the hobo life

well, it's the new year and i've been living the hobo life. since returning from oregon, i've been staying with danielle colombo (my long lost sister some would say) in santa clara and commuting to sonoma valley for interviews. i'm proud to say that i have been hired on as an enologist at Paul Hobbs Winery...my first "real" job in the wine industry! it's a fabulous winery in the sonoma valley making some awesome wine. i will soon move into a new apartment in Petaluma with my friend katy that i met in new zealand. don't worry, i'll be e-mailing out my new address. and for those of you close enough, there will be a small party to christen the new apartment. ah, parting with the hobo life will be sad...

i did start my new job without having moved in yet, so i had a pleasant commute from the sonoma coast for a few days......followed by a few days commuting from marin county. and next week, i'll be commuting from napa valley! everybody's been real friendly and i believe i'm adjusting quite well to the new workplace and having to work again. it has been hard to get used to waking up at 5am again. the winery is small enough that i still get to do the occasional cellarwork, which i still quite enjoy. and the view from my lab (that's right folks...especially those of you from my bbri days...i'm back in a lab) is quite pretty.
(got to love the bubbling cash still)

city of roses

new year and new blog entry...

...well, i decided to take the opportunity to check out my potential future in oregon and to visit wynne's home turf. i was lucky to make it up before some huge storm seemed to overtake the pacific northwest and northern california. i was even luckier to manage to get up to mt. hood on one of the very rare sunny days in order to get on a snowboard for the first time in two years. i happily picked it up right quick and with no broken bones by the end of the day. (the photo below is courtesy of pdxguide.com because i didn't bring my camera with me for fear of breaking some part of my body by falling on it).and so, in conclusion, i LOVE portland and the northern willamette valley! a bit of new england and a bit of california. i must find a way to move up here in the very near future. i think i'll be able to handle the rainy winters in exchange for no sales tax and roses year-round. (the 1st photo is of domaine serene while the 2nd is of domaine drouhin's vines)

another reason for loving oregon is what i've finally realized about california drivers. i would like to call it the Mysterious california Highway Incident Phenomenon or McHIP. now this syndrome may seem more evident to me, a non-Californian (some would say MASShole) driver. i know i have encountered this elsewhere, but just seems more predominant here in the golden state. before i continue, i must apologize to the california drivers that don't fall under the McHIP syndrome. there's usually 3 basic incidents that make up McHIP...

1. the inexplicable traffic slowdown or complete halt for 10 to 3 hours. by the time, traffic begins to move again, there's no evidence at all for what actually caused this !@$#& stoppage.
2. as you cruise down the highway, you see a bend up the way. all of a sudden, everyone starts braking. it's as if they see the bend and begin to freak out that maybe the world ends on the other side of the bend. you would think that this can't be everybody's absolute first time on this part of the highway. california short term memory...it's the same way with the re-appearance ofbad fashion trends.
3. finally, the most maddening, you get some jerk on your tail while you're already going 80-85mph. so you move to the right, let the jerk pass, then resume your position on the left-most lane. then, without warning, the jerk slows down to 60mph. then they get all pissy when you start riding their tail. you'd think that if these drivers would get all distracted that they would use cruise control so they could at least maintain their speed while they drink their coffee, apply their make-up, do the crossword puzzle, and make business deals on the phone.

well, i'll get off my traffic soapbox now. until next time, please enjoy napa vines and mustard plants!

Krispé et moi en Bourgogne

after 1 and 1/2 harvests in napa, i jetted off to france for a 2-week vacation and to meet up with danielle in paris and kirsty in burgundy. unfortunately, i landed smack in the middle of the metro/train strike which forced me to take a 90 euro, 3-hour cab ride into paris. by the time i got on the train set for nuits-st. george a few days later, i had absolutely had it with paris...all the traffic, the saga of finding cabs, the almost 7-hour train ride from normandy back to paris (which should take 2.5 hours)...c'est chiant mais c'est paris.

well, at least danielle, kindra, and i did make it to bayeux in normandy for a couple of days. wish i could spend more time in that area...eating butter slathered apples while drinking calvados...next time. i was glad to still be able to do the half day tour of the d-day landing sites, especially pointe du hoc (where the rangers scaled the cliff) which still has all the pockmarks from the allied shells.

and then i made my way down to my beloved burgundy to meet up with kirsty or krispé or kurty depending on who you talk to at domaine faiveley where she had her internship. it was vachement bien to see kirsty and, especially, to catch up again. we just had fun tooling around burgundy. we made it to beaune several times to taste at maison champy (sadly all the 2005
pinots have sold out but i did score the corton-charlemagne that i helped make), to shop at the amazing saturday market, to eat at caves madelaine (my all-time favorite beaune restaurant), etc. we did take a very nice long walk from nuits-st. georges (where she's staying) all the way to clos de vougeot, passing romanée-conti on the way.
we were also good and cooked a lot of meals so as not to spend our life-savings on meals out (that dammed dollar). we made a delicious thanksgiving meal with chicken, peas, polenta, and lardons (yummy pieces of thick-cut bacon) that went quite well with some patz&hall pinot that i had brought along. below, kirsty is modeling our big can of cassoulet and duck confit (which you all know is one of my all-time top ten dishes).
sadly, we didn't get to a lot of winery visits and tastings. next time, we'll plan months in advance and have an exact itinerary all worked out (hahah...we'll see) but we did manage to polish off at least 1 bottle of wine pretty much each night. i couldn't reach jean-baptiste at domaine jean-claude bachelet et fils (i'll get you next time j-b), but at least i could try one of their st. aubin chardonnays at la cabotte, a delicious restaurant in nuits-st. george. interestingly enough, a vigneron from nuits-st. george was entertaining an american guest who turns out to be the son of robert haas from tablas creek. they very kindly shared their 1966 château palmer, which was still unbelievably fresh for being a little over 40-years old. no tears yet though, because kirsty and i did make up for it in good form by scoring 2 tickets to le grand tasting in paris organized by bettane et dessauve (vin de france journalists) from dimitri at maison champy. we tasted all over france and even into italy. sadly, our palettes now favor the fresh acidity found in burgundies so we found the rhône wines lacking and disappointing. happily, the sauternes premier crus and champagnes made up for it!

now, i'm back in napa and facing the grim reality of a vacation ended. oh well, at least i found potential new homes in burgundy that i'll try to make into a pretty reality in a few years!no post about a wine region would be complete without the requisite vine photos so here you go. some of domaine faiveley's vines with kirsty's impeccable calligraphy on the yellow tags, followed by 2nd crop still hanging pretty, and by far the smallest basket press (literally it's sitting on a metal bookshelf) to add to my tiny winery that's still in the works.

genossenschaftskellerei

well it was a whirlwind finish for my job at patz & hall, but i was immediately thrown into the fire at realm cellars (merci mille fois brittany for that job head's up)! as some of you may or may not know, the wine industry is different from most industries. many places like to have you on for a "trial" period during harvest (when they need the extra hands) so as to ensure the compatibility between the 2 parties. many of us are lucky enough to find a full-time job right off the bat, while the rest of us (like me) kind of meander along until the right job appears. my gig at realm cellars is also temporary, but there is a more likely chance that i will be able to find a permanent position afterwards. fear not, i will find work! if i don't have the wherewithal (love that word), then i'm sure my pimp brittany will be able to wrestle something up.

in any case, i can finally say that i work at a genossenschaftskellerei, which is my favorite german word and means wine co-operative! realm cellars is housed in chateau boswell (sorry frenchies, i haven't figured out how to add accents) on the silverado trail a little north of st. helena. we are one of many small wineries that have space inside, including chateau boswell, arietta (where brittany is assistant winemaker), and a few others. it is quite a change from the lofty and spacious patz & hall. there are many things that i believe would make life easier...an actual trash can in the winery, those rolling platforms for our 44-gallon plastic brute containers, a bug sprayer that we can fill with our sanitizing chemical, etc. it is also reminiscent of the logistical dilemma at flag hill winery in new hampshire, which still makes graham scratch his head. as chris says, "it's like playing that game where you have these tiles you have to re-arrange to make a complete picture while utilizing one empty space, but you don't want to cheat by prying out the tiles and then putting them back in."

but i digress, in the 4 days that i have been working at realm cellars, i have had SO much fun...everybody (juan, mike, chris) at realm is great, i get to see brittany and her furrowed brow again, everybody else (josh, johann, luc, drew, emmanuel) have also been incredibly friendly. i can have beer with lunch and i don't need a harness to dig out a tank. i believe i have completely mastered my fear of heights as i've had to learn to work without a catwalk (clambering and walking along tanks will certainly do that). and this is the first time that i'm working with the bordeaux varietals and i must admit, when done correctly, they can be just as good as pinot ;). i can now also say that i've successfully filled the most expensive barrels without spilling any red wine and staining the precious wood.
one last thing, i believe i've been making a certain side of the family jealous with only photos of kali van zandt. thus, i would like to add some photos of elise and elliott...my other very adorably precocious cousins. time for the oohing and aahing to begin!

harvest's end

another huge chunk of time has passed with no new blog entry, but never fear, harvest's end is near! it's been the same ol', same ol' at work so i figured there wasn't anything really exciting to add that you hadn't heard already. a quick few updates...as you can see, we are all very hard at work :)
i hit the magic 88,888 miles on my beloved car (don't know why i think it's magic, maybe it's 'cause i should like 8's since i'm chinese or 'cause i happened to have my camera on hand)...
i took the long anticipated trip up to Flowers Winery in the "true sonoma coast" with brittany in order to visit katy (their new enologist). the (incredibly not too bad) 2-hour drive from napa was well worth it because we were hit with absolutely stunning views all along the drive. once we drove through the thin fog and made it to the winery, we were greeting with even sweeping vistas. we tasted through the ferments with the winemaker...quite delicious...i'll have to keep an eye on those releases! then just sat back and relaxed as we exchanged harvest stories, caught up on everything, and ate cheese on somebody's deck (who are never home but have one of the best views of the ocean).
that's all for now...sadly...come on red sox...

a proud auntie

it's been long delayed, but here's my niece/cousin/2nd cousin, kali van zandt, wearing my onesie present and touching her toes! i have yet to meet her, but i hear she's wicked cool. luckily, i've been having fun and practicing holding another baby, my friend sarah nunamaker's lil' one, eva. unfortunately, i don't have any photos from my most recent trip to see them in ukiah as i forgot my camera :(
in other news...wait there is no other news because i've been working and working and working. that's right, another harvest has started as well as 10+ hour days. it's been A LOT of fun at patz & hall though...beer and ice cream treats always stocked in the fridge and freezer, an easy willingness to take the time to explain why things are done a certain way, and always a quick quip to make the day go by easier.

i had my 1st day off in 2 weeks the other saturday, so i took advantage and got the hell out of dodge (aka napa). i drove up to bolinas friday night to join in on the annual colombo-glass oyster festival. the colombos, joe glass, and other family friends have been going up to bolinas to spend a weekend of oyster-eating, wine-drinking, and story-swapping for some time now. i've been lucky enough to get the precious invite a few times so that it was my 4th time to bolinas. those previous excursions came in handy as it was my 1st time to drive in alone. normally this would be no problem what with the advent of google maps and mapquest, but bolinas is reknown for its lack of road signage...so much so that generally the last sign you used to see said "bolinas 2 miles" with no further instructions. now even that sign is gone so that you have to really rely on your wits! i did make it without a hitch and spent a very relaxing day off where all i did was eat, drink, and make merry. not even the low-lying fog could ruin a pretty much perfect day!

Q: who knows how to throw a good party?

A: Patz & Hall!!!
the wonderful owners of Patz & Hall had their Winery Grand Opening Party yesterday at their new home on the outskirts of sonoma. it was pretty !@#$& incredible. a lot more guests than i was expecting and the winery looked ah-mazing. awesome wines were poured and delicious nibblers abounded with the backdrop of a couple of kickin' djs. and who knew you could turn a destemmer mesh cage into a gigantic flower vase!?!
the workers and interns were out in full force and it was great to see everybody all dolled up and outside of the work setting. my camera didn't capture all of us, but my fellow interns above are mike (the quiet one), tom (the aussie whose roomies gave him a faux-hawk), and josh (who cut himself shaving). and there's wynne (the new devo president) showing us just how on the ball she is or how much fun she can have. the after party at tom's was fun, but reminded me of how old i'm getting. the cops getting called on us and telling us that the people (i.e. wynne and i) on the trampoline were laughing too loud...that's a great way to throw you back to those high school years...