Day in the life of a winemaker

clare.yourguide: "Day in the life of a wine maker
by Sue Wurst
Thursday, 10 March 2005

The Clare Valley is in the midst of Vintage 2005, with winery employees working long and sometimes unusual hours in their quest to make the most of this year's fruit.

On the Wine Page in this week's Northern Argus, we take a look at a day in the life of Leasingham assistant winemaker Simon Cole, who kindly gave us some time to take care of the public relations side of the business.

Life for a Clare Valley winemaker during vintage is much like being in charge of a busy maternity hospital, with its 24 hour operation, seven days a week, nurturing a constant stream of new arrivals while at the same time caring for some older offspring.

But that's not all – winemakers also have to manage staff, handle equipment breakdowns while wining and dining the wine-buying public.

Leasingham assistant winemaker Simon Cole explains the range of work he carries out during a 12 hour shift.

For Simon; along with fellow Leasingham winemakers Kerri Thompson, Cynthia Semmens and Stephen Hall; the intense activity of vintage can last up to three months. After running on adrenaline for so long, he said he was exhausted and ready for a holiday but also looking forward to seeing the results of his hard work.

Here's a typical day in the life of a winemaker during vintage:

7am: Arrive at work half an hour early to catch up on what juice was delivered during the night and how all the different wines are progressing. Accept the handover of the day's program from the night shift and plan the day's activities. This changes every day because of the weather, ripeness of the fruit or the overall progress of vintage.

9am: After checking on the most recent tasting notes carried out during the previous shift, spends some time at the desk reading e-mails and do a bit of paperwork.

9.30am: Red grapes start arriving from the previous night's harvest, While they are being processed check analysis of wines and start testing wine in barrels. Have first taste of wine for the day – coming along beautifully, but spit it out to keep the palate fresh.

10.30am: Grab a quick cup of coffee to drink on the run before greeting about 40 wine wholesalers from the United States who are touring Constellation Wines (Leasingham's parent company) sites. Despite vintage pressures, public relations work is always an important aspect of the job because it keeps the company in the public's eye and is a chance to receive feedback on how the wines are selling. The group enjoys a tour of the winery, wine tasting and a meal.

11am: Check on the fermentation of white wines, discuss work program with staff and write up notes to keep the process moving along smoothly.

12.30pm-1pm: Grab some lunch, often at the desk to catch up with mail.

1pm-2pm: Check red wine ferments again, making decisions about how each wine is progressing to ensure wine can achieve its optimum flavour.

2pm-3pm: Liaise with staff regarding work to be carried out during the afternoon and address any outstanding testing to be done.

3pm-4pm: Report of a problem with one of the crushers. Inspect problem and alert maintenance staff who attend to repairs. Consider possible changes to schedule if crusher cannot be fixed quickly. After discussing alternatives with the vineyard manager, maintenance staff report problem fixed, so although a bit behind, everything is back on track. Thank goodness Leasingham has duplicates of most machines – crushers, barrel washers, effluent pumps so it's very unusual for things to grind to a halt.

4pm-5pm: Spend some time looking at the wine in barrels and making important decisions regarding winemaking process. Order a few fining trials and other tests. Feet starting to hurt- must have walked miles today.

5pm-6pm: Due to the absence of the senior winemaker, dash out to a vineyard to make a decision regarding tomorrow's harvest.(Great to be out in the vineyard again.) Fruit looks good so give the "okay" for tomorrow.

6pm-7.30pm: Do a final tour of red ferments, testing for progress as well as testing to see how the new juice is fermenting. (Looks great – can't wait to see this wine in the bottle.) Start to write up notes ready for handover.

7.30pm-8.30pm: Handover to the next shift – pass on all the relevant information about the state of play of the one million litres of juice and wine, 30-40 staff and millions of dollars worth of equipment that have been under my care during the past 12 hours.

8.30pm-9.00pm: A few more minutes back at the desk making sure that everything has been done ready for tomorrow. Home to a few hours sleep because tomorrow is going to be even busier.