Grape crushing

I took part in the Vincent Arroyo Winery Amigos De Arroyo day today. I picked grapes, crushed them, took part in the bottling process of some 2004 grapes (well actually I just watched that part), and ate lunch there.

First, let's get the obvious joke out of the way - yes, we paid money to partake in the process that wineries normally pay other workers to do. Yes, we are crazy like that.

But it was a lot of fun. We started off the morning with about 40 of us picking grapes off the vine. They gave us gloves and a knife to cut the grapes off with, and the normal crew followed us in tractors to help us pick up the buckets of grapes. All in all, the 40 of us picked about 2.5 tons of grapes. Normally, a crew of just 8 people picks 4 tons of grapes a day.

Then we crushed the grapes. Instead of just putting them into the machine, they actually let us do it the old fashioned way first - we took off our shoes and got in the crates and stomped around. Pretty silly but surprisingly fun. It makes me chuckle to think that in 2008 my foot funk will be drunk by someone somewhere.

The lunch was prepared by a chef that specializes in making paella for large groups of people (apparently he goes around doing this for celebrity parties such as for Teri Hatcher or George Lucas). I didn't get to partake because I'm a vegetarian and got a salad box instead, but the word on the street was that the paella was amazing.

The thing I'm realizing about wine tasting is that I really enjoy going to wineries that emphasize the fun aspects of wine. Sure it's a business, but also wine is supposed to be social and fun. It seems like every winery in Napa knows Vincent Arroyo (and his dog J.J.) and the first thing everyone says about him is what a great guy he is. We also had the pleasure of stopping by two wineries on the way home where the pourers were quite social and ready to make sure we were having a good time. Some of the larger wineries tend to lose this personal touch in their tasting rooms, and while the wine may be good, the experience is not.

The Arroyo wines are often sold out, and many of them can only be bought as future orders. However, they are one of the few remaining wineries in the Napa area that offer free tastings (though you have to call in advance to make an appointment - something about their building not being up to handicap code so they can't have an an "open door" or something). It's definitely worth a stop to meet Vince, J.J., and try some great wine.