The next day, referring to my delestage the day before, he tells me that as my skills improve, I will not need to keep shutting off the valve during the straining process. Also, he says, it is important and OK to step outside for a minute for air. Apparently, in Italy alone, 3-5 people die every year making wine – mostly when they are doing manual punch-downs over an open tank. They simply fall into the must and drown. Dangerous.
Also, the closing on the new home in Denver went without a hitch. I will begin moving after I get back to the states.
Friday Andrea and I begin moving the barrels of last year's wine out of the first ageing cellar (which will be warmed up for the malolactic fermentation) to the main ageing cellar. We use an electric forklift and I manage to get enormous splinters in the side of my calf as I brush past the rough wooden beans on which the barrels rest. As the week has gone so swimmingly well so far, I decide to ignore them. There will not be another fuss around the new guy!!! Later, back at my apartment that evening, it takes 45 minutes to get them out. Though they didn't go deep, the longest one is a half-inch long and as big around as a knitting needle. All I have is a pair of tonenail clippers and a stubborn streak. Finally they are out and I am in bed and asleep by 9.30.
Apparently, by Saturday, the consensus seems to be that I am doing fine here. Both Barbara (Luciano's fabulous daughter, who is the winery business manager) and Andrea tell me as much, though not directly. Hey, I'll take whatever encouragement I can get!
We do two svinatura on Saturday – essentially, taking the liquid off the solids. 
As soon as I arrive at 7.30, I am in the emptied tank, shoveling out pomace, while Luciano transfers it into the big basket presses. Good thing the fermentations are slowing down and that the O2 levels are much better – I am not nearly out of breath, even in the huge tank. 
(Yes, my hair is getting long, and yes, it gets really curly and wild when it is damp like in a tank.) After shoveling everything out, we roll the baskets out to the hydraulic press. The liquid from a first gentle press is combined with the free-run juice. The second press, at 200 bar, is vinified separately and the resulting wine (harder and more tannic than the regular wine) is sold off to some old guys, bulk customers who bring their own demijohns to the winery to be filled. All day is shovel, fill baskets, press, dump pomace, clean baskets … repeat. A tank of wine yields 3-4 baskets of pomace, so this is a long and slow process, as each press takes about 2 hours. We finish up after lunch.
By 2, most of the winery workers have left for the weekend, and Sunday will be a day off as there is no new fruit coming in until Wednesday, weather permitting. I am doing odd jobs around the winery when Luciano tells me to do rimontaggio (pump-over) for tanks 1, 6 and 7. You mean, by myself? No supervision? Wow, you really have left the inmates in charge of the asylum ...
I get everything set up, pumps ready, power set, valves open, and turn the switch. All of the Sandrone pump-over power feeds are on automatic timers, so nothing turns on for three minutes after the power is switched on. Three minutes of checking and re-checking. Suddenly the whine of the pumps starts ... and it is perfect. Two three-minute pump-overs on each tank later, I am wrapping up and wiping down splatters when Luciano walks in ... looks around for a minute, nods twice and smiles, and walks out. Whew.
Later, I am tasked with being the translator for Luciano while he is visited by Duncan, the way cool Australian winemaker staying with the Altares I mentioned in an earlier post. I think I do an OK job translating. My Italian is definitely getting better, but it somehow feels like I am having two parallel conversations that are not exactly the same. However, I do get to join the tasting, which is great – I haven’t tasted the current lineup since March.
Luciano shoveling the pomace out of the tanks. For a guy in his sixties, he is in incredible shape. He has the easy efficiency of someone who has been performing the same actions for a long time - a complete professional in every sense of the word. For example, when shoveling pomace, I manage to get bits of grape everywhere, while the mess on the floor when Luciano is shoveling is ... almost nothing. This pisses me off. I've shoveled plenty, and I should be doing better. By the end of the day, I am definitely neater. there are little tricks that I pick up by watching him carefully.
The basket lifted off the plug of solids after pressing. The solids go off to a grappa distillery. Every few days, a truck comes by and picks up the pomace for the Marolo distillery. In the meantime, the stuff is outside, covered, in the shade ... I remember that Poli, in the Veneto, picks up and distills his pomace the day it is pressed so that nothing can oxidize and give off-flavors to the grappa. This stuff will not be at that quality level, unfortunately. I've had Marolo grappas and they have a bit of the fire in the throat feeling that I find so off-putting.
Andrea cleaning the baskets after pressing. You have to scrape the remaining stuff out of the inside of the baskets so that the juice can flow freely during the next use.
Tasting Notes:
2007 Dolcetto: Nice nose of plums and chocolate. For such a great year, I would have expected a bit more fruit, but this has lovely structure and will drink well for 2-4 years. 3.0+
2006 Barbera: Milk chocolate, vanilla and red cherries. This needs a year or two to come together but has all the “Stuff” it needs – nice finish of sweet coffee and tons of fruit. 3.0+
2006 Nebbiolo d’Alba “Valmaggiore”: This has never been my favorite wine made here, but the ’06 is really surprising for its gorgeously delineated fruit. The first thing off the nose is a wallop of wild strawberries, with cassis and cranberries following up on the palate. This is lighter than I would have expected but Luciano assures me it is exactly what the site and vintage demanded. I really like this! Nice finish, good acid, balanced fruit, very pinot noir-ish. 3.5-
2004 Barolo “Le Vigne”: In a word, stunning. Nose of black cherries, black fruit and berries, with hints of espresso, violets and rose petals. Anise as well. In the mouth, it is surprisingly expressive – I would have thought this in a more closed state. The mouthfeel on this is all polished without being boring in the least. It was a great vintage, and this is a great wine. 4.5-
2004 Barolo “Cannubi Boschis”: Usually, I am more taken with the Le Vigne bottling than the single-vineyard Cannubi, but this year I find them to be in a dead heat. The nose on this is similar, but more closed and backward than the Le Vigne, and shows more berries over cherries right now. Lots of anise, cola nut and fruit in the mouth, great structure and superfine tannins. It will be interesting to track the development of these two wines over the next two decades. 4.5-
Luciano doing a pump-over or "rimontaggio"
Luciano repairing a pump in the late-afternoon sun.
I have dinner with the Altares at the Felicin in Monforte - lovely meal, and I simply cannot say enough about what a wonderful, generous family this is. Sunday is a day off and I sleep past 6 for the first time in a week. Lovely to laze about in bed, reading until 10. Then reading, writing and enjoying the sun all day.
Tomorrow - back to the winery!
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