Skiergirl: Tantara Winery

After some lovely sparring in my comments, lets get on to the real world and what is really important in life... being happy! I was so fortunate to have had the opportunity to go down to California to work on the winery. It really was the chance of a lifetime and I'm so glad I took it.

We worked some really late nights and I used my muscles like I hadn't in a long time, but the reward was camaraderie with a great group of people. Bill and Jeff, the wine makers, were very grateful to have my help and put me to work right away. They were a couple of characters for sure, Jeff an architect and former singer in a jazz band, and Bill an author. Kevin and Russ were the assistant wine makers and terrific guys. They really know their stuff about wine and are extremely passionate about what they do. Brad is another character, the maker of Waltzing Bear wines and Pixar animator. His boyfriend Shane also stopped by to help a few days. There were always new people coming and going, all of whom were exceptionally nice. I got to see almost the entire wine making process. Two years from now I will be able to buy a bottle of 2006 Tantara Pisoni Pinot Noir and know that I had a hand in making it.

There are way too many stories to tell so here are some photos. My camera broke halfway through the trip so some things are missing. This also means that I won't have pictures on my blog much for the next few weeks.

Pete looking damn sexy

Grapes on the vine

Vines at the Bien Nacido vineyard adjacent to the winery

Grapes and a barrel

Lunch!

Pete sorting grapes for a whole cluster batch

Pete taking a sample from a barrel

Me doing punchdowns

Pismo beach

Corey flying his kite

Pete launching the kite

Corey and Pete flying the kite

Me on the beach

Pete after riding in to the winery

Pumping the wine from the fermenter into the barrels

Sucking the wine out of the fermenter

The barrels being prepped

Tantara wine glass sitting atop a newly-filled barrel

Corey cleaning out one of the big fermenting tanks

Corey being a goof

Pete and I stomping grapes in our undies

Inflation is a bitch

Speck, the winery mascot, eating chips off of Corey's lap. Corey shaved his facial hair into a porn 'stache as a joke in the morning, then forgot to shave it off before we left for work.