requirement is 85%.

Interesting.

For instance, lets say one year, hypothetically the bubble bursts, Margaret River has a shocker of a vintage and the Cabernet Sauvignon came in under-ripe. Would you prefer we blended back 5% of last years riper material, or perhaps even the vintage following it, in the quest for a richer, fuller and ultimately better wine? Hell, what’s 5% between friends? You’ve worked hard, you deserve the best wine we can muster! Or does the purist inside you squirm at the mere thought? Don’t be messing around with what nature intended. A vintage is a vintage, and therefore should remain so in bottle.

So it’s a war of purity versus perfection. The purist within me wants the wine to be a 100% representation of that particular vintage. A true refection of place, accompanied with a sense of time. However, the perfectionist within me wants to make the absolute best wine possible, for both myself and for you.

The jury is out here at Xanadu…

Beer anyone?

b

We have officially joined the ranks of the NightRiders, working a night shift & proving our dedication to wine. Initially, we worked 7:00 PM to 5:00 AM, while our winery cycled through three shifts, including others dubbed the Daywalkers and Early Birds. We peacefully drift through the night, pressing white grapes, barreling down, racking & inoculating juices all while listening to music at eardrum piercing decibel levels. Indeed these working hours and volumes are reminiscent of the raving days of our youth. The shifts have now been reduced, putting us on a 12 hour cycle, from 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM, and pitting us against the Daywalkers. Who shall reign supreme?

Meanwhile, Australia is burning. Well, not all of it, but parts of Southwestern Australia are being consumed by brush fires approximately 150K away from our workplace, Xanadu Wines. Smoke has been so thick at night that we can hardly see across the crush pad and our high visibility safety gear smells more like a BBQ than work. Concerned, the winemakers began a trial of more than 30 micro ferments to test if any future wine would be tainted by the smoke. Happily, no traces were detected due to the majority of the growing season having already passed. It is a bright note in an otherwise devastating fire.

This vintage is already a little different for us. Whereas before, our estate and contract tallies neared 300 ton, we’re working at a winery with the capacity for 5,000. We will see around 1800 ton before the harvest is through. To date, we have already brought in nearly 600 ton. Amongst the tonnage are two interesting staff projects, including a barrel fermented Sauvignon Blanc ‘Serum’ sitting on its lees and a skin contact Semillon ‘Money Shot.’ We’ll be sure to let you know how these come out.

One final note, we took our beloved Blue Balls in for a check-up to Dr. Azza, our winery mechanic. Frankly, he was surprised that we were driving the car at all due to the front left wheel only being held on by a weld, and a poor one at that. Desperate times calls for desperate measures, so we temporarily solved the issue by, you guessed it, a bigger weld. Luckily, Az soon sourced a hub assembly and CV joint. While Blue Balls was laid up, we zipped to work across the vineyards and forest on a very tiny 50 cc scooter, also blue & worse for wear.

A La Vin!

So, here we are again. Luke & I are listening to Beats Antique while our Aussie roommate, fresh off an Italian vintage, cooks Carbonara. We’re currently in Margaret River, 300 kilometers or so from Perth in Western Australia, awaiting the beginning of our first harvest of 2012. We live in ‘The Tin House,’ situated in the Stevens Road estate vineyard of Xanadu Wines. We have no cable, no Internet, but what we lack in communication, we make up in card games.

By the way, you must lock the gate to keep out the emus and kangaroos.

We’re isolated, but our drive to work is easier than our 2011 harvest in Waipara, New Zealand. (The kamikaze rabbits had a tougher time of it than we did.) Not to say that an all terrain vehicle wouldn’t be beneficial, but we’ve already purchased our lot; a glamorous $700 chariot, affectionately known as ‘Blue Balls.’ This 1991 Toyota Camry, prior to our purchase, was spray-painted with a civil shade of blue – so far only seen on concrete traffic posts. Oddly enough, rather than fix the suspension, brake lights, or change the oil, the same former owner opted to put in a brand new Sony Xplod! stereo and two 6×9 speakers. What we lack in antenna, we make up in iPod.

Just a reminder, you must lock the gate to keep out the emus and kangaroos.

Tonight, we’re celebrating our passing of the written part of the Australian forklift license test by pairing the 2006 Xanadu Chardonnay with the Carbonara. We’ve already completed Confined Spaces Training and First Aid Level Two, Aussie Style. Snake bites? Spider bites? No problem. Our fellow coworkers have already been kind enough to catch Red Back & White Tail Spiders for our viewing pleasure.  For our next feat, we’ll learn ping pong.

Hey. Did you lock the gate to keep the emus and kangaroos from eating the fruit?

Ben writes…

Jesse submits this missive from the midwest…

WHO: The Dreaming Tree WHAT: 67% Merlot, 33% Zinfandel WHEN: 2009 WHERE: Geyserville, CA HOW: First, the dreams of fraternity brothers are harvested by hand. They are cold soaked in Miller Lite for two days & then fermented in oak from the rocking chairs of Cracker Barrel for five years. It is the fifth year that gives the wine its maturity.

WHY: Fueled by a resentment for having to listen to Dave Matthews Band seemingly every day of my formative years, I pulled The Dreaming Tree’s “Crush,” off the shelves of my local big name grocer. The Dreaming Tree wines are sold as a collaboration between Simi winemaker Steve Reeder & musician Dave Matthews. I was absolutely shocked that the marketing-powers-that-be chose “Crush” as the red blend’s name, instead of the obvious Dave Mathews Band tie-in “Crash.” (Ed. Note: Further research has shown that ‘The Dreaming Tree’ and ‘Crush’ are also the names of Dave Matthews Band songs, from 1998.) Why, in sheer Googlitude alone, ‘crash wine’ would be a much easier page ranking to top than ‘crush wine’ in a sea of custom crush pads, harvest blogs, etc.

The front label is innocuous in a tea-stained parchment style with a line drawn tree. I turned the bottle around half-expecting to read Modesto, CA, city of Gallo fame, but instead found Geyserville, CA. A brief investigation proved it to be a product of Constellation Wines. There are also, what are supposed to be a couple of authenticity inspiring blurbs from the star & winemaker, however, they served to prove nothing except that Dave Mathews was authentically stoned.

The passage is included for your reading pleasure below:

Two Hot Dogs in a Pick-up
A hot day
Two dogs
Chase a stick
Thrown into a pond
Again and again
The older, slower dog
Never gets the stick
And moans at the effort
But always goes in
“Maybe this time”
-Dave Matthews

Charming. When I uncorked the bottle, I found that the opening volley doesn’t have the sweetness or the full mouthfeel that one expects from a grocery store brand. In fact, it was surprisingly sour to start, instead of fruit forward, hinting only at unripe mulberries & pomegranate. The fruit hits about mid-palate, with strong blueberry flavors. The finish continues to be sour with gritty tannins. You would think that a wine geared towards the backwards baseball cap wearers of the 90s with this flavor profile would pair well with grilled meats or other alma mater tailgating fare. However, this wine blew it when paired with bacon. Bacon.

This wine appears to be non-vintage without the blend components printed on the label. However, the information is available on the Internet from various wine shops carrying the bottle. Chances are, they’ve left it open to reblend later to accommodate different harvest’s fruit and create a consistent product. This is not to say that additives might not contribute to that consistency as well. Snark aside, the wine is drinkable, but the price point near $15 will last until the novelty wears off.

One further note, this wine appears to be a branded product that takes advantage of a particular person’s fame in the way that Ed Hardy & Banana Republic wine or 50 Cent’s Vitamin Water flavor, “Formula 50,” do. Personally, I don’t see any reason to draw conclusions from the tasting of this wine to Steve Reeder’s work at Simi Winery, or Dave Matthew’s Blenheim Vineyards in Virginia, since neither originated in a think tank.

Dear Family, Friends and Followers,

Given our recent schedule, it seemed fitting to combine weeks five and six into one update. Prior to these last two weeks, we were patiently waiting for fruit to be picked and transported from the Chehalem estate vineyards to the winery. A window of fantastic weather gave a last push of ripening potential to the fruit and we were able to pick almost all, equaling close to 300 tons of fruit. Only Riesling remains on the vine with a very small block of Pinot waiting at the top of the Corral Creek vineyard.

All that fruit coming in right away means that we have wearily weighed every bin, sorted every cluster, pressed load after load & filled every tank. Now that we are two weeks into the constant arrival of fruit, our bodies ache, sleep seems but a dream, and all of us should have purchased stock in Advil before this began. Harvest is a funny experience. One experiences extremely long hours (a 14 hour day is not uncommon) yet our spirits remain high knowing that we are taking part in something bigger than our tiny tired selves. Alchemy is seemingly in action as grapes ferment into wine. What is initially a sticky mess requiring an exhaustingly cleaning process is transformed into one of the most sought after art forms on Earth. Work one week of real harvest and you may never question the price or value of a bottle of wine again.

On a related side note: Friday of week six was the end of an exhausting stretch of long days processing many tons of fruit. On this particular mid-day, I was operating the forklift, tipping bins of Pinot Noir into the hopper on the sorting table when Romaine approached me and said that a man and a woman were in the tasting room asking for me. As I had done nothing to draw the attention of the local police and I pay my taxes long before they are due, I didn’t think I had anything to worry about and I was busy so I ignored it. Our winemaker was near me and I told him about the two in the tasting room so he said that he would go check it out. Mike (the winemaker) returned and asked me to move something with the forklift which was located on the crush-pad behind me. As I was backing the forklift away from the red wine fermentation building, past some small tanks, towards the end of ramp, an incredible surprise was waiting: All three members of Hipster Enology.

Ben and Renee flew up from Los Angeles and Jesse flew in from Indiana. Apparently they had coordinated this surprise with Mike who was very kind in allowing this to all take place during one of the busiest days of the year at Chehalem. It is difficult to communicate how elated I was to see these familiar faces. Given my exhausted state and how weak and dirty my body felt, seeing these three was truly an emotional moment for me. My initial reaction was one of utter shock quickly followed by tearing up and hugging the heck out of my friends. The rest of the weekend seemed a fantasy as the four of us explored Oregon wine country together and went to a wicked halloween party. Ben, Jesse and Renee all had costumes planned for the party so I had to whip something together pretty quickly. The result: wet weather gear I wear every day at work and a stocking cap made me a fisherman.

After brunching on Sunday, the four of us had time for a few wine tastings before Ben and Renee had to fly back to Los Angeles. The last winery we visited, Bella Vida, is perched on a steep hill surrounded by their vineyards overlooking the Willamette Valley. Raptors were riding thermals overhead as the Sun broke through the clouds clearing an incredible view of the valley. While sipping on the wines of Bella Vida Winery, I couldn’t help but think, “This is a good life.”

As I am still in harvest mode, perhaps one of the other Hipsters will review the wineries we visited that weekend. For a more detailed, eloquent and current account of the harvest happenings, check out Harry’s 2011 Harvest Report at the Chehalem website.

Cheers,

Luke Mathews

Dear Family, Friends and Followers,

This is an update for week four, which almost mirrored week three, as we continued waiting for grapes to come in. Our team is looking forward to the long hours and hard work that harvest brings mostly so we can start to work off some of the padding starting to show around our work-shy midsections. Every bin of fruit that is received at a winery needs to be weighed for auditing purposes later. To do this, many wineries have a pallet-sized scale that is sensitive enough to weigh anything from a ton to a couple of pounds. The weight we are putting on during our wait falls somewhere between those two values.

For now, going out into the vineyards to gather random sample bunches for lab analysis is our best hope for some exercise. The winemakers will choose different divisions known as blocks within the vineyards to be analyzed for Brix, pH and TA. Brix represents the amount of sugar in the juice, while pH & total acidity show the acidity of the wine. Forgive me for not giving a detailed explanation behind the chemistry of the inverse relationship between Brix, pH and TA. When all three are at optimum levels, the grapes can be picked and that is what we are waiting on.

One fascinating aspect of collecting samples from vineyards is observing the genetic mutations that occur in Pinot vines. Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc all share the same DNA and are genetically unstable plants. Genetic mutations will show in the form of random clusters of Pinot Noir showing up on a Pinot Blanc vine or Pinot Gris popping up in a Pinot Noir block, etc.. The most fascinating of theses genetic anomalies is called a Chimera. On a Chimera cluster, one will find two or perhaps all three of the Pinot grapes nestled together. This is bizarre, beautiful and mentally captivating to see. I happen to have two pictures of two different bunches. The first photo is of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris grapes clustered together, while the second is a very rare shot of all three Pinot grapes on one cluster!

On Friday of week four, we finished early and headed to Portland where Harry (Chehalem’s owner) took everyone bowling. I now know that he is not only a skilled winemaker, extremely knowledgeable about the Willamette Valley and wine in general, but a bowling shark. I am on the opposite end of bowling talent and bowled poorly, frequently getting asked by teammates if I would like to have the kiddie bumpers raised during my frames. Most importantly, it was great to go out on the town as a whole team and enjoy the company of our harvest family. This truly is a good life.

Cheers,
Luke

Dear Family, Friends and Followers,

There are many aspects of wine that require patience. As consumers, we wait for vintages to be released, or for our bottles to age appropriately before we open them. Wine producers wait for the grapes to begin or finish fermenting, then wait patiently as wine ages in barrels and tanks. Viticulturists and winery crews alike wait for the fruit to ripen. Lots of waiting. This year, the Willamette Valley has had a particularly rough waiting period for grapes to ripen due to lots of rain and cloud cover. This email is being written in the third week of harvest and we are still waiting for grapes with some a fairly long way off from being ready.

This year will be a unique vintage in the Willamette as the valley has not received an ideal amount of sunshine to ripen grapes. Sunshine is required for the grape vine plant’s process of photosynthesis to produce sucrose, the first step in the development of a series of sugar molecules. The sugars make the grapes sweeter. The density of that sugar in a grape is described in levels of Brix – which are currently below optimum levels. Depending on the grape Chehalem is looking to pick, the ideal level is between 22 and 25 Brix. Pinot Noir, for example, has an ideal brix window of 23-25. Mike, our winemaker, says that most people will be happy if not lucky to get pinot at 22-22.5 Brix and some will get fruit below that.

Worry not, though! Between these days of rain, the sun breaks through the clouds and continues to ripen the fruit. And, as long as the temperature remains above 50 degrees, respiration still occurs within grapes, mellowing and refining the acids of the fruit. After all, the wines of the Willamette Valley and specifically Chehalem are known for lower alcohols and balanced acid levels. Those two qualities usually make food friendly, delicate wines that tend to age well. To be fair, this is generally true for cool climate wine regions and is arguably why these wines are so sought after.

So one might wonder what we have been doing while waiting for fruit. The cooking of harvest meals is finished, as is the bottling of the last vintage. Our work days now have a leisurely pace getting the winery cleaned in anticipation of fruit arriving. There is always lots of cleaning to do but as Felix, my German roommate, says, “Winemaking is 49% cleaning dirty stuff, 49% moving heavy stuff and 2% drinking beer.” In New Zealand we had adopted a different set of statistics: Winemaking was 98% cleaning and 2% making wine. I quite like this updated formula mostly because it acknowledges the importance of beer. Yes, life is good.

Cheers,

Luke

As Luke emailed on October 6th, 2011:

Dear Family, Friends and Followers,

Last week was an important milestone in the harvest preparation at Chehalem Wines. For five days the winery staff, vineyard crew and harvest interns gathered around and within a mobile bottling truck to bottle 2010 Pinots and Chardonnays. Bottling is another aspect of winemaking that should make any romantic think twice before jumping into this career. Simply, it is tedium defined. For those that have never seen a bottling truck, it looks just like any other semi-truck trailer from the exterior but contains seemingly space-age technology inside. A droning hum comes from the whirling bits of stainless steel, hydraulics rhythmically moving up then down and all of it moving in a synchronized pattern, often behind what look like hermetically sealed glass panels. This pricey mobile assembly line is solely designed to bottle wine in a sterile and efficient environment.

The steps for bottling are as such: Finished wine is pumped from tanks to the truck where it will be automatically dispensed into bottles. One might imagine that bottling is a seamless and even joyous chain of bottle after bottle and case after case exiting the truck. But there is a human element to every other step in the bottling process which is repetitive proof of the love the goes into making every bottle of wine. Before dispensing the wine, the bottles have to be taken out of cardboard boxes and loaded onto a conveyor belt by a team member. Empty glass travels along the belt into a giant wheel where they will be filled with inert nitrogen gas to prevent oxidation of the wine. Immediately after sparging with nitrogen, the bottles are filled with wine and continue to move with the preset speed of the conveyor. Two women place Stelvin closures onto each of the roughly 90,000 bottles we filled last week which are then mechanically sealed. Once each vessel has a screwcap, it continues along the belt to an automatic labeler that (in theory) will wrap the label, level and plumb, around thousands of bottles in a row. After pirouetting through the labeler freshly adorned, each formerly naked bottle continues on the conveyor belt to the back of the truck to be boxed up. At least one harvest intern leans close to the passing bottles to make sure that each label is level and properly applied, removing those needing to be relabeled. Bottles that pass the test make their way to the back of the truck where two men fill empty wine cases and set them onto yet another conveyor belt which carries them through a taping robot (that’s what I like to call it) which seals the tops of the boxes. Sealed cases are zipped out the back of the truck down a wheeled ramp to be stamped with the bottling date and a matching label of the contents within. Next, a member of the Chehalem Winery team picks up each case and stacks it with its brethren onto pallets a la Tetris.

Regardless of where you are on the bottling line, it is repetitive and tiring. Often there is so much of the same movement that your eyes seem to twitch for a while after leaving the truck. It is not uncommon to dream at night about bottles moving briskly by. Remember in the movie, “Groundhog Day,” how Bill Murray’s character wakes up every morning to his alarm clock playing Sonny and Cher’s, “I’ve Got You Babe,” only to find that February 2nd is happening all over again? Last week was very much like that for everyone at the Chehalem Winery. Please don’t interpret this account of bottling as an entirely dismal time. Whilst bottling there were many shenanigans, much laughter and our team really gelled. When breaking for lunch, we were fed well and at day’s end we would gather around a table to drink beer, talk about wine, our surroundings and our team once again reminding me of what seems to be the theme of this harvest: life is good.

Cheers,
Luke Mathews

As sent via email on September 27th, 2011 by Luke:

Dear Family, Friends and Followers:

One week ago, I arrived at the Chehalem Winery property set in the hills of the Chehalem Mountains AVA just North of Newburg, Oregon. Cautiously I drove my 30 ft. and 30 year old Burning Man RV onto the gravel parking lot and driveway of the winery, where I was immediately greeted by Holden, the bloodhound/great dane mix joyously protecting the site. Right behind him were Wynne, Chehalem’s assistant winemaker, and Felix, a fellow harvest intern from Germany. The three pointed to a good place to park my roving behemoth, HaRVy Dent. After climbing out, I knew that the end of this cross-country journey signaled the beginning of a new one: the 2011 Northern Hemisphere Harvest in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

We walked up the gravel driveway lined with Italian Plum and Rainier Cherry trees towards the house revealing itself in the golden light of a late summer evening. I was elated to find that the house was an original Craftsman home set within Chehalem’s Corral Creek Vineyard. Immediately inside, Stickley furniture and original Craftsman woodwork fill the living areas. Bookshelves filled with many eras’ novels and books on every imaginable aspect of wine line some walls while others contain wide windows looking out into the vineyard. There is a kitchen prepared for any level of chef and is clearly used by all frequently. Adjacent to the kitchen is a large dining room outfitted with a bar including just about any libation imaginable and enough glassware to support a fairly large party. Wynne showed me the upstairs bedroom that would be mine along with all of the other necessities I might need: laundry, entertainment, etc. My mind was a blur; taking in such generous accommodations and already imagining what would inevitably be many incredible times spent in this house.

That first evening we went to a co-worker’s house, ate pizzas, drank beer, chatted and drank some incredible wines. With an NFL game buzzing in the background, we chatted on full stomachs. My previous thoughts about good times ahead refocused away from the house, to the people I was with. I knew then that this would be a wonderful harvest. That night I fell asleep with my bedroom window open, listening to frogs and bugs singing night songs in the surrounding fruit trees, looking forward to the next few months.

To be fair, the first week was hardly a harvest week, making the transition much easier to handle. Monday was spent at the tasting room just two miles away preparing 450 boxes for an impending wine club shipment. Tuesday, another intern, Cheney, and I moved pallets of wine to a warehouse. Wednesday was spent cooking large pots of Thai red curry, Irish beef stew, pomodoro sauce made with heirloom tomatoes & basil grown on the property, and baked beans for meals during the harvest. Thursday, we hand bottled and corked magnums of Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Finally, to wrap up the week, Andy, a fellow intern, and I spent the first half of Friday cooking pulled pork, coleslaw and Carolina BBQ sauce for 25 people in anticipation of a party the winery was throwing at our house that night.

At 2:30PM on the Friday afternoon, all of us were finished with work for the day so we walked up to the house and began drinking beers on the front porch. Romain, yet another intern, and I found a Bocce set and played a game between rows of Pinot Noir while sipping on a 1999 Chehalem Reserve Riesling. The whole time I was throwing the bocce towards the pallino and laughing with Romain, I repeatedly thought one thing: Life is good.

Cheers,
Luke Mathews