STONESTREET CALIFORNIA

RED, RED WINE....i just got news that i'm going to be part of the harvest crew for Stonestreet winery in the Alexander valley, California. i'm so excited, now all i need to do is arrange everything to go to america. My friend skapie was going to go with me, but she was offered a permanent job here in South Africa @ Jordan winery. It's sad that she won't be going with me, but i'm happy for her getting a good job and at a winery she loves.

So, i'm going there, but not all alone. My friend Christo will also be going for the 2007 harvest, but he's going to Stags' Leap in Napa Valley. We'll be close to one another, but he's not one to get in the car and come visit me, and i will probably do the same. I'm luckily not the only south african that's going, an old class buddy will be working at stonestreet aswell, Emily Worthington.

So the next harvest will be in August 2007 and all the way from the states, can't wait...

In loving memory

Matthys Johannes Steyn

Born 8 February 1956 - Died 23 April 2007

April 24, 2007 at 05:15

The thunder woke me from a saddend sleep. My uncle had passed away the previous afternoon and it all still felt wrong. We first heard he had colon cancer in January. We all knew he was ill for a long time, he never seemed himself anymore at family gatherings. On my birthday we went to see hom in the hospital, just two days after they removed the cancerous growth from his colon. They couldn't remove anymore than that, the cancer had spread to far.

They sent hom home and three weeks ago he came for his first chemotherapy. My mom and her sister were terribly sad when they got back. My uncle was to sick and the doctors had told them the chemo would probably not work.

I immediately went to my uncle. He looked at me and said: " I should be grateful, I have lived a good life." He didn't smile, he laid there on the bed and starred at the ceiling. I felt tears stinging my eyes, so I left the room. Everyday they went for chemo and everyday he looked less like my uncle and more ....

Last saturday, my grandma phoned, my mom answered, she started crying. I thought it was over.

My grandma just let her know that they think it'll be that day. Almost the whole family went to say goodbye, but he made them wait a little bit longer... He only passed away onthe monday.

The next morning the thunder woke me and as i laid there listening to the rumble i thought it was my uncle trying out the lighting... it made my feel less sad and a little bit more hopeful.

Goodbye uncle.

SUNSETS OP SEIDELBERG

SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS I HAVE WITNESSED FROM THE LAWN ON THIS FARM.

THE REASON FOR THEM BEING SO AMAZING? BECAUSE I HAD A GLASS OF WINE IN THE HAND AND I HAD FRIENDS WITH ME.

I HAD A WONDERFUL HARVEST, AND SOMETHING SO BEAUTIFUL AT THE END OF THE DAY, MADE THE HARD WORK OF THE DAY JUST MELT AWAY. THE FACT THAT I WAS TAKING IN ALCOHOL, ALSO HELPED.

LAST DAYS AT SEIDELBERG

In the beginning of harvest i asked cerina for a weekend off at the end of harvest, or end of march. We (family and friends) were going on a quad biking weekend near my old home town. As harvest went on the grapes didn't come in like clockwork because of the rain and cool weather - which slowed down ripening. Well by the end of march, not all the grapes were in and pump overs were still going on every night. So with insecurity I left for the weekend. I also left earlier the Friday, because it was a three hour drive to Vanrhynsdorp, west coast.

Before left for the weekend, that week was so busy at the cellar. We did about 70 tons that week. I remember the Friday, we started sorting Cabernet sauvignon grapes (which they harvested the previous day) at about 06:30 and we finished 14:30. By that time, when you looked up from the sorting table nothing was in focus. I did the last bit of work and then said goodbye to everyone. I remember the guys in the cellar were all down because i got off, but also because i left earlier.

The plan was to go back on Monday morning and continue working for about 2 more weeks. Well, apparently there were other plans for me. Saturday on the farm, vanrhynsdorp, i sprained my ankle very badly and i couldn't go back to work. That evening was the end of harvest for me. It broke my heart knowing i was done with harvest - i didn't have time to prepare myself for the shock. Then also i felt like shit letting down everyone in the cellar, especially cerina.\

I got back Sunday and i was so scared to phone her.... i feel i let her down.

Viva la France

For 2 weeks I lived alone and then my French "connection" arrived. Her name is Léa and she's from Alsace. In the beginning we didn't speak that much, not knowing what to say to each other. My first harvest in 2006, I also lived with a french girl and it didn't go that well. So in the beginning I was afraid it was going to be the same. She soon dismissed all my cares and we started being friends. She never looked down at me, because she's from France, the wine capitol of the world, and I'm from SA. Pretty soon we got along very well. She works in the tasting room so she became part of the nightly wine-on-the-lawn team. She has a friend from France that's also doing an internship here in SA. He's at Dornier winery. So one night we drove to Dornier and picked Pierre up and went out for a night on the town. I took to Tollies, it was to busy anywhere else. The second time we went out, Léa had her car so she drove for the first time. She was so scared, but for the first time she didn't make any mistakes. I'm so very proud of her. Pierre also by then had his Vuka (scooter), that was hilarious. He calls himself the Vuka-legend. He's pretty funny, I had a good time with them. Viva la France...

The tasting room

After the rush of the pinotage, Cerina thought we should get someone to help us in the cellar, 'cause we get to bed too late. So I phoned around and Liaan finally said he would help. He started the 5th of February. He brought with him, such an energy that just charged up the whole place. He bonded really quickly with everyone in the cellar. Him and Jimmy, now that was a combo that was fun and trouble all rapped up in one. He made everyone in the cellar more lively... fun things just started to happen. We weren't that busy in the cellar, because all the pinotage was in and we got in some whites, but it was a lot chiller. I was mostly outside driving around on the forklift moving grapes while the others were in the cellar, racking juices, doing pump-overs and cleaning tanks. Let me tell you, cleaning tanks is hard work. You first need to get into one of those 10000L tanks (looks like a rocket) with a door just big enough for your ass to fit. I got the hang of it eventually, and cleaned my fair share of tanks.
Me and Liaan lived together in the cottage and then one afternoon after work, we went to the tasting room just under the cellar. There we met the gang...
Before Liaan moved in I shared the cottage with an intern from Germany, Sylvia. She's German-Italian and very beautiful. She moved out and invited us to a kiwi barbecue at the other cottage on the farm. There was a wide variety of weird there, but we quickly found the normal afrikaans group and hung out with them. Elrine and Johan (brother and sister) and Charles + his polish girlfriend, Jatsha. We danced a bit, but couldn't stay too late 'cause we had to be at work at 06:00 the next morning.
Me and Liaan always did the pump overs and punch downs at night, because we lived on the farm, it was fun. We'd put on the music and just work, it's very relaxing just spacing out while working.
Back to the tasting room gang. Pieter, Jan, Zelna, Elrine(marketing), Carol(office), Sharon(debt collector) and Bergette(marketing) just to name a few. Every night after work we'd go down to the lawn and share a glass of wine, chat and watch the sunset. Just thinking about it makes me sigh and long for it again.
I should thank Liaan for dragging me out of the cottage and making me go with him to the tasting room. Life on the farm would have been awful if I hadn't met them.
After being with us just for two weeks Liaan left for university 'cause an opportunity came knocking and he took the chance. Everyone missed him so much and me too. For the next 2 weeks I lived alone and it was quite scary, 'cause it can get very dark. And i missed the jokes and the conversations. I used to lecture him about his choice in girl, because he always seems to make the wrong one. During his 2 weeks with us, he met a girl, fell in and out of love and told me he still loved his ex-girlfriend.
He left, but it wasn't the end of the world, things in the cellar were quiet, because of the rain we had had. We worked slowly and kept ourselves busy.

And then there was Santos

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those first weeks of harvest we struggled to work like a team. Because of this we had to work so late many of the times. (but with the late nights came the dinners as a team. Cerina never ate with us because then no one said anything) Santos was the guy that worked in the parking lot as a security guard and at six, when he finished there, he would come and help out in the cellar. In the beginning he was like a Godsend, like a breath of fresh air.
Then one day I asked him how he was an d he told me he had woman problems. That night after work I drove him home, because his car had broken down. AGAIN. He told me that it was a girl he didn't believe he could have a future with and he thinks she will leave at end of harvest. Now I start to think he was talking about me. The ext couple of days it became clear that it was me he spoke of. He wanted to know if I would ever take coloured people to my house, kept on calling me sweetheart and touching me slightly and looking in a certain way at me. I of course got angry and told him to stop and call me by my name.
By now the late nights were over and he didn't help out in the cellar anymore. So I didn't have to see him that much anymore, now that was a Godsend.
We just say hello and walk past each other, and I'm happy with that.

First days of harvest

IT WAS INSANE !!!!! The first grapes we got in were Pinotage. We also took in white grapes. That first 2 weeks we did about 200 tons. My feet ached so much that by 11:00 I didn't want to walk anymore, and then we still had about 12 hours of work left. You only got about 5 hours sleep in at noght, 'cause you started work at 06:00. If you don't count the feet ache - I loved it.
The best time of day was when I sat outside my cottage and had that first cup of tea, looking at the sunrise and knowing the day still has to start...

The fisrt week when all our open fermentors were full, Cerina asked me to come do punch-downs with her at 23:00 one night. I went home at 20:00, got in bed and set my alarm. At 01:00 that night I flew out of bed, got dressed and ran for the cellar - hoping Cerina wasn't still there. I had set my alarm, but for 11:00. I flet like KAK.
The next morning I had preprared myself for an uitkaking van formaat. Cerina just gave me a snide remark. Later she told me she was sorry for being so mean. Apologies were exchanged and all was right with the world again.

First for the THIRST

Uiteindelik !!!!! The end of harvest. Things are just up in the air.
I just wanna use this first entry to recap some of my Harvest at Seidelberg.

The first day I got there I was so scared. The previous harvest all that, and I was mostly scared that I will disappoint people again or not get on with my co-workers. The American didn't show, he called and canceled 5 days b4 harvest started. So we were a little short-handed and that made things tight the first 2 weeks of harvest.
The people in the cellar I worked with were so nice/cool. The first time I met Jenny, boy.... Honestly, I thought she was a man. After some carefully staring I saw that she was in fact a girl and I quickly got rid of the thoughts in my head and said: "Hello." Now, the hello I got back almost made me change my mind about the sex of Jenny. It was hard and abrupt and I kinda felt violated. I knew that she was like the guys or even more than the guys she worked with, just to hold her ground. The guys were Jimmy, Jonathan, Jeremy and Jacques. I called them the J-team. The only people in the cellar, whose name didn't start with a J was me and Cerina's.