Well, crush is finally over, and it’s time we started up on the blog again and let you know what’s going on over here at Dacalier.
Every harvest has its share of interesting moments. This year was no different. After working 12 hour days, 7 days a week for a couple of months, let’s just say your mind starts to look at things differently at times. Typically you’ll see folks hosing down the floors, blasting a single grape skin all around the cellar, never quite getting it down the drain. It’s like watching somebody vacuum over the same piece of lint over and over again, getting frustrated and mesmerized at the same time. The merciful thing to do is to walk over and pick up the skin, then go home for some sleep.
This year’s dazed moment came from Paul. After one of our many long days, we had just finished pressing out some Zinfandel and dumped the skins into a bin to be used for mulch and composting. I looked over at Paul while he was “leveling” off the top of the bin. I looked over again after a while and there he was, still leveling the same bin. It turned into a Zen garden for him: raking one side of the bin to the other, making small designs while he did it. My laughing broke him out of his Zen state, then we both chuckled, finished cleaning up and went home.
I am happy to say, Paul took those skins home to be used as mulch in his garden, where he is still raking them into patterns.
Happy Holidays!
Eric
P.S. Dave and I have promised not to let you go so long without a blog entry, so you can read more about whats going on at Dacalier for 2010.