sweet

I smell busy around the corner.

Yes. Today is the first day in about a year that I’ve smelled red fermentation here in the cellar of Michel-Schlumberger. It’s true that we harvested those grapes about a week ago and the musts are just now really starting to flex their fermentation muscles. After 3-5 days soaking in their cozy little open top bins, they now have had their rendevous with natural (resident) yeast and are in the process of conversion (sugar-alcohol). This produces a beautiful smell that can display some of the characteristics that you’ll see later in the wines life. We have a pinot noir that smells just like fresh crushed strawberries and the zinfandel is showing more cinnamon and spice than I can ever remember. It’s a fantastic process to participate in.

Speaking of participation. It’s about time we give credit where credit is due. Our crew here at Michel-Schlumberger is one of the best around (if you want to argue this, you might want to do your homework first). In the next few weeks, I’ll be individually highlighting all of these folks and how they got into the wine industry. I’m fortunate to have such a great team as it makes my job not only more efficient, but also makes it very fun as all of these folks are my dear friends as well. Things are pretty sweet (pun intended) here at Michel-Schlumberger and they’re about to get even sweeter. Yes.