It's December 13 and we will press off our last lots tomorrow. Say what? Yes, we've had extended macerations (good description) going since the crush date of November 1.
It seems so distant, IS so distant, and now we have to rally for another big day of pressing. This truly marks the end of a very late, very long harvest that started September 15 with Sauvignon Blanc. Three full months. That's one-fourth of the year. That's a long time. After tomorrow we can convert the forklift from a harvest tool to a barrel and bottling tool, a sea change difference.
Do I sound a little tired, a little haggard? It's the post-crush blues, a time for sleeping in, a good book and a little strumming on the guitar and mandolin. A time for visiting friends, waxing up the skis, wandering the hills with Leslie and the kids. A time for roast chicken and red wine. Here's a weird one: a time for shopping! No, not for the holidays but for... ME. As long as I can remember, the post-crush blues was a time where I desire to go shopping for clothes, etc.
This is a strange thing for me and I can only assume that it is the natural result of being so busy for so long with harvest when there is no time for leisurely fun and spending money. For harvest workers, typically it is a time for higher income since so many hours are involved. There were years when I was at Preston when I worked 80-100 hour weeks for a month. There was definitely some repressed need to spend money after that. I guess it's that Newtonian law again, energy is neither created nor destroyed, and that goes for shopping.
On that note, I had better get back to that rallying thing because we have a full-on couple of days ahead. I feel a little like Captain Kirk in one of those hair-raising scenarios on some funky planet. Must.. get... out.. of..bed.. and.. load.. the... press!
Happy Holidays, everyone.
tom
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