Journey to Washington Wine Country

I am still in disbelief that not even a week ago, I was in Woodinville, Washington at Efeste wines, participating in their daily process during crush. Crush is what they call what happens in the winery after the grapes are picked and brought in. While planning my trip, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

It all started a few months ago when I met Robert Carter, the sales manager of Efeste Wines at Heights Chateau. He came in through T. Edwards and was very warm and inviting to us about the winery. We tasted through the line and thought that most of them were absolutely superb. I told him how I was eager to participate in a harvest and invited me out there. He even called the winemaker and had me chat with him about the wines. My mind was made up, I had to go out there and see what was going on with the winemaker Brennon Leighton and Efeste.

Having only been to wineries in France, I was still thinking this was going to be a more European experience. Robert informed me that the grapes were actually a few hours away from the winery and more than likely, I wouldn’t be picking them. But he promised me that we would go out to the vineyards and see the grapes as well as get to participate in the sorting of them back at the winery. I told him as long as my hands got purple, it was all good.

My first day out there was a bit of a wash. There was a crush in process, but were finishing up and getting ready for lunch. Brennon started to give me a tour of the winery and show me what was in the process of fermentation before grabbing a plate of food. It was during lunch that Robert showed up and told me he had plans for dinner. Brennon and the assistant winemaker Mary were eager to introduce me to the world of clean up, but it looked as if I was going to be resting up before dinner. I really wanted to dive right in, but after being up since 4:30am, I was more than happy to get a nap in.

Dinner was more than I could have asked for. Robert took us to one of Seattle’s hot spot’s Wild Ginger and was joined by some fellow New Yorkers- Steve from Blue Fin and Ann Marie from Harbour Lights. He completely spoiled us by ordering some of the best wines I’ve had: 96 Lafite, Krug Multi NV, Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose…then there was the 85 Dr. Loosen our Sommelier brought us and the 89 Zilliken. But the grand finale was the 2004 Silex by the dearly departed Didier Dagueneau. As if the food and drink were great enough, Wild Ginger also owns the nightclub Triple Door that’s next door and Todd Rundgren was playing. Noel was more than happy to take us over…through the kitchen and since I’m in love with kitchens…I had to shoot some video footage:

I was having a great time, but in the back of my head a voice was telling me I should get some sleep since I was meeting Brennon at 7am to see the vineyards.

Walking up very groggy before the crack of dawn was not fun, but I was excited to be spending the day with Brennon and learning about his approach to making wine. Robert drove me to the corner of nowhere for him to pick me up and get on the road. Still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, we approached his favorite coffee place and saw one of those fancy coffee's with the designer foam. Oh la la. We also picked up some organic PB&J's and hit the road again. Our first stop wasn't for 2 hours and we settled into the early morning drive.

First up was Evergreen, the vineyards where Efeste gets all of their white grapes from. We walked through the Riesling and ate the grapes off the vines. Some of the bunches had botrytis growing on them too...which of course I tried as well. Brennon pointed out what he was looking for in the parts of the grape before he gave the OK to harvest- skins needed to not have a chalkiness, there shouldn't be a bite in the finish and the seeds are no longer green. He chews on them and makes judgements. No tools are used out on the fields to measure the sugars and acid levels...it's all by taste. The Riesling wasn't ready yet and we moved onto the Chardonnay. The vines had already been pruned and all that was left hanging was the grapes that were ready to be picked. After tasting one of those ripe grapes off the vine, my store bought grape days were over. Everything was in perfect balance- the skins melted, the juice was succulent and the seeds broke away from the pulp easily. On the unripe grapes, you have to sort of work the seeds away from the middle before spitting them out. These grapes were ripe and I couldn't wait to see them come into the winery and get pressed.

I can't exactly recall the exact number of vineyards we went to, but it was definitely in the double digits. The rest of the day was an assortment of red varieties...mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, but we also had Syrah (which was getting picked the next day) and Mourvedre. Brennon took samples of some of the vines to bring back to the winery and check their PH levels and sugar levels. We moved very fast from vineyard to vineyard taking very short breaks to maybe talk to a winemaker or vineyard manager. Here's a collage of photos from our different stops:

The second to last vineyard we went to was that of Dick Boushey's in Yakima Valley, who is one of the most respected winemakers/vineyard owners in Washington state. He was out with his dogs testing the Barbera and Sangiovese when we ran into him and had an interesting conversation. The topic, which varietal is going to be the next big thing. Dick was experimenting with some interesting varietals including, Picpoul, Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc and Tempranillo. I told him how much I loved some of the grapes he was working with and offered me bottles to take back home to try. I was also fascinated with his taster...

Last but not least, was the famed Red Mountain Vineyards, which payed tribute to Chateneuf du Pape by having the little chapel on the top of the hill. We went to collect samples of the Cabernet Sauvignon from different parts of the slope they were growing. What I found most interesting was that the grapes were riper on the southwestern part of the row. Brennon not only told me his philosophy of what Cab should taste like (herbaceous), but also informed me of how the sun sets in Washington making those grapes on the SW side riper before the others. It truly is amazing how far along the state is given that the first vines were only planted a little over 30 years ago.

Not only was Red Mountain beautiful, but the gates were locked and we had to do some off-roading to escape...

The whole trip wasn't all tasting grapes and chatting with vineyard managers and winemakers, we had some distractions as well. My favorite moment was when driving down a busy East Washington road, there was one lonely McCain/Palin sign. It's been ages since I felt the urge to steal a sign, but I couldn't leave that in the middle without an Obama one in sight. Lucky for me Brennon wasn't opposed to this and we made a U-turn...and nobody stopped to yell.

There was also an adventure in a grocery store where at the deli counter I asked if they could make a cheese sandwich...that was the most bizarre example of a grilled cheese I could have ever imagined. Brennon and I heading back towards Seattle reminisce while watching the beautiful Washington sunset.

We didn't get back to Robert's house until almost 10pm (remember we left at 7am). I was exhausted and fell right to sleep since we had a long day back at Efeste. Robert was joking I had to go in at 6am to do punch down, but Brennon said nobody was showing up till at least 8am...yay!

We got a late start Friday morning and managed to show up at the winery around 9am, where I found Mary with all the bags of samples we collected. She put me right to work crushing the grapes so their brix (sugar levels) and PH balance could be taken. Finally, a chance to step on some grapes even if they were in garbage bags. We lined them up and took their readings. We also taste tested the different juices because science can only tell you so much and it's more fun to use your own senses.

After cleaning up our samples, Mary had me work with Ben on topping off all the barrels. This is done to keep the wine from oxidizing while sitting in the barrels and to refill the wine that had evaporated. This is done once a month. Each type of wine has a keg sister that is hooked up to a tank of gas to give it pressure and make the juice flow. Little did I know, I had to climb up five rows of barrels to do this task. While Ben is part spiderman...I am not...good thing I don't give up easily. I was given a quick tutorial before I embarked on my mission.

Then it was my turn...

After the barrels are filled you have to clean up all of the spillage, and with me behind the wheel- there was lots to clean up:

Ben and I worked on topping off the barrels for almost the whole day. I got all the way up to the last two and half rows before going to help Brennon and Mary with getting the barrels and the equipment ready for the sort happening on Saturday. To be honest, I think Ben saw how pooped I was and offered to finish it up and I wasn't going to say no. I think it was already well into the late afternoon before he was done in there. In the meantime, I washed out the barrels for the Chardonnay that was getting pressed and helped punch down some of the fermenting grapes. Punching down helps break up all the skins, seeds and stems that have risen to the top. It's important to do this twice a day in order to extract color, flavor, and tannins. The process also helps put oxygen into the vat to help the fermentation process, keep bad bacteria away and regulate the temperature (it gets hot when sugars turn to alcohol). I thought topping off the barrels was tough, but this was another challenge to my physical abilities. Mary suggested they get a plank out to put across the bin, but Brennon pointed out I was wearing good shoes. He showed me how to get up on the edge and then told me to punch everything down with the over-sized potato masher. While Mary was encouraging me on, Brennon was taking bets if I would fall into the vat. Extra paranoia for me while trying to balance and use all my force to push down the cap.

By 6pm I felt like I had earned the title of cellar rat and hurt in way too many places. My hands were stained purple and there were random cuts, scrapes and bruises all over my hands and arms, but I felt good. The day was full of hard work but I also got a little bit of play time in with Mary's dog Finley:

And there was also the forklift...

We all grabbed a beer and headed into Brennon's office to decompress and discuss what time we were getting there for the sort. Brennon, Robert and I headed out to their local favorite restaurant the Barking Frog for dinner and met up with one of the Efeste owners Patrick. We had a lovely dinner, but were anxious to get back to the winery and see the grapes coming in from the harvest. I don't know if you've gotten this yet, but when it's harvest time, all that one does is eat, sleep and live grapes. It was another long day with a very hard sleep. Saturday was not going to be any easier of a day, but I am happy to say there was no climbing involved.

Saturday morning came way too quickly and before I knew it, everyone was back at the winery for the crush. Mary had coordinated volunteers to help with all the sorting and brought in a nice group of people who had one the day in a silent auction. She also brought what Washington calls bagels...I called them round pieces of wonder bread with a hole in the middle. While Brennon and Mary were getting ready for everyone, Ben and I went to take the brix and temperatures of all the fermentation vats as well as some of the barrels. By 8:30 am, Efeste was filled with people and everyone took their positions on the sort line and in the winery. Mary was excited that they had a new cellar rat (me) and appointed me hose girl. My job for the day was to rinse off the empty grape bins and make sure I kept the floor clean and free from sticky grape mush. Ben tended to the press and made sure the grapes were spread evenly, while Brennon and Mary worked with the volunteers on the sort line and bringing in the bins of grapes to sort through. We were like a well oiled machine and was more than happy to roll up my sleeves and do my part. Chardonnay was the first grape to be sorted and it was a fairly simple process. The bad grapes were taken off the table and everything else just went right into the press. within an hour the juice was starting to flow out. I just cupped my hand under the flow and slurped it right up. Sooooooo good. I tried to convince Brennon that the fresh Chardonnay would make a killer cocktail with bourbon, but he didn't think it would be the best idea to send someone to the store for a bottle. Next time, I'll know to be prepared.

We quickly blew threw the white grapes and let the volunteers take a break while Mary, Ben and I set up for the Syrah. This had an extra sorting table and a de-stemmer. Also, the grapes didn't go directly into the press, but went into fermentation vats. The first table sorted, then those grapes went into the de-stemmer and then were sorted again before going into the fermentation bin. The red varietals are definitely more work and the natives were getting restless. The pace was sped up on the sort line and it was very reminicsent of an I Love Lucy episode. After a few hours of picking through the grapes, my mind started to wander and began to come up with superhero names and and powers for everyone at the winery. Ben was the Barrel Monkey and his power was to appear in a flash at any harvest around the world. Mary was the Hose Mistress and her superpower was that she could blast away anything with her hose of water. Brennon was the Anti-Spoofalator and he battled Spoofalators of wine. My superhero was Squeegee Girl and was able to push out all evil into the p-trap (the drain built into the winery floor that collects all the debris). I think there should be a comic book spin-off based on these characters, but that would be a whole other blog.

When the last bin of Syrah was dumped onto the sort table, there was a huge sigh of relief coming from the volunteers. That meant lunch was coming and they could sit and drink some wine. For Mary, Ben and I, it meant that we had a while to go before we were done. It was time to put all of our superpowers together and clean up everything. Together we had three hoses going at the same time. Mary gave me the job of cleaning out the hopper and sorting table. When I finished I was ready to clean more, but Mary urged me to go and eat before it was all gone- her and Ben would finish up the remaining. Shortly after I started my lunch, Robert informed me we had to get going if I was going to get back to his place, shower and pack before my flight. I was bummed that I had to leave so soon and thought about changing my flight.

I said my goodbyes and was off to the wineries down the street where there was an open house. We went to visit Mark Ryan who's father was my driver when I landed in Seattle. I really wanted to try his wines since he made a Viognier. It was jam packed and I was soaking wet from hosing everything. It wasn't the best time for me to be trying anything except a shower and a nap.

Robert and his wife Lara were such gracious hosts and took me to dinner in downtown Seattle at Purple before dropping me off at the airport. My Washington Wine Journey had come to an end...for now.

Robert is coming to Heights Chateau on Wednesday, October 22nd at 5:30pm to taste everyone on Efeste wines. I hope to see you all there.