2010
That is me I am referring to: The Almighty Temp Goddess
Tis my new name amongst the winemaking crew!
Why?
Because Fella & Josh, the two winemakers, could not be bothered looking after the batches of Tempranillo (Spanish grape varietal) we have in the cellar, and Jack is too busy with all the Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon to watch, so they have asked me to be the Temp Goddess and watch over these grapes during their important fermentation life cycle.
I saw right through their laziness and when they questioned me I said, “Is this just because you two are too lazy to do it? ….silence…I was right.
I don’t mind it though, it gives me a purpose first thing in the mornings when I arrive, to go off and check all the batches. There are two lots in Chep blue bins which have fermented right through already (because the Saturday when only the winemakers were in they neglected them and didn’t monitor their progress…not my fault), so it’s just cap-management on those. And then I have two 200L mini-rotofermenters, one which has whole-berries, the other with crushed berries. There are two milkvats, one with 10-15% Shiraz whole-bunch grapes in there, a Spa (open-fermenter), and finally, one undergoing carbonic maceration, or maceration carbonique as the French would say! It is where we have put whole bunches into a vessel and have it filled with CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas. We will crush the berries eventually once a spritzy taste is present in the grapes. Yummy stuff!
Eventually when the Nebbiolo comes in (a grape variety famous in the Piemonte region of Italy where I worked two years ago), I am hoping I will be in charge of that too. I’ve already proposed to them we work a trial at least with two small batches doing on in the old-style way, and one in the modern way, which I’m glad to say has been received positively!
Temp Goddess…so what’s next…The Nebb Guardian….?
La Donna del Vino 
Leave a Comment