work work work

work is going along smoothly....its 4:30 am and i should be off soon, yeah!!! starting to bring in lots of Riesling... i feel like the end is in sight though, a little sad but a relief. still working very long hours and its starting to take its toll on everyone even more... lots of sore backs, bruises, blisters and my wrists are killing me and everyones hands are dyed red/purple from the pinot noir we have been pressing off...which turns a nice black color by morning, looks like mechanic hands.
got the chance, ha, to shovel out my first tank of red skins the other night! not 40 tons like at VOM but still it was about 5 and it was only me doing it... what a work out, i wonder if you can taste the sweat in the wine....hehehe, ya i know gross. maybe i should explain... with red wines you basically squish the grapes and put them in a big tank and the fermentation takes place with the skins which is where all the color and tannins come from, most red grape juice is very light red, its actually where you get rose wines from, the red grape juice fermented with no skins. white wines are only the juice of the grapes is fermented. anyways... once a red wine fermentation is complete you drain off the new wine and all the skins remain in the take and a lucky person get to shovel them out through the little door in the front....oh yeah and you get to crawl in through a little door too, or just in the top like crazy romain did...it was funny, slid in up to his waist, i always feel like i'm going to get stuck in the door, i barely fit.
so thats what we have been up to...i need a day off, i'm tired