The First Day

After a morning run through vineyards, a shower, and a shave, I am sitting at a cafe table outside Bouchon Bakery, in Yountville, puckering up to hot black coffee between tears on a crumbly croissant. I am here killing time before my first day at the winery, trying to read the Old Testament, but mostly eavesdropping on an interesting conversation at the table next to me:

"Culinary student from Japan, living at a friend's vineyard in Carneros, tasting wines every day--all day--for two months". This annoying young woman basks in the envious gasping sounds emanating from the mouths of her new audience: the charming foursome that decides to cram into the three spots at her round table, politely asking if she did not mind their company.

All the while, I am taking up the largest table in the entire goddamn place. The myriad of potential reasons why these nice folks from Nevada did not want to sit next to me this morning races through my caffeinated, scripture discombobulated mind--bad hair, intimidating "satchel" and large book, body odor?

Bouchon Bakery being what it is, I did not have to wait long for my turn:

"Do you mind if me and my [ ] sit with you here?"

"Not a problem", I answer, quietly consoling myself for catching a whale of a woman in this sea of beautiful people.

"Are you reading the Psalms?" she queries.

I respond clumsily: "The whole Bible actually, for pleasure".

"That's really great. I am studying at Harvard, doing my PHD on the Old Testament, specifically Near East history and linguistics studies around the year [blah blah blah]".

I close the cover of my book very discretely. She might ask me about the passage I had just skipped over, exposing my poor reading skills, destroying my renaissance man self-perception.

I recover: "I am actually moving to Boston in September, from New York City".

"That's really great. We live in Cambridge. You have to meet my [ ]. [ ] works supporting farmers markets in Boston".

At this point, I am about ready to jump out of my seat with excitement; to exclaim my recent Omnivore's Dilemma induced revelation to someone who will really understand my obsession with community supported agricultural programs ("CSA"s for those in the biz).

Then things go bad fast. I start to say "Oh excellent. I can't wait to talk to your....

A very long silence wafts as I struggle awkwardly to connect dots: Did she really say "my wife"? Marriage laws in Massachusetts?

...did you say wife?"

"Yes, my wife"

"Your wife".

My guest being more socially capable than I, the moment passed without further awkward incident. Her wife joined us shortly thereafter. She told me who the right farmers were to hook up with in Cambridge, and who was good in Boston, and who had the best meat and cheese connections, and who had the most fulsome winter program. I scribbled anxiously in my notebook. Then, her wife told me I was reading the wrong Bible.

I got crushed at Bouchon Bakery, but will probably head back tomorrow morning for more people watching and story gathering.

The rest of my day was spent in the wine industry and it was fantastic. The short version:

Met Richard, one of the tasting room guys in the tasting room. Met Jesse, the assistant winemaker. Had coffee with Bart and Barb, the husband and wife owners. We talked about the strategy of the business, my background, their backgrounds, how they ended up in Napa, what I want to get out of my time at the winery. Sidenote: Bart and Barb are the quintessential married couple, cute as can be, playfully arguing about everything from how many acres are planted sauvignon blanc, to how much a french oak barrel costs, to what the overarching strategy of the business should be. I meet the winemaker David, who joins us for coffee. After a few short exchanges between the three of them, most of which I cannot follow, I scan my peripheral vision. I am on a gorgeous patio adjacent to the O Brien's home. I am surrounded by incredibly beautiful vineyards. I am talking to the owners and head winemaker and at least one thing is clear--these people really care about making great wine, making money, and having fun doing it.

This is perfect.

The rest of the day is a blur:

Lunch in Yountville with Barb at Napa Style, the furniture store / wine shop / wine bar / gift shop / quick bite restaurant owned and operated by Chef Michael Chiarello of Top Chef fame.
His popular Bottega Ristorante is next door.

Back at the winery I do my first job in the cellar: melting on wax caps (in lieu of foil) to conceal the cork on our reserve wines. This job is much harder than it sounds or looks. I had a 50% success rate on my first case, but hit 11 out of 12 for the next two cases. This is time consuming and labor intensive work. Each bottle probably takes two minutes to remove from its case, carefully (and at the right angle) dunk the cap in molten hot black wax, do some special twisty moves as the excess wax pours off, do a final special twisty move to "remove" the tail of wax, let the wax settle upright, dunk in cold water to set the wax, set aside for cooling, and, finally, replace in its case with its properly waxed brethren. Mistakes, which cannot be shipped to customers, are relegated to the tasting room to be discretely opened and poured to unknowing guests. Obviously, this does not impact quality.

Then I did my first tasting of the wines currently being poured in the tasting room with Jesse: a sauvignon blanc, two chardonnays (one done in stainless only, one finished in french oak), a merlot based rose, a merlot, and a bordeaux blend. I tasted some 2008 cabernet sauvignon from the barrel. I went on a tour with the final visitors of the day.

Then I got invited to a birthday party where I was the youngest attendee by at least twenty years. I did not have anything better to do and the O Brien's knew it so I went. It turned out to be a great time. I got a delicious hot dog and hamburger, some good wine, and some better, though somewhat conflicting, advice:

1) From a women who I tried to talk art with, who knew a lot about art, exposing my inadequacies: "Don't worry about all that shit. Know when enough is enough. Just live".

2) From a multimillionaire: "The statistics say, if you don't start your first business by age 30, you never will".

Daily Scorecard: 1 workout, 1+ drinks, ESV, 0 French.

Some pictures of the tasting room: