Waking up at 7:30 AM after setting my alarm for 5:30 AM was not dissimilar to every morning in NYC. I completed a quick kettlebell workout at a nearby park, showered and shaved just in time to join Jesse, our assistant winemaker, at the winery. We moved some pallets, those pallets stacked upon pallets (Sam, ring a bell?). These pallets were topped with many cases of wine bottles. We moved these pallets between the cellar and the storage room while melting the wax for the day's wax bottle topping escapades.
After Jesse finished maneuvering the forklift (which was awesome), we walked the vineyards and talked about verasion (the process when grapes turn from green to red, which usually happens "magically" over night), how to identify grape varietals by leaves, grafting, clonal selection, canopy management, the geography and microclimate of the estate and the Oak Knoll AVA, of which O'Brien is a part. I am sure Jesse got annoyed by the many questions I asked, but he fielded them well. He knows his shit. He has his masters degree in viticulture and oenology from UC Davis--analogous to a HBS degree for us finance types.
Then I had a cash flow meeting with Bart and an outside business consultant named Robin. Robin had been reconciling prior financial statements and building a cash flow statement, but annoyed and confused me with her accounting speak. I could feel myself straining, looking up and to the left, squinting, searching deep inside my skull, into my brain, to recall, to bring some accounting equation sense to the basic issue of a capitalized barrel lease--asset goes up, liability goes up, balance, namaste. Two weeks off had softened me. Then Robin had me sign an non disclosure agreement. When Bart and Barb asked if I would sign one yesterday, I assumed they were kidding. Nope. I signed, but quickly left the office, deciding to get back to winemaking (wax dipping bottles) before I became known as too much of a suit.
Jesse and I took a drive to the gas station where we refilled propane tanks and ate some authentic mexican food out of a truck. My first beef cheek tacos were excellent and $3.00 for a pair.
Returning to the winery, we spent the next few hours dipping bottles into wax, listening to music, talking about wine, the unglamorous life of a winemaker, beer, Julia Child and her onion cutting technique, and life with random families, Jesse's living situation being similar to mine. While I probably did have four bad bottles out of seven full cases, more importantly, I had a style, a certain smoothness that had developed with repetition. I was so smooth, I dipped one of my ready to cool in water bottles back into the wax instead of into the water bucket. Unfortunately, this misfortune occurred just moments before David, the head winemaker, appeared to check on our operation. Despite donating Illy coffee grounds to support David's barrista efforts (he makes a mean latte), a strategy Jesse told me would ingratiate David to me, David still is not a fan of mine. This effort probably did not help.
We both finished work a little early to visit Trefethen Winery, a nearby Oak Knoll AVA affiliate, for a tasting. The beautiful thing about "being in the industry" is free tastings. "Being in the industry" also means a 30% discount at every winery. "Industry participants" also usually pour other "industry participants" wines not being poured for other guests. Trefethen does 60,000 cases annually (O'Brien does 5,000), half of it a $25 "workhorse" chardonnay recently awarded 90 points by Robert Parker. I thought all 12 wines, with the exception of the misfortunate 2008 Napa Valley Pinot Noir, were pretty darn good. Oops. While tasting with a winemaker is especially fun and interesting, it is bitterly humbling. Jesse could easily detect the "1RS" or 1% residual sugar in that white blend, or the impact of "80 ML" versus "100 ML", this being the amount of malolactic fermentation that turns the harsh malic acid into softer lactic acid, simultaneously creating a chemical byproduct with an odor reticent of buttered popcorn. That 2002 library (wait for a few years to sell and charge alot more money for the same wine) cabernet sauvignon was pretty good you think? It showed nice secondary flavors of mushroom and forest floor, and was well integrated, with tannins softened, but still luscious fruit? Well what about the tiny hint of VA (volatile acid), acetic acid, that many wine drinkers like, but is a serious and distracting flaw? Hmmm? Hmmmm? Shit, I have a lot to learn.
We parted ways. I headed to downtown Napa for the weekly Thursday night Chef's market, which was not that cool. A little like the summer street fairs that congest traffic in Manhattan every weekend--stands of socks, and gyros, and bad art, and cojita cheese covered corn--but a little nicer, I guess, with valley wine instead of fruit smoothies being the prevailing weapon of choice. I did a lap and left quickly.
Then I got stuck in a bookstore with an incredible selection of books on wine and food. I left with only two: A Moveable Thirst (essentially a Zagat guide for Napa wineries and tasting rooms) and Back Lane Wineries of Napa (a guide for the extremely discerning connoisseur, simply fed up with the many years of visiting over sized, uncaring, corporate wineries).
Then I went to Whole Foods to gather supplies for a home cooked meal. Cantaloupe was good and ripe and cheap. I thought melon and prosciutto. Tomatoes looked good. I thought caprese salad. No cooking necessary--great. After finding fresh bufala mozzarella, basil, prosciutto, some yogurt and granola for breakfast, and some Dogfish Head beer called Midas Touch Jesse was telling me about, I left Whole Paycheck, less rich, but more happy than before. I was determined to impress my host family with delicious finger foods. I was really hoping to make up for two nights of returning home after all in the house were asleep, while I tip toed up to my room, and slowly got into bed, failing to avoid the loud cracks and creaking sounds of my weak bedframe.
After making dinner and sharing my bounty, I distracted myself with my new reading material. Unfortunately, I missed some great downtown tasting rooms that were on the same streets as the chef's market I so quickly escaped from. A reason to return...
Off to sleep. I need to look at some winery financials early tomorrow morning.
Daily scorecard: 1 workout, 2 drinks, 0 ESV, 0 French. Ancillary reading on Napa wineries, Napa downtown and the Oak Knoll District.
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