Cellar Rat
Confessions of a (new) Cellar Rat (by Steve Egan)
I've always enjoyed wine and working in a retail wine store was a dream come true. But after 14 years of dealing with the public every day it was time for a change. An opportunity arose in the winery to work as a cellar hand. I thought "l could do that; how hard could it be to move a few barrels around and make some wine?"
I started just before vintage, which gave me a chance to get the hang of the winery and all its paraphernalia (hoses, clamps, tanks, barrels, pumps etc ...) It was certainly a steep learning curve. It was like no other work that l have ever done before and, l admit, just a little daunting.
Very soon the grapes started arriving and, like any winery at this time, we had to get stuck in and "make some wine". As different varieties ripen at different times there were different batches spread around the winery at any given moment. Some were in large quantities, others so small that they fit into a plastic open vat that your arms could fit around. Soon there were many vats of varying sizes squeezed into and around the winery, all with bubbling brews in them. It was about this time that l had my "baptism" (or perhaps 'initiation' might be a better word) in the wine making game.
The red grapes are only partially crushed, just enough to break the skin. They are then pumped into a open fermenting vat, yeast added, and left to ferment. At a certain point they have to be pumped out to the press to extract all the liquid and leave the solids behind. It was at this point that Scott asked me, quite casually l thought, to "just take my pants off and jump into the vat so as to vacuum up the grapes to go out to the press."
Two or three seconds went past before l laughed and said "good joke mate, isn't that the way it was done centuries ago?" He said "no, l really need you to get in there and do this. It's the easiest way".
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Sure l thought, get the new guy to make a complete dork out of himself in his undies in a large vat of very, very red fermented juice. We'll all have a good laugh and l will be the but (no pun intended) of everyone's jokes for a few days. But he was serious, and it is the easiest way to do it. It became my job to do this practically every second day. Go to work, take my pants off, get into a vat of wine, simple.
Maybe it was my imagination but it seemed that, after all that time immersed amongst the skins and seeds and juice, my skin became smoother and softer and more supple. (A good tip there for the ladies!)
When friends and family asked me about my new job l would tell them "It's the only job l have ever had where l get to drink wine and take my pants off!"
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