Archive

Last week, we sent our first five of our top ten favorite activities in Sonoma County. We promised another set this week and here they are and we promise they’re just as fun and economical as the first set. All you’ll need is some fuel and your fellow coworkers soon to be new friends. Here […]

Sonoma County is full of awesome, not so obvious adventures — that don’t cost a high percentage of your Traveling Winemaker salary or any salary for that matter, just some gas in your tank, so you still have some dollars for a beer later. Bring some friends so they can share the fuel. Here are […]

Or lack thereof… In this post, we’ll explore what’s happening in California vineyards right now, bloom! Checking out the weather forecast last week ago, we noticed rain was scheduled for yesterday, Thursday. It wasn’t much but if it were, it could have left a powerful impact on the vines. Only several weeks ago, the vines started […]

And we’re not talking about your hot Saturday night date! Working my first crush in California, all the interns and winery staff wore pretty much the same thing: jeans in the morning and in the cellar, shorts and a t-shirt outside. Good boots, an occasional sweater for the early mornings and late nights. When it’s […]

This is for all the traveling winemakers, backpackers and adventurers  planning to, thinking of or about to be persuaded by to work harvest in New Zealand! It’s the middle of Kiwi vintage #NZV15 and I bet in about a month or two when harvest ends, some of you (if you haven’t already) are going to embark […]

After almost 48 hours awake, 14 hours of sleep, and a big Deutsche breakfast, we were ready to check out the vineyards. I should clarify, we had one breakfast at 2am on Saturday, accompanied with a glass of Riesling halbtrocken, when we woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep… It’s been a relatively dry summer […]

Just a few hours now until our flight to Germany for harvest at the Mosel. Packed? Clothes, no. Enchilada staples for California night? Yes. I’s a weird feeling knowing that vineyards you care for half way around the world were in budbreak last time you saw them and are now holding ripe fruit, waiting out the […]

Home Sweet Home   Harvester; totally power rangers, right? Ten tons of Gewürtztraminer – first fruit of the crush in the middle of the night   The Office     Johannes – Crush Control   Jenny – Punchdown Princess   View from the top of the 5-ton fermentors, trying not to breathe too deep. CO2 […]

We pulled the slightly dirtier-than-when-we-left Falcon into the dirt lot by our double wide.  The winemaker and our new boss, Stefan, was probably slightly surprised to see us return (alive), although we looked a bit battered, bitten by sand flies, unshowered, and slightly hungover.  Your interns are back!! We started the next day, 60 TONS of […]