Small-Town State of Mind

I spent my formative years in a small town. And frankly? I fucking hated it. Maine winters, mosquito-ridden summers, stagnant grumpy old farts that had never seen the state border... it was my personal hell. And the second I could wrangle it? I took off running for Atlanta.  Which really makes my newfound adoration for Cloverdale, CA, really weird for me.

As far as small towns go, Cloverdale is on the medium-dinky side. The majority of the businesses can be found on Cloverdale Blvd, and they only have two coffee shops- Starbucks and a local place named Plank. I,  by virtue of little gas and less gas money, managed to get stuck here for the past 3 days after my internship.  And I can honestly say, despite my initial panic, this is easily the best thing that could have happened. My faith in strangers was renewed when an exceptionally kind barista took me in and let me crash at his place these past few nights. I was forced to take a break and stop "making it happen!", which I have been doing my whole life. I finally gave myself some closure on some past flings. It's been great. Instead of forcing my agenda on life, I let it have it's way with me for a few days, and I have never been so relaxed. It's even rubbing off on my dog! I have never seen Clooney so well-behaved as he has been here. He adores this place.

I really don't know where I will end up in the next week or so. I have a lot of opportunities opening up.  But honestly?  If I continue to be stuck here? I don't think I'd mind too much. Responsibly irresponsible has been a great state of being! And, dude- I got to play in the Russian River! How awesome is that??

Putting a Little Age On It

So I've been lucky enough to play tourist the past day and a half! My job at this first winery is winding down, so I got some time off to check out some tasting rooms and explore the Sonoma Coast and parts of Napa. I hit 7 different tasting rooms and wineries- Rosenblum, Portalupi, J, A. Rafanelli, Gustafson, Chateau Montelena, and Medlock Ames. It. Was. A. Blast! I got to see so much of wine country,  and meet some really cool people. My favorite wines so far have come from Gustafson.  Their vineyard is located just down the mountain from where I'm working now, and their tasting room was across the street from my new favorite seafood joint in Healdsburg. They had an incredible late harvest zinfandel that was just pruney, raisiny, and rich.

Seeing Chateau Montelena was pretty amazing, too. Half the reason I tried getting a wine internship is because I am in love with the movie 'Bottleshock', and their wines did not disappoint. I was, however, caught off guard by how much better their reds were than their whites. The cabernets they were showing had this excellent richness of character that's only going to improve with age.

Thanks to my new favorite phrase ("industry discount"), I have accidentally started a wine cellar for myself. The girl who previously could barely keep a 12pack of beer in her fridge is now the proud owner of 16 bottles of wine. I am intending on giving some away, but I am still hanging on to a majority. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I love the idea of having wine on hand, but I'm not going to have time to drink any of it until maaaaaaybe November. And by hen, I'll probably have more collected. It's strange to consider. A mere month ago, I was reticent to spend even $20 on a bottle. Now that I'm in the thick of things, I almost want to take out an insurance policy on what I've accrued thus far- and I wouldn't even call this an impressive start, based on what I saw other guests buying.
Though I ought to cut myself some slack- I may be the youngest adult for 100+ miles. Everyone else I've seen around has at the very least a decade on me, if not a solid 30 years. I've been ok with that,  I usually run with a more mature crowd, but it does make me feel a bit more disconnected from everything. And not having anyone to flirt with? I've never felt more like a nun. Lord. :p

Rambling Woman

I have had wanderlust as long as I can remember. This trip has really been a great way to scratch the itch! And it occurred to me that, being young and reckless, I don't really have to have it end just yet. I want to stay in California, for sure, but I don't want to commit to an apartment quite yet. Not until I have a secure job, you know? And even then, I want time to kind of ease in, test the waters, save some money...

So I'm buying a conversion van.

The first vehicle I have owned in years, this van is going to be the ultimate symbol of this year for me, and the freedom and adventure I've been searching for forever. It's a 1990 Dodge Ram van 2500, in shockingly good condition. And it is going to effectively be home for me for at least a month or more, while I get the whole "responsible adult" thing figured out. I'm honestly pretty excited about it. I want to hang on the coast? Done. Feel like taking a mountain getaway? Home's where I hit my E brake! It'll be an adjustment,  for sure, but I'd rather just pay for gas and insurance than overpriced rents until I can afford it. I am going to try to convert it into as much of an rv as possible, to make life a bit easier, but otherwise I'm just going to take things by ear and make it work. It's Adventure Time, bitches!

Along this same wanderlust craving, I seem to have hooked myself a follow-up internship to this current one. It'll take me from the Sonoma Coast to the Napa Valley. It is a fantastic opportunity, and I am supremely grateful,  but at the same time, I am finding this hilarious. The time I am putting in at these wineries is very reminiscent of my days in culinary school, where I had no plans or desire to follow the career path- I distinctly remember my classmates asking why I was wasting my and everyone else's time. I have an idea of why I'm doing this now- and it's certainly not for any decent reasoning.  But ultimately? All I want is to have fun. This life path is just full of nonsense, hilarity, and a healthy dose of spite. This seems to be covering my bases for now.

Wonder Woman

For the first time in over a week, I didn't have to be awake at the ass-crack of dawn to lug tons and tons (literally) of grapes. I got to... **gasp!** ...sleep in! It's an exciting prospect for me.

This vineyard has been such a...strange turning point for my life. All positive experiences, for sure, but it has really made me stop and reexamine so much about everything I've done up to this point. The weirdest bit has been the fact that, every step I take in this vineyard, or in the quaint little towns nearby, are all so very very reminiscent of times and places I thought I had left behind long ago. It's like, I know I'm in northern California. But I drive to Healdsburg to shop, and I'm back in Brunswick, ME. I walk in the cabins up in the vineyards and I'm revisiting Asheville, TN, during Thanksgiving 2012. I drive the roads up the mountain and I'm back in the north Georgia mountains, just back in July. It's so bittersweet. All of those beautiful memories,  but they feel like they are cluttering the way for the newer, amazing memories I'm creating now. Especially as I have been turning into the woman I've been wanting to be ever since I got here.

I've been told for a while that I am a strong,  independent young woman. Which was fine and dandy. But I'm only now feeling like I've got a backbone. When I got to California,  I swore I was done being what I saw as a weak woman. And I've been kicking ass at it. I've negotiated a higher pay rate for myself at the winery, and when interviewing for jobs, I maintained a "take - no - prisoners" attitude, both for my job title and desired pay rate. And it's been paying off in spades. It's like, the knowledge that I don't have a reputation here has made me fearless. It's what I've been needing.  It has also made me take a good, hard look at what I'm doing,  though, and what makes me happy.  I have a very good idea of it now. It was a smidge surprising,  but ultimately I am sure it will work out in the end.

Beso, caro~ ♥

Reflections on the Farm

Oh I was so right. Since my arrival, I have been aching continuously. Now, in some respects everything is getting easier. But once the muscle fatigue faded, shin splints and weak shitty ankles kicked in. It's not so bad, though. I'll be able to benchpress a horse in a couple of weeks thanks to this grape-hauling nonsense!

I can't get over how amazing this place is. The mountains,  beyond just mind-blowingly gorgeous, are so... full. I have never seen so much wild life! There is a plethora of apple and pear trees here on the vineyard, scattered across the property, and blackberries run rampant next to the cabin. Which is also painfully rustic and adorable and far more functional than 90% of the apartments I've lived in. Then there's the animals- deer are EVERYWHERE. I even saw feral domestic pigs! Apparently a farmer lost his pigs a couple decades back and they now just roam. Rabbits, fox, quail- I have never hunted before in my life, and I have never wanted to more than I do up here.
Going into town is fun, too. The roads are all old graded logging roads, and they twist and curve around the mountains and Lake Sonoma, giving you incredible views from every angle. And once you become familiar enough with the roads to actually do the speed limit, the drive makes you feel like you're in one if those picturesque car commercials.

I really haven't been doing much wine making, just picking and cheffing, and I'm pretty ok with that. I get a great workout, both in body and in culinary chops I haven't done in a while. And for the most appreciative people! Apparently the biggest difference between east coast and west coast cooking is that east coasters are more concerned with it being a competition between restaurants,  and here people are just happy to eat. It's a great feeling!

Forays into Viticulture

Ever felt like you've gotten into a dick-punching contest with Murphy's Law? That could very easily sum up my trip thus far. Getting out to California became the single most aggravating task I have ever brought upon myself. Long driving hours, heartbreak, desert, storms, sunburns, broken promises- you name it, it happened. However, I am lucky enough to have a handful of the most supportive, caring, sympathetic friends a girl could ever ask for- they helped me back up when I was sobbing in a shitty motel on I-5, and I will never forget that.

As it stands, there is extremely limited time and access to the Internet in order to post everything.  So, posts are going to wind up being clustered together and dated, like so...

9/5, late-night

I finally made it to the vineyard! Drove into the winery about 10pm, met some of the crew, and immediately got put to work sorting grapes. It was a great change of pace from driving all day! What we were doing was examining grapes that had picked earlier that day and were on the conveyor belt headed to a machine that destemmed and filtered out grapes that were too small. It was up to human intervention to filter out leaves, unripe or rotten grapes, and raisins. I felt a bit like Lucy Ricardo on 'I Love Lucy' sorting bon bons. I tried a couple grapes, and they were incredible- sweet and softly  supple. They were pinot noir, the specialty of this vineyard.
Heading to the vineyard itself, where I am staying,  is about an hour and a half away from the winery and up a mountain. Because of my laaaaate arrival, I couldn't really see any of the drive up- just enough to realize that the dividing lines are just guidelines up here instead of steadfast law. :)

9/6

Day one! We woke up at 5:30 am to begin picking. During the harvest,  I was given the job of runner- while the regular workers picked, I'd go around and exchange full bins for empty ones. I knew I was going to be hurting later 2min into the job- full bins weigh 45-50lbs each! We spent a solid two, two and a half hours picking in the early morning fog. Grapes are best picked in the early morning before the sun hits- it helps preserve the flavors in the skins.
After picking, we returned to the winery. Here, I parted to start the second half of my job here- as chef! I headed to the next town over, Healdsburg,  to begin shopping for dinner supplies for the next few days.  I was also given the best news any chef can get: "You have an unlimited food budget. Feed us, and feed us well." The freedom that allows me? Incredible! I tore through the store with abandon, picking up fresh butchered meats and screamingly in season produce. I had decided to make the first night's dinner a taco night, to ease into things a bit and guage how my cooking would be recieved.
Taco night turned out well enough, I mistimed a few things and had to improvise a bit; but meeting everyone was a lot of fun and I got to witness a cool wine aficionado game they play every night- Guess the Wine. We do a blind tasting of two bottles, one white and one red, and we try to guess the grape varietal, the area of origin, the vintage, and the producer. It is a reallt educational experience!
We returned to the winery late that night to catch a few z's before returning to the fields early the next morning.  I remember hitting the sack and having some of the sweetest dreams I've had in years. This is easily one of the best decisions I've ever made.