she calls home to say good morning to the boys. Then, a quick stop at Bob’s Well Bread for an english muffin and flat white. Bob is waiting at the counter, a beautiful copper Salvatore espresso machine sits to his left. What is your goal as a winemaker? “I never stop striving for balance. In the industry it’s expected and accepted that harvest is the time of year where everything just spins out of control and you barely make it out alive. Yes, it’s absolute madness, but I am always consciously trying to be in control. I set the quality of the wine as priority but in order for me to make the best wine, I have to be in the best mental and physical state possible. I remember to stop and breathe. I spend time with my family. I try to squeeze in a reiki massage with crystal chakra balancing once a week. And when it’s over and the wine is safe and stable, I go visit Esalen in Big Sur to regenerate.”
highway headed from Los Alamos to Folded Hills with Salmonella Dub, a reggae band from New Zealand, pulsing through the speakers. 5:17 a.m. Headlamps and fluorescent vests dot the hillside. The crew started picking a few hours ago. First task is to find Mario, the crew supervisor, and check in. She learns the yields are two times what the vineyard crew had anticipated. She pulls out her phone, does some quick calculations and her eyes widen as she learns how many extra bottles of Lilly Rose she will be making this year. She heads to the nearest tractor and stands on the back of a plastic grape bin. As the crew dumps in buckets of Grenache grapes over her head, she pulls out leaves and any grape clusters that look unworthy. The sun starts to come up. Why wake up to come pull out grape leaves for three hours? “I don’t feel the need to be checking up on anyone, but I do feel the need to be present and profusely thank everyone. These men and women work so incredibly hard. If I tried to pick alongside them, I would just get in the way. Even without my pregnant belly, they would be doing circles around me. This way I can see everyone and say good morning, and say thank you, and see how the fruit is looking.” 6:42 a.m. The crew sits down for coffee and breakfast burritos just as the sun is cresting the hills. All of the fruit for today is picked and now sits in 14 bins at the bottom of the hill. It’s critical that the fruit gets to the winery while the temperatures are still cool. She sends a text message to the winery of the total weight of each grape bin so they can prepare the appropriate tanks and be ready for the delivery. 8:37 a.m. The truck arrives at the vineyard and each bin is forklifted onto the flatbed trailer. Angela goes ahead en route to the winery. On the way 36 | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
9:20 a.m. She finishes the last bite of english muffin and arrives at the winery. The entire lot of grapes are slotted for rosé. Four tons of grapes are loaded into a huge cylindrical press. Inside the press, a plastic balloon fills with air and gently presses the grapes against the inside screen. The press has been set to inflate slowly over two hours, and Angela tries the juice periodically. Once the flavors turn bitter from the skin extraction, she will stop the press and no more juice will be extracted. She holds up a wine glass that she’s filled with fresh grape juice dripping from the press. “This is called direct to press rosé, or what I like to call intentional rosé. My palate has taken a few side-steps with the babes, and lately I am loving acidic flavors more than sweet so I’ll have someone else taste this too.” The juice is added to a large stainless steel tank chilled to 50F. She repeats the process with the press three more times. In between presses she is checking and responding to emails. She signs off to buy barrel racks. She is trying to organize a sales trip to San Francisco in two weeks. She calls Ruben to talk about the harvest, and together they plan out more details over the next few weeks. 3:12 p.m. Angela has collected three juice samples and leaves to take them to a lab in Santa Maria. On the way she stops at Lassens for an avocado sandwich on sourdough. As she waits for it to be made, she checks her phone and responds to more emails. 4:14 p.m. Angela calls her husband to see if he can pick up the kids because her trip to Santa Maria is taking way longer than expected. Then, she calls to cancel and reschedule her reiki massage appointment set for tomorrow morning. She heads back to the winery as the last press is finishing. The three lots of grapes and all of the juice has made it safely into the chilled steel tank. 7:30 p.m. She arrives home. Her husband is getting the boys ready for bed. She reads her toddler and one-year-old a story, waits for them to fall asleep and opens her laptop. She responds to emails until 11:12 p.m. when she falls asleep.