Pandemic Winemaking

I have enjoyed winemaking as a hobby. I love dreaming about the new vintage in the spring while sourcing the grapes, waiting in anticipation for harvest in the fall, and immersing myself in the process of fermentation all winter. More than that, I adore the camaraderie among fellow winemakers as we process freshly harvested grapes, press the grapes, rack the wine, and finalize it for bottling. It is hard work with grapey messiness, but it is always rewarded with wonderful food and wine, friendship and laughter.

Pre-pandemic celebration of a vintage

Then came the pandemic. While the wine yeast and malolactic bacteria remained unaffected, the whole social aspect of winemaking was very much altered. 

Pandemic Harvest

When harvest rolled around last year, the vaccines were not yet available. We had nothing but masks and sanitizers, relying on good sense and reasonably decent weather to keep us outdoor and socially distanced.

Freshly harvested grapes

Like prior years, the winemakers arrived at the crush site waiting for the grapes. Only this time, our excitement was contained behind the masks. There was a sense of uncertainty as we navigated working together while keeping six feet apart. 

Once we were assigned our duties, it was like clockwork. Some of us set up and sanitized the crusher/de-stemmer. Others raked the grapes into crates, weighing and distributing the allotments. We then crushed and de-stemmed the grapes. When all the grapes were processed, we cleaned up and stored the equipment. 

Masked winemakers raking grapes into crates

Weighing 50 lbs of grapes per crate

A ton of grapes

There was a subdued sense of elation when we were done. Yet in our usual post-crush sticky grapey messiness, there were no high fives nor pats in the back. We merely exchanged nods with smile in our eyes as we claimed our respective portions of the crushed grapes to bring home.

Pandemic Fermentation

While we typically complete alcoholic fermentation separately, we would get together to press the grapes and have a potluck. Last fall, sharing food was not an option. Instead I made a hearty batch of chili for post-press nourishment. We sat six feet apart in a heated garage with the door lifted, chowing down hot chili with corn bread and washing them down with wine.

Pre-pandemic racking and tasting

After press comes periodic racking. In pre-pandemic days, we would rack our wine together because we share a single barrel.  Each time we met was another opportunity for a potluck and sharing bottles of wine. Last year, however, we chose against group racking. Instead, everyone left their carboys of wine in my garage. Throughout fall and winter, I racked and tasted the group's wine, reporting out tasting notes. (Our dog Jipp was my co-winemaker.)

My pandemic co-winemaker

By bottling time, it was summer, and the weather had warmed up considerably. We were all fully vaccinated and happy to ditch the masks while maintaining social distance. With the garage door wide open, we formed an assembly line, prepping bottles, siphoning wine, corking, and cleaning up. We celebrated the 2020 vintage, sipping hot coffee and feasting on the spread of sweet and savory breakfast pastries, fresh fruit, and delectable limoncello curd yogurt.

Another Pandemic Vintage?

It would have been great if the pandemic ended with that vintage. In July, it was looking optimistic with an all-time low COVID-19 hospitalization, coupled with a high vaccination rate. Then the delta variant struck. By August, COVID-19 hospitalization had gone up by almost ten times! Non-urgent procedures are being cancelled and visitor policy has become more restrictive as the hospitals hunker down for yet another surge. 

Stepping into the my garage cellar, I can't help but wonder - Is 2021 going to be another pandemic vintage?

Harvest by Lasseter Winery on Unsplash

What we do have now that we didn't have then are vaccines, more effective treatments, and substantially more knowledge and experience in dealing with the virus. Yet, if there is anything I have learned, it is anything can change and change fast. So I am going to keep one eye on the vineyards and the other eye on the hospitals and hope for the best.

Winemaking, Halloween Edition

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Truth be told, the whole year feels like a long stretched-out Halloween, with forest fires and pestilence being the marks of the 2020 vintage. Dozens of family-owned Napa wineries, among over a thousand structures in the valley, were decimated by the most recent Glass Fire. While Washington vineyards mostly escaped unscathed from the forest fires, the pandemic continues to loom over the state as hospitals brace for the fall surge of COVID-19.

It was early March when I placed my grape order. I decided to go with Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon from Tapteil Vineyard. The vineyard also supplies to Quilceda Creek Vintners, Long Shadows Vintners, and Cadence Winery. It seemed like it would be a slam dunk, and I was going with easy.

I mostly love Red Mountain Cab for its eagerness to please, both the palate and the wine makers. Also, the AVA is often ahead of the others in terms of Growing Degree Days (GDD), which usually indicates an earlier harvest.

WSU Growing Degree Day Chart

Like many things in 2020, nothing went quite as planned.

By late spring, Eastern Washington, the heart of the best vineyards in the state, became a COVID-19 hotbed, with possibly the highest rate of infection from Washington to California. Cultural and political factors strongly influenced the way the pandemic was managed. All that added to uncertainty in the vineyards and the health of their workers.

Then came Labor Day, when high winds blew through the State, downed power lines, and sparked 80 fires. Over 300,000 acres were torched. While not quite the catastrophic Glass Fire, the smoke pool in Washington was ubiquitous and air quality so bad that many were driven indoors. If the coronavirus pandemic was not enough concern to one's respiratory health, the smoke would seal the deal. 

Map of Labor Day fires

The fires and smoke were thankfully contained when harvest rolled around for the red wine grapes. But the Cab in our allocated lot just refused to ripen! In fact, our grapes appeared to go into reverse aging. Sugar (Brix) was decreasing, and acidity (TA) was rising. After a few false starts, we finally went with a different parcel where the grapes were ready to go. A harvest date was selected. 

The fall day arrived and did its round of sunshine, rain, and chill. At the crush site, the winemakers were appropriately masked as we weighed and distributed the grapes before running them through the crusher and de-stemmer. It had been a long wait for the grapes, and I was happy to take the must home.

Pitchforking grapes into totes

Weighing grapes

50 lbs of grapes in each tote

That was ten days ago, and my wine is now in the last stretch of alcoholic fermentation. It may be a time of pestilence, pumpkins, and potions outside, but for me, it is punchdown in my garage cellar.

Have a great time trick-or-treating with your best Halloween mask on and stay safe!

Washington Wineries Reimagined During COVID

It has been over a month since Washington State imposed the stay-at-home order and a shutdown of non-essential businesses to slow down the spread of COVID-19 virus. This has been a game-changer for wineries, especially when late spring is typically the kickoff of a new wine season with a flurry of tasting events.

While Washington wineries are still open for business, services have been restricted to wine orders, deliveries, and pick-ups. Tasting rooms are closed, and Spring Release parties cancelled. A subdued lull takes the place of the buzz and excitement normally found this time of the year.

Festivities at Spring Valley Vineyard Ranch during 2019 Spring Release

Reinventing

This indefinite pause in wine tourism and large-scale wine events has a significant financial impact on wineries. In response, many wineries have turned up the dial on online sales, offering inexpensive or even free shipping. For consumers who live in close proximity, some wineries have ramped up on curbside pickups and even offered free wine deliveries. 

Some wineries, with the appropriate license, also include meals with wine purchase. Caprio Cellars in Walla Walla offers a $50 winery takeout, which includes a scrumptious three-course dinner for two with its wine.

Sample menu from Caprio Cellars

As for food establishments that serve wine, the shutdown also changes how business is run. As dining rooms across Washington are closed, the state liquor board has made temporary allowance to licensed eateries to sell wine with meals for curbside pick-ups or deliveries. This is a great way for consumers to stay safe and still support local restaurants and wineries.

Giving Back

Despite this being an uncertain time, it is heartening to know that there are wineries that are able and willing to pitch in to help the community out. Here are some creative ways that wineries are showing support to others during the pandemic:

• Alexandria Nicole Cellars and Genoa Cellars offered healthcare workers 50% off wine purchase in March to thank them for their sacrifice.
• Betz Family Winery donated $5 per bottle of The Untold Story, a red blend, sold through mid April to the Seattle Foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund. The fund provides emergency assistance to the region's most vulnerable communities, such as financial support, healthcare, and childcare.
• DeLille Cellars is donating 50% of the sale of D2 Heart, its wildly popular Bordeaux blend, to Seattle Foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund and Lifewire, a non-profit that strives to end domestic violence.
• Doubleback Winery, owned by former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe, sponsored free meals from Andrae's Kitchen to out-of-work employees in Walla Walla's hospitality industry during the first two weeks of April.
• Quilceda Creek, a premium Washington winery, recently joined the bandwagon by releasing bottles from its private library to its members with the plan to donate 50% of all proceeds from the sales to Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. RERF was created to help restaurant industry employees who are experiencing extraordinary hardship due to the pandemic.

#QuilcedaCares campagne raising money for RERF

My Verdict: While COVID is a global pandemic that penetrates countless countries and across different societal strata, the human spirit to reinvent, to adapt, and to give back and support our community is what that will get us through this crisis. I am proud of Washington wineries for doing just that. So stay home, stay healthy, and drink good wine (not disinfectant). This too shall come to pass.

SIP (Shelter-In-Place) in Walla Walla, COVID-19 edition

March 14 (Saturday)

It was a cold spring day as we drove to Walla Walla. We took the usual scenic route through the Cascade Mountain Range to Vantage before heading south along the Columbia River on and off till we arrived in the wine country. 

Breathtaking drive through the Cascades

Still, we counted our blessings: the ability to work remote in a place with no known case of COVID-19, and our friends in Walla Walla who were awaiting with nourishment and libation.

March 15 (Sunday)

It seemed unusually quiet even for the shoulder season in Walla Walla wine country. Cayuse had called off its annual Private Release weekend, usually held in the first weekend of April. There were rumors that other wineries might follow suit, culminating in the cancellation of Spring Release in May.

We snuck in a visit to the newly opened tasting room of Caprio Cellars in the southside. The winery welcomed us with a glass of sparkling Vouvray before we got into the estate 2018 Semillon. This was followed by a vertical tasting of the 2015 to 2017 Eleanor Vineyard Bordeaux blends. Completing the line-up was my favorite, the 2015 Sanitella, also a Bordeaux blend but from both estate Eleanor and Octave Vineyards.

Wine tasting at the new Caprio Cellars tasting room

The tasting room was gorgeous and airy, with plenty of natural light and outdoor seating. On certain days, an on-site chef comes in to prepare food that pairs with the wines. And once a week, you can order dinner-to-go for two with a bottle of wine for $50. The upcoming meal deal is lasagne. Something to think about!

March 16 (Monday)

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee announced statewide shutdown of restaurants, bars, and large social gatherings starting the next day. That would include all tasting rooms. Not knowing how long this would last, we got together with some close friends for our last supper to support our favorite restaurant, Passatempo.

Last supper at Passatempo

Restaurants all over town announced to-go and delivery services starting Tuesday. It would be weird to be in Walla Walla and not be able to visit a winery and go to our favorite restaurants. But safety first.

March 20 (Friday)

TGIF! I have not spent this much time at home, and the dogs definitely love it. Once or twice a day, we will take the dogs to the beautiful Pioneer Park and Aviary across the street from our house. The dogs enjoy checking out their feathered friends and sniffing out red fox squirrels.

Dog-tired from working remote

It has been quiet here in Walla Walla; a college town without students and a wine country without tourists. Businesses are shut down for the most part, and we don't know how many will return or recover after the pandemic.

March 21 (Saturday)

We did get the lasagne meal deal from Caprio Cellars after all. It came with a bottle of wine, a scrumptious salad with sliced beets and citrus dressing, brownies for dessert, and the winery-branded toilet roll!

Caprio-branded TP

Speaking of TP, the stores have been out of toilet paper even before we got there. Whenever a shipment arrives, the store would announce it, and the merchandise would be gone within the hour.

BAD NEWS! Walla Walla County got its first confirmed case of COVID-19. A man in his 40s is under home isolation for two weeks or three days without fever, whichever is longer. We believe we will see more cases in the coming days. 

March 23 (Monday)

This is the start of my second week of remote work from Walla Walla. The work day ended with Governor Inslee issuing a stay-at-home order. We had already been home for the most part besides running essential errands and walking the dogs. We started looking into grocery delivery services such as Instacart. In Walla Walla, that means a fine offering of Safeway, Albertson's, and Petco. 

March 27 (Friday)

The work week ended with a total of five confirmed COVID cases in the county; all under home isolation. One of them happened to be a TSA screening officer at the Walla Walla Regional Airport. The airport was shut down a couple of days for deep cleaning. 

2011 Dunham Late 
Harvest Riesling

On the wine front, our neighbor had brought over a bottle of dessert wine from Dunham Cellars several days ago. It is the 2011 vintage of the Late Harvest Riesling from Lewis Estate Vineyard in Columbia Valley. The wine has a deep amber hue, likely contributed by its age, and a port-like honey nose. The 26.7% residual sugar is much higher than most dessert wines, but the honeysuckle sweetness on the palate is balanced by citrusy acidity.

Winemakers, Eric Dunham and Daniel Wampfler, were certainly right in their description that the "wine is going to last a long, long time in the bottle (if left unopened)." It is quite delightful!

March 29 (Sunday)

Another quiet home weekend spent working on the yard and cleaning the house. Spring weather is always unpredictable with a mix of rain and sun breaks. Feeling a little stir-crazy, we decided to go out for a drive to Milton-Freewater in Oregon. 

While it sounds far, the truth is Walla Walla and Milton-Freewater are less than 12 miles apart, equidistant from the stateline. In fact, Walla Walla AVA extends from southeastern Washington to the northeastern Oregon. You really get both Washington and Oregon wines from the AVA.

Rainbow over spring wheat field

The drive through parcels of vineyards and wheat fields turned out to be quite uplifting. To top that, we were greeted by a light rainbow that stretched across a huge spring wheat field with the Blue Mountains as a faint backdrop. It gave me hope that the pandemic shall pass as we wait it out in beautiful Walla Walla wine country.