Chronicles Of A Deerfield Cellar Rat

The reference in the article title to the crew is what you were thinking it is. The cast probably isn't. I broke my hand last Thursday falling off of my bicycle. Nothing glamorous - just a random accident. A pear was involved. I flew headfirst over the handle bars and managed to catch myself before my head hit the pavement. I saved my skull but I fractured the fifth metacarpal on my left hand. In case you're not sure where you might find a metacarpal, here's a picture:

So I went to the doctor and he put a large misshapen cast on my hand. Nowadays you can get a cast in the color of your choosing. When I mentioned I worked at a winery, the nurse told me that the color selection included Cabernet. I must be in Wine Country. They were able to leave three fingers sticking out of the cast, so now I've been reduced to one hand and one wine tinted claw. It's going to take at least four weeks to heal so I'll pretty much be a crippled rat for all of September. One problem is that I can't get my cast wet and, as you know by now, being drenched comes with the territory. So my dear mother found a solution: A latex arm-length mitten that vacuum seals onto your skin. It's like the Chiller - effective but ugly. The goofy thing is bright blue and when I wear it it looks like I ran into Dr. Frankenstein and he took it upon himself to replace my arm with that of a Smurf's (an obese Smurf that underwent a botched liposuction).

I could tell you how disspointed I am or how difficult it's going to be. But I'm not going to do that. I'm going to keep on working and do as much as I possibly can with a smile on my face. When I showed my cast to Robert he gruffly told me to pick up a bottle with my hurt hand. I picked it up with my claw hastily. "See," he said, "You'll be fine."

I'm not going to dwell on it. I'm just going to move on and eventually things will be back to normal. So let's do just that.

It occurred to me that what really makes the winery experience fun has a lot to do with the people you work with and insofar I haven't really provided you, the reader, with a sense of what the crew is like. They're all hard workers but they're also a bunch of characters. Right now my fingers feel like dumb bells and I need to get some rest, but tomorrow I'm going to break it down and describe everybody's stories and their idiosyncrasies. Stay tuned!

Update on Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 9:52AM by

The Cellar Rat

Let me introduce you to the people that make Deerfield Ranch Winery run. These hard working people work together as a team to transform a mountain of grapes into an ocean of wine.

You've already met the star of the show. I've talked about Robert in other stories so you probably have a sense of who he is. But if you're a new reader, I'll tell you a little about the winemaker. He's incredibly knowlegeable and skilled in everything that relates to the craft of winemaking. He's surly and quick to smile, a wide sardonic grin framed by his handlebar mustache. He is constantly in motion. He never gets angry when people make mistakes, he just teaches them how to do things correctly. He is laid back, and that is amazing considering the stress of the harvest.

Robert's right hand man is actually a woman. Cecilia, the assistant winemaker, is a very wonderful, very short, and currently very pregnant Argentinian. She has an accent that makes her speech sound lyrical. She is pragmatic, organized, cautious and devoted absolutely to the process of making world class wine. I don't know if it's due to her pregnancy, but she is very maternal and always makes sure the crew is treated well. She's straightforward but not curt, and she is always kind. She's my boss and I am thrilled.

Amanda is our labratory technician. She can be seen walking to and fro with a beaker in her hands, conducting a variety of tests on the wines. She is smart and beautiful, and she narrowly avoids the aloofness that people of a high intelligence sometimes possess. She is a bit of a loner, I think, and her work suits her, but she's also always happy to jump on the bottling line or the sorting table. She cares deeply about Deerfield's wine and is a skilled attendant to the proccess.

The following people are part of my Cellar Rat pack:

Aron is the team leader. He has almost ten years experience as a Cellar Rat and he knows how to do his job. His English isn't perfect but he can appreciate a joke in any language. He loves to laugh but when it's time to work you better get serious or else Aron will give you a tongue lashing. When Cecilia isn't around, he's the man.

Cruz is another player for Team Mexico and also experienced in the trade. His offbeat sense of humour makes everything more fun. I started calling him "Dino" because of his penchant for sneaking up behind me and making a sound that's close to the creatures in Jurassic Park. He's very curious and calm. He and I have become good friends.

Manuel has the best english of our biligual staff, which is a good thing because he likes to teach. He always takes the time to break things down and show less experienced people the ropes. He has made his own wine in the past and while he sometimes has a different idea of the way things should be done, he is very knowlegeable about the science of winemaking. He also comes to work wearing nice dress shirts and at the end of the day, when I'm filthy from head to toe, Manuel inexplicably doesn't have a spot of wine on him.

Ryan is one of the new guys and already a fast friend. He is a true Texan that has fallen in love with California's Wine Country and decided to leave his home to follow his heart. He was a wine distributor in the Dallas area and I think he has a better knowlege of wine than the rest of the Rat Pack. This is his first harvest so he's putting all of the theory into practice and realizing how much you can't find in a book. His true passion for wine shows whenever he talks about it with his characteristic southern drawl. To his chagrin, I've taken to calling him "Tex" but he's a good sport about it.

Salvador is a Mexican American from Phoenix who speaks fluent Spanish. That has allowed him to become very effective because Aron is the one who knows what's going on and he communicates much better in his native tongue. Salvador has made wine at home in the past and loves learning how it's done right and being a part of the process. He's cerebral and observant with a sense of humour that defies description. He's eager to learn and slow to judge but most of all he's complex. It'll be fun getting to know him better.

One of the most interesting additions to the crew would have to be Marianna. She is a Bulgarian woman who speaks very little English and seems to have been transported in time and space from the Old World. She likes to be involved and do things herself. More than once she's snatched something out of my hands so that she could do it. She's never idle. Salvador works with her and takes pleasure in trying to learn the Bulgar's language.

Dean just started this past week and I don't really know him well yet. He seems like a very friendly and laid back kid with a real Santa Cruz air to him.

So maybe now you have a better picture of daily life at the winery and you'll be able to follow the adventure's of not just me but my fellow Rats. Will Salvador even learn Bulgarian? Will Ryan's romance with California culture continue? Will Manuel ever get his shirt dirty??? Find out next time on DeerfieldCellarRat.com