Bungy

You can't come to the birthplace of commercial bungy and not do one. Well, I can't. Especially when the winery you just busted your ass for consults its connection Rolodex and hooks you and the your fellow harvest assistants up with a free jump. What a perk, huh? Thanks again Claudio.

The best was Ebbers' reaction to hearing that we were going bungy jumping. Almost 24h of sheer mental torture I think. Me? Stoked. I was thinking about how I was gonna jump off the ledge. Did I feel confident in my flipping skills? Should I do swan dive? How about backwards? Could I do a Triple Lindy? In the end I elected for backwards. It wasn't as pretty as I'd have liked but still it was sheer bliss. Talk about disorienting. The momentary alienation my brain went through with a "what the hell's going on? Where's my perspective?" There was no perspective on that gray May day. Next thing I know I'm under water. I couldn't come all this way and not be dunked in the Kawarau. Bobbing up and down on the end of latex strands was very strange. I couldn't figure out which way was which. Then I was lowered into the boat at the bottom and it was all over.

There's video of my jump but I can't figure out how to get it to upload from the DVD. There was a bit of a mix up when Claudio was taking photos so I've got Pete's jump on my camera and he has mine. Gotta say that it's the anticipation that seems to get everyone. Except for maybe people that have a fear of heights. I'm over 2m tall, so could you imagine me being afraid of heights? It's definitely a experience worth having I'd say. 43m (141ft). I'd definitely do it again. I wanna do the Nevis Bungy-134m (440ft)-now but I don't think I'll get to it. A couple of years ago I probably would've had a reaction similar Pete's upon being told that I was going bungy jumping, but now...it's...I don't know...a piece of cake that I get to eat.

So Friday was my last day at Gibbston Valley Wines. It was one of the best last days of work ever. Bungy. Beautiful sunny day. Not a lot to do. Ended by tasting through all the ferments that were finished. Technically, there were some that still had to finish primary fermentation and some that had to go through malo-lactic fermentation (secondary fermentation) but it was great to taste what we'd made those past 7weeks. This barrel tasting session was definitely more formal than last year's with Brian. Too bad there's no photographic evidence of those sessions. We still have our end of harvest party to attend so I'll see all my GVW friends again this week. It's already sunk in that harvest is over here in NZ but I think it'll take that party for it to really sink in that I'm leaving here (besides the fact that I will truly be leaving Central Otago post party). This chapter ends and a new one begins. I'm really trying to get my head around havin' to hustle once again, but I hope to get it all pointed in the right direction by the end of next month. A trip to Vanuatu, Samoa, or Tonga should help.

There'll be lots more pictures once I can collect them from everyone else.

Peace fam. Stay frosty.

Half Moon

We processed the last of the pinot noir today. In fact, I think we really just have riesling left to come in at this point. The pickers picked the Home Block today. They were done in about 2-3h. Possibly one more. Regardless, it was quick. There was 5 bins and 3 buckets worth of pinot. Maybe 2tonnes. Some pinot gris from either Lane or the Home Block. The best was the gerwurtramener coming in at 110kg. It should fill a keg. We were expecting some more fruit from up the road that had been trickling in all week but right after the second lot of 3 bins came in, it and the remaining fruit on the vines was sold. Sold!

And like that, it was over. I was taking care of an inoculation so Peter (the other American) processed the fruit. We'd gotten things figured and were down to amounts so that one person could really handle processing all the bins. I tried to get in on the last bin but Peter pushed me outta the way and finished it himself. Good on ya, mate! Given that Peter and I went out last night (it was an early night) he really out worked me today. Kid's gonna go far I think.

We finished the evening in very upbeat spirits as the promise of time off became evident when Christopher asked who wanted tomorrow off. It's as if our bosses let out a sigh of relief this evening. We're not done by any stretch of the imagination but today was definitely a milestone mark. It was also a little sad. I mean, I've been over here since the middle of February thinking and living grapes. Now the end is in sight for this chapter. For the amount of effort and moreso mental anguish that went into getting to this point, today's finale felt pretty lackluster. I suppose I wanted everyone standing around the destemmer and tank and clapping and cheering as we added the last bin. But alas, it was much more muted. Maybe once all the whites are in tanks or barrels and all the ferments are in barrel for malo there'll be some hi-fives.

Well let's look at this way. I feel like I've crested a peak and can see the horizon differently. I know what I'll be doing for at least 6-8weeks this fall in Oregon; I'm to be working a harvest at Adelsheim Vineyard (adelsheim.com). But I've got so many ideas that I could pursue before during and after that I'll be doing a lot of filtering in the coming days, weeks, and months. "Where I wanna go? Where I wanna be?" Gotta run the experiment to find out.

I drove home through the Gorge trying to drive so I didn't hav'ta touch the brake pedal and listening to Bjork's Homogenic. Tomorrow should be a good day.

Peace fam. Stay frosty.

It may look like I'm holding two bunches of grapes here; one pinot gris and one riesling or chardonnay or pinot blanc, but these are in fact on the same vine. Take a look at the next picture.

I've seen this before more dramatically in some Bendigo pinot gris. There was one berry that was split down the middle green and brown. I ate them before I realized I should take a picture. I wanna call them a Griesling but upon thinking about it more, it's probably pinot blanc on the same plant as pinot gris. This makes much more sense than a natural mutation to riesling or chardonnay on the same plant as pinot gris.