Wino

Its 1:45am as I make my way down a dirt road. My high beams illuminate the dust from the vehicle a ways ahead of me. I should be in bed. “It feels like fall, doesn’t it?” asks vineyard manager Josh Anstey of St. Supery Winery. I am here to shoot the night harvest of Dollarhide Ranch old vine cabernet grapes. I love cabernet and the wine that comes from these vines is fantastic.
The crews are set to start picking a small parcel of the cab grapes beginning at 2am and should be done by 4am. Tractors pull lights to bring daylight to the night so the workers can see what they are picking. Some of the workers wear headlamps. It always amazes me how fast these guys pick grapes during the harvest. On some of the bigger parcels, a single worker can harvest nearly a ton of grapes on his own. The curved blade darts in and out of the vines producing tight bunches of purple grapes. They drop then grapes into plastic bins and move on down the row of vines, sometimes running to make better time. I ride on the bin trailer being pulled by a tractor. Grape vines are hitting me as we moves through the tight rows. A sticky substance on the vines is now all over me. My hands feel glued to my cameras. Dirt is clinging to every sticky part of my outfit. By 4:30, the parcel is picked and the Latino crew is heading back to their cars. I am far from done with my assignment. I have one more winery to visit which will be harvesting chardonnay grapes at 7am. It’s still dark as I make my way towards Napa. I came close to running over a skunk that darted across the road. A few minutes later a deer stood confused in the middle of the road. It paced back and forth before slipping on the street and then darting into the bushes. I hit a deer once, its no fun. Not good for the car either. At least I was in a rent a car when I hit it. Good for me, bad for the deer.

Workers had already started the chardonnay pick by time I arrived at Artesa Winery in Napa. The sky was getting light, but a low cloud cover kept it gray instead of letting the rising sunlight in. I spent close to 2-1/2 hours hanging out with the workers as they blazed through a big block of vines. My eyes are feeling heavy as I walk around Artesa’s barrel room. It’s dimly lit and really quiet. I watch a load of merlot grapes being processed and the tanks turned. It’s so nice to be able to wander around and see all the different steps that go into making a bottle of nice wine. The people at Artesa have given me free reign over the place.
I am dead tired, have been up for over 24 hours at this point. I need to go home. I fight to stay awake on the drive home. It’s difficult. I get stuck in traffic. Why is there traffic at 12:30 in the afternoon? I make it home safely. I nod off as I attempt to file pictures. It’s comical. I need a glass of wine.