Day One of Cakebread Cellars:
We met for coffee and pastry (because, really, we need more calories to start the day) while talking to their in-house Chef, Brian Streeter. Although Napa law prevents wineries to have commercial kitchens or private events (aside from very few grandfathered-in properties), Cakebread has Brian around for "entertainment that lends itself to the property." For example, Brian leads cooking seminars for guests that visit the winery, and he cooks for private family or business dinners. But today, Brian is taking us on an excursion to meet some Cakebread producers. Usually, Kopf Scholars get to spend two days working with 5 chefs and winery staff putting on the American Harvest Workship, but we missed it by a month this year because they were celebrating an anniversary of the event. None of us felt like we missed out!
Our first stop was Gourmet Mushrooms; you guessed it--a purveyor of delicious mushrooms! Have you ever thought about how mushrooms are grown? Aside from the wise-crack answer "Yeah, in shit," think about it for a second. Well, the process is amazing! At GM, they grow mushrooms in small jars that they have created a natural habitat for our funghi friends. Their beautiful, and we look just a well wearing hair nets and gloves to see the grow rooms.
Second, we head to Bellweather Creamery. This place is just as impressive because, let's be honest, they let us try some cheese! Before that though, we see pasteurization, ricotta cheese making, and then the separation of curds and whey. It's amazing how quickly the cheese forms once the curds are combined. Liam, the second generation of cheesemakers explains the aging process to us in the stinky, freezing cheese room--which we all loved!--and then we taste. We taste fresh ricotta, creme fraiche, Crescenza (a style of burrata), and aged sheep and cow milk...and it makes you wonder why you ever at anything produced by Kraft.
Afterword, we head for sandwhiches at Della Trattoria, where we eat vegetables from the garden and enjoy what the farm-to-table style agriculture really has to offer. I relish in freshness, because I know it's limited and will be almost non-existent when I get back to New York. Also, I think it's the most vegetables I've eaten in days. I'm just fine on the cream intake, though!
We spent that evening at La Toque at the Westin in Napa with Bruce Cakebread. Bruce is mainly responsible for international distribution and he gets to travel a LOT. He's also quiet and reserved, but we pick his brain anyway. I remember being most fascinated by the sheer level of his humility; Cakebread wine is widely known and on many, many wine lists. He's also a founder of the Napa Vintners Association which runs one of the highest-grossing wine auctions in the world! Yet, he asks us questions about what we like to do (he's got a 22 year old daughter and a rebellious son), and you can see that fatherhood suits him.
He treats us to a delicious dinner, and we head home satiated and happy to have learned many new things! Tomorrow is hard work, we've heard, so it's time to count sheep.
Day Two of Cakebread Cellars:
We split up into two teams of three. Three of us will be in the vineyards sampling fruit (it's not quite time for full harvest yet), and three of us will be in the cellar. I'm in the cellar; I just can't get enough of that smell. We wear rainboots and jeans, but it isn't enough protection for what we are going to be doing. Kosme, the cellar manager/head honcho, tells us we get to rack the wine. Awesome! Oh, boy we were in for it. Barrels of wine are lined up, ready to be emptied and we are going to help empty and clean them all. And then they are going to bring more. And more.
Sara, one of the other cellar managers explains how to connect a racking line, water line, and ozone line. What's ozone? It's O3 turned back into water; it cleans and protects the barrel from microbacteria. All I know is that if I get dizzy, I'm supposed to go straight outside. Racking the wine basically means that you take the wine in a barrel (that is currently sitting on dead yeast cells, also known as lees) and pump it into the nearest large tank for blending. Obviously, every barrel creates a different wine, so before we rack, we barrel taste every one to make sure no oxidation as occurred. Racking the wine is the easy part; the real work comes when you have to clean the barrel and get it ready for the next stuff. So, my job is to flip each empty barrel, then clean them first with water, then Ozone. This is a job that involves, legs, arms, lower back, etc. but we all love it! Later that week at the pool hall in Napa, the guys from the cellar tell us that we did better than interns that had been there for 2 weeks or more. Not to stroke the female ego or anything...
By the end of a very long day, the three of us are covered in water, bright purple lees, and stickiness. Time to go change then get ready for dinner.
We expect to be eating with interns and winery staff, but instead, we meet 30 other representatives for Kobrand from different states. I meet someone from Empire Merchants, where I plan to work when I get back to NYC. It reminds you that this is one of the smallest industries there is! Watch those eggshells...We all eat a wonderful meal created by Brian, which includes some great food from our visits to purveyors the day before, and we learn about the stories behind Cakebread wines. Dennis Cakebread, a natural entertainer, is the mirror opposite of his brother. He laughs and is a clear presence in the room, but no less agreeable!
All in all, we have a great night for networking and getting to know more about what I plan to enter into. I even got some great career advice!
Onto Day Five tomorrow.
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