Well, it’s that time of year again. Yes, yes, the leaves are changing. Yes, the days are getting shorter and the daily temperature has dropped so it’s wonderful to be outside again. But I’m not talking about that. It’s crush time! That glorious time of year when those wine grapes, vitis vinifera, as we wine geeks call them, are ready to be made into wine.

Last week, I was up in Evergreen Colorado helping Creekside Cellars make wine. Red wine. Specifically, we crushed Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Mourvedre, and a teeny tiny bit of Pinot Noir, a rare treat for Colorado vintners.

So, here’s how the day went: First, we had to clean the bins the crushed wine will be stored and fermented in. Not a glory job by any stretch, but certainly more pleasant than that guy on TV who volunteers (actually seeks out) to do dirty jobs. These bins had some dried grape residue from previous crushes and general outdoor dust and dirt, nothing more foul than that. Then we assembled the pump hoses. A simple task although a bit challenging at times as the hoses don’t necessarily want to bend in the direction we wanted them to. Last year I didn’t get the clamp on exactly right and we had a bit of a blow out as the grape juice was being pumped into the press. Fortunately, that happened at the end, so only a small amount of juice christened the winery floor… Once the hoses were attached and put in all the proper places, the crusher/destemmer was turned on – not as sexy as that might sound, I just had to flip a switch.

The grapes are slowly dumped into the destemmer while one person gently helps shovel them in as well. The destemmer is a stainless steel basin with a big corkscrew- like thing in it that rotates clockwise, pushing the grapes down a little shoot into a basket like thing that rotates counterclockwise. Magically, the stems come out one end of the machine while the grapes get gently crushed and pumped into a settling or fermentation bin (yes, the ones we cleaned earlier). The stems are shoveled into yet another bin that a local farmer uses as compost once all the season’s grapes are destemmed.

So, everything is running smoothly until I hear a frantic shout, “Shut it down!”. What happened was the bin was overflowing and bubbling down the sides of the bins and onto the floor, making a sticky pinkish red mess all over the place.

Let me back up. The juice that sits in the bins get a bit of dry ice placed on them to prevent immediate fermentation, to prevent bacterial growth and to allow the skins of the grapes to bleed all that lovely color into the juice to give wine that deep ruby red color that is so enticing (ok , now think sexy) in the glass. So, the dry ice causes the juice to bubble madly and of course, the ice is all smokey and foggy and spooky-like as it hovers over the juice. Which is fine when it’s in the bins. When it’s bubbling and gurgling all over the floor, not so pretty (nor sexy).

How could a thing like that happen, you ask? Well, four containers of petite Sirah fit in one bin so, naturally, we thought the same amount would fit of Malbec. Not the case. Much juicier. And as it turns out, the bins had more grapes in each of them than in the Petite Sirah.

Once all the grapes are processed, it’s time to clean. Again. Lots of cleaning. Wine making is not a completely sterile process, but the cleaner the equipment is, the cleaner and fresher the wine tastes. So, no major crises at the winery, just a few blunders only one of which I’ve shared with you today.

Debbie Gray, CSW is Wine Instructor at Cook Street.  For years, she has helped Denver’s most exclusive restaurants and venues create wine programs and train their staffs in wine service and the basics of wine education. She is well recognized and respected for her knowledge, palate, and infectious enthusiasm for every aspect of wine.