It's A Beautiful Day In the Vineyard

Day. Night. It all starts to blend together for Jim Stollberg, our vineyard manager, this time of year. He's up for hand picks at 2 AM most mornings, and often not sleeping for days at a time. When he walks into the Riverbench house and slams the door in his signature way, we're often surprised to see that, all in all, he's in a pretty darn good mood considering.

Jim was kind enough to let me ride around with him (and his trusty companion, Charlie, who supervises all from the back of the truck) one morning last week, which was a little like watching a pro in action. I know the ins and outs of Riverbench the business in my sleep, but Jim can go right to a specific vineyard block, varietal, road, or gate without thinking twice (or getting a full night's rest). It's clear his vineyard crews respect him; they smile genuinely when he drives up, converse quickly in Spanish, and then he moves on to the next location. While we drove around together, Jim was simultaneously overseeing picks for Andrew Murray, Hitching Post, and several locations for our Riverbench wine program all at once.

It's this multitasking, attention to detail, and, plain and simple, the love of the vine that makes Jim so great at what he does. And I know that he's like me in that our work has become our lives, and it just isn't fair to call it "a job."

You know how when your mom makes you a sandwich it just tastes better because she made it with love? Well. Think about it.

It takes some pretty serious dedication to go without sleep for so long just for the sake of those grapes, but that's what he loves and that's what he does. And I guarantee that our wines are all the better for it.

(Check out that magical Santa Maria Valley fog we all know and love. I could barely see 5 feet in front of me driving out that morning.)

A Tribute to Fred

Small business seems to have changed meaning these days; in my world, a company with 50 employees doesn’t really constitute small. As a General Manager, people often ask what exactly I do, and my answer is always different. Some days, I’m out on the road selling wine, hosting dinners or tastings, or supporting accounts. Others, I'm making invoices, filling out mountains of paperwork, or attending meetings. And every once in a while I get to fix a toilet, kick a computer until it starts working again, or (my newest conquest) even drive a forklift. This harvest will involve some morning picks and then press loads and getting purple hands. Never a dull moment.

But if you really want to hear about a small business endeavor, you’ll need to think of Fred Stollberg. Fred is our vineyard manager Jim's father, and though he’s responsible for many important things around here, his most notorious job is applying the gorgeous pink wax “swoop” to our Rosé. Check this out: in the back winery building, Fred has a Fry Daddy full of pink wax, which he mixes with just the right amount of glycerin so that it’s not too hard or too soft. He applies the little pull strips to the bottles, dips, and…voila! You've got the famous rosé swoop. And you have Fred to thank for it.

(He kind of cursed himself by being so good at this, so now we apply wax to our Riesling and Tributary bottles as well.)

So at Riverbench when we say we're involved from grape to bottle, we really mean we do it all, every step of the way. Now that's one awesome small business team.

Harvest Begins: My First Day As A Cellar Rat

A few months ago, winemaker Clarissa Nagy agreed to let me shadow her this harvest. Her enthusiasm is catching, and immediately got me giddy. When she told me we were to pick Pinot Noir for our rose sparkling wine on Friday, August 24, I started to get nervous. So many things I've never done before! Those butterflies in my stomach felt like bats.

Before he left, my husband reminded me not to trip on or fall into anything.

Jim, our vineyard manager, asked if I would wear a microphone so he could, presumably, laugh at my inevitable complaints.

What can I say? I'm smiling at the fact that the men in my life are used to the girly girl in me.

But I think that's kind of the beauty of it. See, I noted on Friday that winemaking is not as easy as so many people make it out to be. Making wine, like making cheese, is an art but also very scientific. Pictures will explain this better.

Here's the fruit- seriously, aren't these gorgeous? I've seen a lot of grapes in my day, but these stand out.

We tasted the juice all through the press process, which took about two hours. It's amazing how color and flavors change as the grapes are pressed. This year's vintage comes from the Mesa block, which usually presents a darker color; we'll have to remember to notice if the finished 2012 Cork Jumper rose is a little pinker!

The free-run juice is put straight into tank to settle for a few days, with one exception. Last year, two barrels were filled with the last of the juice and apparently they contributed some really outstanding colors and flavors to the final blend, so we did that again. Two lots were put straight into neutral oak, and Clarissa showed me step by step how to inoculate them. I won't bore you with a long description of the process, but let's just say that the yeast and juice mixed together to make a cocktail of heady deliciousness that was poured right in.

As a note, cheesemaking has been a solo pursuit of mine, as my area doesn't have any local professional cheesemakers. I've destroyed a lot of milk and ruined plenty of cheese. So it's pretty cool to be learning at the hands of someone like Clarissa, who explains things clearly. The woman knows her stuff, but she's not pretentious or condescending, and she has no ego. It's refreshing. I owe her a huge, huge "thank you" for letting me tag along for this adventure. It's a bit of a bucket list thing for me to finally work a harvest after eight years in California.

So...overall? Successful day! I didn't break, spill, or fall into anything. And I can't wait to go back for more.

'Cause Riverbench bees are the best

Some people like massage. Others like a good bubble bath. Some people sit by the fire with a glass of wine and a good book (actually, that works for me, too). But in my opinion, relaxing is all about having thirty thousand little honey bees buzzing around me at once.

Before you try committing me to the looney bin, think on this. I just so happen to have the nicest bees in the world. I first brought them to Riverbench two years ago after being trained as an amateur beekeeper. My mentor, David, had kindly offered to put my new bees into my hive for me since I was out of town on a business trip when they came in. This, however, involved a 45 minute drive from his place to Riverbench, where my new set of 10,000 buzzing babies was put inside the car and strapped down. We went early in the morning while they were still sleeping and cold. David’s advice for if we hit a bump and the hive came loose in the car? GET OUT.

Luckily, this perilous drive ended well and my bees were happily installed in their new home in the vineyard, where they’ve been thriving ever since. And since that first day in my bee suit, I’ve never worn it again because I have the friendliest bees in the world. I don’t use a smoker, even to open the hive, because they don’t swarm or sting. I’ve taken guests out there to see them and even touch them on the comb, like in this picture, which is one of the most earth-shattering experiences. Their little vibrating bodies are warm and friendly, and give you the most amazing rush touching them.

Next spring I’m looking to convince Jim, our ever-patient vineyard manager, to let me add a few more hives around the place. You can never have enough friendly bees.

For your pure enjoyment, I'm going to post the picture below, which was taken the first time I had to wear full gear with my bees. Sometimes I put it on just for kicks, so the people in the tasting room wonder what's up. I know, I look like I'm in space, but I'll endure the relentless teasing I'm bound to get.

Wine Dinner with Trattoria Uliveto

I recently realized that this week marks my five year anniversary with Riverbench. It feels like just yesterday that I donned the pink hard hat to start the construction of the tasting room. Ah, memories.

Anyway, the point of this blog is that over the past five years, we've only done a handful of wine dinners each year for various reasons. All that is about to change now that we have Clarissa, our new winemaker, who is great at hosting them. I've also got more staff now, so it gives me time for things like this. Expect great things.

Monday night was our dinner at Trattoria Uliveto in Orcutt, and it was truly one of the best food and wine pairing experiences I've had recently. I love Uliveto because it's a warm, welcoming place with awesome Italian food. But for this dinner, Chef Alfonso Curti pulled out all the stops.

The first course was a tuna tartare paired with our 2009 Cork Jumper Blanc de Blancs. It was unique because he mixed the fish with avocado (love!) so the creaminess really balanced out the effervescence of the bubbles.

Next, Alfonso indulged me with one of my favorite pairings In. The. World. Bacon and 2011 Rosé of Pinot Noir. If you haven't tried it, you should. This bacon wrapped scallop dish was a perfect summer starter, and one of the favorites of the evening.

As if we weren't already happy enough, the third dish, which was a sweet corn ravioli with a porcini cream sauce, pretty much made the night. You know those moments when you match a wine and a dish perfectly? I mean so perfectly that your mouth sort of sighs in relief? That's what happened with a sip of our 2009 Estate Chardonnay. I'm still thinking about it.

The fourth course had everyone asking questions, because it was sea bass paired with our 2009 Mesa Pinot Noir, which is a bit unconventional. I don't believe in the whole "white wine with fish" thing, so asked everyone to give it a try and be open minded. And it was perfect together because there was just enough pepper; a wimpy white wine would have been disappointing. By the way, do you know how hard it is to cook fish perfectly for 70 people? Kudos, Chef.

Stuffed, but pressing on, we moved to a moist and succulent quail at my request. I had a quail risotto there that I fell in love with a while back, and since the birdie goes so well with our Pinot Noir, Chef put this together as a fifth course. Delicious would be an understatment, but I'm running out of descriptive food words in this post. Something about the gaminess of the bird with our earthier single clone 667 2009 One Palm Pinot just works really well.

There was dessert. Chocolate cake, a berry tartlet, and...drumroll, please!...a cannoli. Chef doesn't make his cannoli super sweet, so it was magical with our off-dry 2011 Riesling. Magical, I tell you! Everyone in the place went home happy, and I'm looking forward to another awesome five years full of exactly this type of evening.

A huge thank you to staff member Jules Reuter, pictured here with his lovely fiancée, Penni, for the awesome photos.

Rock Star in Kansas City

Sometimes, selling wine can be a drag. There's so much competition and so many reps on the road these days, so you’ve got to try to stand out. I’m not very good at that, as I have a knack for being unable to kiss ass. What I am good at, however, is absolutely completely truly and terrifyingly loving what I do.

It’s a jolt to stumble onto people who appreciate that, and many of those people live, unexpectedly, in Kansas City, Missouri. Without exaggeration, talking wine with folks there is a pleasure because they’re passionate, too. My bud Jason Burton (The LAB) tells me it’s because they can appreciate artisans, and I think that’s part of it. The other part might be that they’re genuinely fun folks who love to have a good time and appreciate really special things.

My opinion of those outstanding KC folks was elevated and cemented thanks to a tasting at Lukas Liquors hosted by Jodi Dyer and Dennis Schaefer. I already have a soft spot for Dennis, because he was the first journalist to write about Riverbench when we first opened four years ago. The rest of the group was just as cool; they asked awesome questions about food pairings (my favorite thing) and who puts the pink wax on our rose (our vineyard manager’s dad, Fred, who deserves a post solely dedicated to him). I don’t think I stopped talking the whole time, but the time flew by because it was just so darn fun.

I think Sean and Michael (QED Wine Purveyors) who sell our wines in KC must only take me to the good places, because every account is friendly, excited about the wine, and supportive. I do think that good people should surround themselves with other good people, as it promotes that positive energy. Seems like that’s what these guys do. They’re the epitome of a small business, a two man sales team who are working hard to spread the story of California’s artisan winemakers. It’s not an easy task, but they do it and they do it well. They treat me rather like a rock star, which is an incredible ego boost, but it’s because they love what we’re doing at Riverbench, and respect the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into it. It’s probably largely because of them that I’ve fallen a bit in love with Kansas City.

So KC, and all the charming and wonderful people there, thank you. Thanks for “getting” it, supporting it, and living it!

Inspired

There's nothing like surrounding yourself with inspiring people to make you feel, well, inspired.

And for the past week, that's exactly what I've done.

I took an exam a few weeks ago, and received feedback from my professor recently. Since the tests are graded blindly, he had written something to the effect of: "I don't know who you are, but please tell me, because you are an outstanding writer." On exam essay questions?! For realz?

Those who know me know I'm terrible at compliments, and this one was no exception and caught me completely off-guard. Sure, I like writing. But only in the past few years have I thought about actually being decent at it.

Which took me to the next thought: I have so many amazing things to say about Riverbench and the wine country lifestyle, and I'm not sharing them because I've always treated this blog like my own personal cheese making complaint platform.

So from here on out, things change. This becomes the official Riverbench blog, containing accounts from my exciting sales trip visits, my "apprenticeship" with winemaker Clarissa Nagy this fall, winery updates and goodies, and, of course, the ongoing saga of being an amateur cheesemaker and beekeeper on the property.

I can't wait to share it. And Dr. W, (along with the others I have just been ignoring for a while) thanks for being my inspiration!