It’s very, very quiet. That’s strange because all week long, from before dawn till past dark, the air has been filled with the usual din of harvest: tractors rumbling in from the vineyard, laden with bins of grapes; the clanging of stainless steel tanks being cleaned and prepped; the roar of the crusher/de-stemmer; scratchy music blasting from the juice-soaked boom box – Ween, Johnny Cash, Calexico, Chris Harford, Funkadelic; the laughter of interns pummeling each other with grapes.
But as I write it is Saturday (tho’ today is Wednesday!) – we’re not picking today and Brunson is out in the vineyard…I’m the only one in the cellar and, well, it’s quiet.
My primary task today is doing the punch-downs. Right now we’ve got 3 small open top fermenting tanks filled with very lightly crushed pinot noir grapes, and 6 even smaller “T-bins” filled with zinfandel. Right after crushing, the must (crushed fruit) in the bins looks like thick, dark blackberry jam – and smells like it, too. Once the juice begins fermenting the must begins to stratify – the seeds sink to the bottom and the grape skins float to the top to form a semi-solid cap. Since nearly all of the color, tannin and flavor of a finished wine comes from the skin of the grape it’s very important to keep the juice in contact with the skins. The punch-down device is a long stainless steel rod with a handle on one end and a horizontal perforated plate on the other (picture an over-sized potato masher). We use this device to mix the fermenting must. A good punch-down is vigorous enough to break up the cap and get some much appreciated oxygen to the yeast, but not so violent as to crush the seeds at the bottom of the bins which would potentially release harsh “green” tannins.
The T-bins are easy enough (they’re only about 3 feet wide and high) but the open tops involve some real exercise. A redwood board lies across the top of the tank, which sits about 5 feet high. The trick is to put all your weight on the handle of the device and try to slowly punch a hole in the cap. Once a hole is formed you work along its edges, gradually increasing the size of the hole until the entire cap is submerged and mixed. The reward for a good, vigorous punch-down is the aroma – a huge waft of fizzy, spicy, yeasty, wild berry erupts from the must when the fermenting juice is splashed around.
I like the quiet cellar. After all the buzz of the past few days it’s nice to relax the pace a bit and really “commune” with the fermenting juice. But the syrah is getting close so this peace and quiet is short lived…
