Picking Up Speed

Early Tuesday morning we arrived rested and ready to receive our first harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes; our baby, our flagship. It is always a little scary and nerve racking the morning of harvest because you simply don't know how the day is going to go, and just HOPE that the hours won't be too brutal on your body and mental well-being.

And then, just as I started to get too anxious, the gorgeous Napa sunrise started to communicate a message to me..."here you go, this is what you've been waiting for... so now go soak it in and enjoy."

I did in fact drink in every last drop of that day. I sorted grapes for half the day on our vibrating sorting table, watching whole clusters of rich dark purple grapes bounce along while I squished, squeezed and pulled searching for the best most plump berries. Even though 2010 is considered to be a mild year in terms of heat, it was sad to see so many berries fall victim to the sun's vigor that has occurred over the last couple days.

After a satisfying and successful first day working with Cabernet, I started to feel better about my purpose here in Napa and as an intern. Just like the hot air balloons I see every morning, you need to add a little burst of fire sometimes to propel yourself back up to see the beautiful world around you more clearly and gain perspective.

I am now proficiently performing pump-overs. The hardest part of this task is setting up the pump correctly and then finding a way to stand over the tank so that your back doesn't go out from exhaustion! I am very sore today, and I have never had so many random bruises, but I'm pretty happy to have had my hands on so many grapes this week.

Cheers,