The Business Trip

California, USA –

We stopped working 16 years ago, although owning a boat like Berkeley East was really a full-time job in itself; it kept us constantly engaged in the complexities of maintaining, operating, and navigating a 54-foot vessel in unfamiliar environments.  So, when the time came to move on from cruising, we knew we would need other challenges to fill the void. And while planning trips, dealing with house remodeling and, executing everyday tasks were very time consuming, we decided to embark on a multi-year journey that would provide unique education, participation, and reward.  We have always tried to follow a code of “do what you love” and we do love wine, so we began the process of learning about, and making, vino.  It is something we have talked about for many years, but our commitment to the cruising life made it impossible to dedicate the necessary time, and attention.   

Long ago, we toyed with the idea of ditching our corporate jobs to buy a vineyard in New Zealand.  We were young, naïve and had no idea what was involved in such an endeavor, but it was an exciting dream.  While owning a vineyard now would still be problematic, making a barrel, or two, of wine is doable.  So last fall, we contracted with a company in Napa Valley to make our own barrel of cabernet sauvignon; from sourcing the grapes, to blending the juice, to finding ways of marketing and selling the final product, hopefully learning something new every step of the way.  It is a very demanding process, requiring lots of reading, research, and patience, along with tasting, tasting, tasting, and traveling.  In April, we took a “Business Trip” to Napa to join other aspiring winemakers at “Barrel Break”, a three-day event filled with classes, excursions, and social events to help immerse us into the world of wine making.  And like every good “Business Trip”, we took advantage, adding a little pleasure to moderate the stresses of the work (the sipping and the tipping) at hand.   

Getting up at 4:00 am to catch our flight to California brought us mentally back to our pre-cruising days, when traveling for work was a constant.  The early hour was not the preferred timing, but necessary so we could get to San Francisco at a reasonable hour and drive to Bodega Bay, where we would spend a few days adjusting and exploring before the labor began. We have spent so much time outside the United States, it is easy to forget the unique and wonderful destinations here at home.   

Best known as the movie set for Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, Bodega Bay is a picturesque fishing village on California’s Sonoma Coast that is surrounded by quaint summer enclaves, rocky coves, sandy beaches and rolling ranch lands. 

We used Bodega Bay as a base to discover some of the most beautiful coastline we have ever seen, while sampling some of the freshest seafood we have ever tasted.  Our meals included clam chowder, crab sandwiches, fish tacos, shrimp quesadillas, halibut ceviche, clams, mussels, and the famous Hog Island oysters, all served at casual roadside stands and scenic waterfront cafes. As seafood lovers, we were in our element; all we needed was a boat. 

A visit to Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve was a highlight.  Located in a canyon  just north of the Russian River, the 805 acres of Armstrong Redwoods was set aside as a natural park and botanical garden in the 1870s by a visionary lumberman named Colonel James Armstrong. 

California’s redwoods are the world’s tallest living organism (the largest measured to date was 379 feet high), and are also among the planet’s oldest lifeforms, with an average span of 500 to 700 years, and the ability to survive for 2,000 years, or more. There was a time when some 500 miles of coastal California, from the Oregon border south to Big Sur, was thick with redwoods. But the discovery of gold in 1849 brought a massive influx of people into the state and the beautiful, sturdy, fire-resistant redwood trees quickly became the builder’s choice.  Eventually, more than 95 percent of the Golden State’s old redwood forests disappeared. 

The Armstrong Reserve is one of the few preserved redwood forests in California. The oldest tree there, named Colonel Armstrong, is more than 1,400 years old and the tallest one, called Parson Jones, extends upward more than 310 feet. The photos simply do not capture the beauty, or enormity, of it all. 

After a few days of fun, it was time to get down to business, so we headed to Napa. “Barrel Break” kicked off with a reception where we met other winemakers and future winemakers, while tasting different varietals and snacking on tater tots. We were expecting to socialize with locals but were surprised to find people who had traveled from all over the country. Long Island, Dallas, Baltimore, Chicago, Raleigh, Los Angeles, it was a melting pot of ages and backgrounds, groups, couples, and individuals, with different styles and goals. Some had been making wine for decades, some made a barrel years ago and were back to work with a different grape, others were newbies, like us. What we all shared was an enthusiasm for wine, and the desire to move from mere consumption and collection, to creation.

The days that followed included a field trip to a vineyard and ranch where we learned more about the process of getting from vines to wines.  Planting, trellising, irrigation, pruning, pest control, timing, harvesting, so many steps before the grapes become juice. And all are factors that impact the quality of the wine.  Tours of the facility where our barrel is stored revealed state-of-the-art technology for sorting, destemming, crushing, fermentation, analysis, aging and bottling.   Workshops introduced us to the unique skills of barrel tasting and identifying different grapes; one such session included a blind tasting of 19 different varietals, spitting and tipping were a necessity.  There were also dinners and gatherings where we got to know our fellow winemakers and the team of specialists that are guiding us throughout our two-year journey. 

While the entire experience was extremely fun and amazing, the pinnacle was testing our own individual barrel.  Prior to the harvest last fall, we spent weeks researching and tasting samples from some of the most coveted vineyards in the Napa Valley and Sonoma growing regions.  We then made a “business trip” to the vineyards to select the favored source for our barrel’s grapes, Broken Rock Vineyard, and choose the type of barrique, a French Grandes Vosges Medium Toast.  At the time of “Barrel Break”, the juice had been in the barrel for approximately six months, and it was incredible to see the progress that had already occurred.  It was so good that others wanted to hijack our barrel.  We can only hope that the final product, after another year of aging, along with precise blending, will yield a spectacular wine.  Especially since we will have 300 bottles of it.

When “Barrel Break” concluded, we had almost made the decision to make a second barrel.  The white wine process would give us the opportunity to learn about a different varietal, spend more time studying the art of blending, not to mention take the additional “business trips” required.  And since whites only take a year, both barrels would be ready at the same time.  It seemed like the logical thing to do, at the time.  But before taking out the credit card, we decided to go home and do some further research.  And so, it began again, the grueling process of tasting, tasting, and more tasting, spitting and tipping.  It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Having traveled the distance from North Carolina to Northern California, we continued onto Los Angeles, rented a car, and drove to San Diego, visiting friends and family along the way.  Breakfast meetings, casual lunches, fun dinners to catch up with people, some of which we had not seen since before COVID.  Even with all its issues, Southern California is still one of the most scenic places in the world.