Day One: No Forklifts Yet

Day One has come and gone, and all I have to say is this: tomorrow is going to rock.

Today, we fulfilled our written forklift training requirements (an exam), and tomorrow we will fulfill the other (read: bad-ass) part: the hands-on test. I'm not entirely sure what this will entail. Realistically, probably driving around, backing up, raising and lowering the forks, tilting the load center, maneuvering over inclines, and practicing with some pallets/barrels. Ideally, you know what we'd do?

Race. And not just drag-style. Oh, no.

We'd tear-ass up and down inclines. We'd slalom. We'd have events for speed and events for skill. Who can do the fastest lap around the facility? Who cares?! The real champ is the person who can do it fastest with a barrel on the forks. This would not only give the staff a good gauge of who's mastered the equipment (and is therefore prepared for the break-neck pace of harvest), but would also create a handy hierarchy among the interns. If there's one lesson we should all learn from the stooges on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, it's that the ranking system rules.

I know what some of you are thinking. "But, Gordon, what about those poor folks from the southern hemisphere? They're used to driving on the opposite side of the road!" Not a problem! The forklifts are single-person vehicles, with the steering wheel and seat centered--so there's no hemisphere bias! On that note: let the games begin.

Seriously, though, tomorrow is definitely going to be more interesting than today. And that's not to say that today was boring, because it certainly wasn't. We (the interns) got to mingle, get to know each other a little bit, get an idea of who's worked where in the industry. We have two Aussies, a South African, a German, and a whole mess of Americans. We took a few tours of the facilities: a general, a safety, a detailed equipment, and one of the new multi-million dollar facility that's down the road from the winery. (For those who didn't see the link I posted on Facebook a while back, here is Wine Spectator's write-up about the new facility.)

What consumed a solid half (if not more) of our day, though, was paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. But that's to be expected, especially at a place a dangerous as a winery. And, wow, did I mention how dangerous wineries are? I won't go into details, because it's not nice to worry people from afar (especially at the height of fire/earthquake/rapture season!), but... I mean, goddamn. The good news is that common sense and keeping one's senses about them will prevent damn near all accidents and injuries. For example: don't stick your head into a tank filled with carbon dioxide; don't stick your hand into running equipment; don't knock over compressed gas cylinders; and (as if it even needs to be said) don't race forklifts without fastening your seatbelt. You get the idea.

For anyone wondering what the 2010 vintage is like here in NorCal, I direct your query to one Mr. Ruggles, below.

Figure 1. "Erh?"

Plain and simple, it's a little wonky. This has been one of the coldest (not even cool, but straight-up cold at night) summers on record. Obviously, some appellations (or grape-growing regions, for you non-wine folks) are warmer and sunnier than others, but by and large this is a chilly, overcast summer. The marine layer hasn't burned off before 11am or noon--until, actually, today. On my drive to the winery this morning (at 7:30), the sun was shining bright and warm, despite the temperature hovering around 55. According to the folks at the winery, this is the first day in well over a month that that's happened. Temperatures today were quite toasty, hitting well into the 80s. Tomorrow is supposed to be hot (near 100 in places), with Wednesday staying warm, too. Hopefully, this will boost sugar production among the grapes and push harvest a few days forward from its already-late projected start. Late or not, though, the fruit is (mostly) looking good. When the wines get made (eventually), they should be palatable at the very least. And in case you're asking, "Just how late is late?" On this day last year, they were harvesting grapes. This year, we're about two weeks away.

So what does this mean for we interns? It means downtime. We'll finish our training this week, and then get scheduled for different shifts during the slow weeks before harvest begins in earnest. At some point this week (I forget exactly when), we will taste the entire 2008 line from Williams Selyem. To that, I only have one word: glory. More glory than you can shake a Hypnotoad at. We'll also learn how to properly clean, operate, and re-clean all of the necessary equipment. Then we will clean. And in between cleanings, we will clean other things. Then we will return to the things we were previously cleaning and clean them again. See a pattern here? This is why I bought expensive work clothes made predominantly of synthetic fabrics: so they will dry quickly.

Anyway, that was Day One. It was a good time, and I definitely foresee a fun, exhausting, educational, and delicious few months here. If, in the process, I can put on a good 10 pounds of muscle, I'll leave here a very happy camper. Also, a top 3 ranking in the 2010 Forklift Games would be pretty sweet. I'll keep you posted on that.

Important Update: I failed to mention that I was so excited this morning, I forgot to eat breakfast. Yup. And it's not like I left it sitting on the counter as I waltzed out the door in my fancy steel-toed boots. I didn't even make it. I realized this halfway to the winery, at which point I just tore into the apple that was supposed to accompany my lunch. This won't happen again.