My First Crush

When I am not writing I work at a winery in the Sierra Foothills. Below is a photo essay of my first crush! It was really an exciting time and I have been very privileged to learn a lot about the wine business, from grape growing, through fermentation, to bottling the final product.

When I first started working at the winery I was given time to go into the fields to take photos. Below are some of the photos I was able to take.

Cabernet on the Vine

These are Cabernet grapes, which up in the foothills are one of the last grapes harvested.

Sauvignon Blanc Grapes Ready to Pick

These are Sauvignon Blanc grapes and they are a very fussy grape. The vines need lots of air circulation so they do not develop mold.

Chardonnay Grapes

Chardonnay is one of the most popular of the white wines. Clusters of Chardonnay are very photogenic!

When crush starts, the grapes are brought in from the fields in bins that hold between 850 to 1000 pounds. The grapes are dumped into a device that has an auger that regulates the flow of grapes to the sorting table. Here is a photo of grapes being dropped into the device with the auger.

Chardonnay on the way to be crushed.

At the winery that I work at the grapes are hand sorted as they drop onto the sorting table. Leaves, grapes that are not good quality, and any bugs that are found are removed from the line.

Grapes being hand sorted.

From there the grapes are dropped into a machine that removes the grapes from the stems.

Grapes drop into the de-stemmer

The white grapes then go into the press, while the red grapes go from the de-stemmer right into tanks. Here is a photo of Chardonnay coming out of the press.

Chardonnay right off the press!

The red grapes, skins, seeds and juice are all run through the press after sitting in the tanks. Thirty percent of the juice from the red grapes comes from what settles at the bottom of the tank. Here is a photo of Petite Sirah dripping from the press:

Petite Sirah off the press!

From there, the juice goes back into the tanks.

The tanks

My first crush was one that I will always remember, and I am happy to share the experience with you through the photos that I have taken. Next time you enjoy a glass of wine, remember that this is what those little guys had to go through to get to your glass! Cheers!

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