Napa Valley is one of the world's premier wine regions.  The region has been producing wine for over 100 years.  And for more than a quarter century, Napa wines have been winning International Competitions. This was what put Napa "on the wine map."

It's a first class place to visit.  Join us as we experience Napa first hand and work in a winery for two days to get a taste of winemaking as temporary insiders.

Day One

We were invited to participate in the last two days of harvest at the St. Clement Vineyards winery in Napa Valley.  We jumped at the chance!  These are the folks who produce Oroppas, one of the two or three finest Meritages, period.  It was an easy decision to say "yes."

We arrived at 8 AM Monday morning and looked for Aaron Pott, the winemaker (at the time).

Aaron immediately made us feel a welcome part of the staff and interns, and after a brief exploration into his background, he invited us to taste the various red wines directly from the fermentation tanks.

This is a daily ritual of swirling, swishing and spitting. The winemaker draws up his taste buds to determine how each of the wines is coming along in the fermentation process. We started with Cabernet Franc, a minor but key constituent of their Oroppas Meritage. We moved along the row of tall silver tanks (photos at right) and went on to taste Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and other varietals. One of our first reactions to the taste, even this early in the process, was that Aaron is very good at producing a soft and smooth wine. They were quite frankly, already excellent on the palate. 

One of the nice things about St. Clement is that they're small enough to take the time and loving care that larger wineries may not have the luxury to do. We noticed this extra care each step of the way (as in the hand-sorting of grapes).  The steps listed here are what we observed in RED winemaking (the tank tasting mentioned above
is part of Step 3 in this list):

1. After the grapes are picked in the vineyard, they're rushed to the winery for de-stemming and crushing.
2. St. Clement actually hand sorts grapes at this stage. Something most wineries don't have the luxury of doing.
3. The grapes are crushed and de-stemmed then moved to tank as gently as possible. The skins, seeds and juice (collectively called must) will remain in the tank during fermentation (5-7 days) and maceration (between 12 and 50 days beyond the fermentation). The maceration period allows St. Clement to soften the wines and extract more intensity from the fruit.
4. After maceration, the grapes are pressed and the press is combined (or not) with the free run wine.

After the tank tasting, Aaron took us to a couple of the many vineyards the winery owns. It was educational to see how he judges when the grapes are ready for harvest and to be told of the many factors that influence the flavor and ripeness of the fruit (soil, climate, ensuing weather).

After lunch and wine (of course), we were asked to punch down a small batch of Charbono, being made exclusively for their wine club members. The batch was in white plastic bins as opposed to the large metal tanks used for large volumes of production.  Three to five times a day, this mixing of the must is performed to ensure even fermentation, since the lighter materials tend to rise to the top. This action ensures a more even mixture.

While we were performing these tasks, we saw the other winery staff doing things like updating charts that track fermentation, pump overs, filtering and re-positioning barrels full of aging wine.  Cheerful dispositions are the norm all day. These people clearly enjoy what they do. It's hard work, but they obviously love it!

One of the highlights of our day was being invited to put on pant coveralls and shovel out one of the tall fermentation tanks. Joaquin had drained the tank, but as we soon found out, that wasn't enough. They showed us how to contort our bodies to allow passage inside, via the hole at the bottom of the tank.

Three photographs at right, without black border, show us preparing to climb in, the two of us shoveling out the remaining skins, and then pausing triumphantly after emptying the tank.

It took the two of us about 15 minutes to get it all out. We had harnesses and ropes attached to our waists in case they needed to pull us out. Even with the fan going, the fumes can topple you unconscious. The gang cheered when we survived!  Cool.

With the last punch down, we ended our first work day.  We were sore in muscles we didn't know we had, but enjoyed the gratification of honest hard work and the fact that it was in this most enjoyable of wine regions.