The 2008 Oyster Bay Pinot Noir

Tonight I was browsing the wine section at Trader Joe's when I stumbled across the 2008 Oyster Bay Pinot Noir. I helped make this wine! There is nothing more satisfying in life then seeing the final product on the shelf, in the bottle and for sale.

I watched these grapes ripen on the vines, the first truck delivery to the crush pad, the wines fermenting, the endless pumpovers and punchdowns, the transfers, the barrelling down, the blending, the tankering. I put in 12 hour nights for 6 straight weeks, ate vintage meals of rice and potatoes with more potatoes and for dessert sweet potatoes, did word finds to keep myself amused and awake. I cannot count the number of bungs I cleaned and the amount of caustic I used.

I miss being a cellar rat!












Gabb-eh and Me digging out a Pinot Noir tank at Oyster Bay Marlborough, New Zealand.












A bunch of interns and me punching down Pinot Noir in a big stainless steel tank with our feet.