Winemaking is risky business. During our first two years in Corvallis, while Dave began the enology & viticulture program at Oregon State University, I worked in occupational medicine diagnosing and treating on the job injuries. So, it’s no wonder that the first time I toured a large wine production facility with Dave, the first things that caught my eye were the material safety data sheets (MSDS) and major work related hazards.

Winemakers, cellar workers, and harvest interns are asked to perform a multitude of tasks, much of which come with its risks. Check out this list of common tasks in the cellar and their dangers:

• Cellar and equipment sanitation – The use of chemicals like caustic require strict use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Caustic soda is sodium hydroxide and is extremely corrosive, can cause severe burns, and eye damage.

• Fermentation monitoring – The gas byproduct of fermentation is carbon dioxide. Workers are exposed to confined spaces with low oxygen and high carbon dioxide levels which can be deadly. Five years ago, during his first harvest, Dave remembers feeling lightheaded digging out a tank after fermentation – someone failed to mention the dangerously high CO2 content to the rookie.

• Grape sorting and processing – standing for LONG periods of time in the same position.

• Performing punch downs or pump overs – Dave probably will be embarrassed reading this, but I remember on his first day volunteering at Temecula Valley Winery Management Company, he lost his car keys while performing his first punch downs. Luckily, the next day, he found his keys gently resting on the cap of a tank.

• Barrel filling, topping, stirring, racking – Barrels are heavy! Be sure to wear your back brace for support.

• Pulling samples for analysis – Barrels are stacked four or five or even six high. There’s a risk for falls, so watch out. It’s true, Dave will often think of escape plans if an earthquake were to hit while pulling samples.

• High pressure steam machine operation – high heat and pressure. Once, Dave forgot to release pressure on a compressed airline and a metal part smacked him in the face (see facial wound above). Luckily, it wasn’t at his eye!

• Forklift operation – watch out!

• Dental erosions – Wine is acidic and tasting wine daily will lead to dental erosion. True story: one of Dave’s molars shattered just biting into a pastry. The dentist thought he might have acid reflux because he had no enamel. No reflux, just wine.

• Repetitive strain injuries – Dave’s ankle had started acting up last weekend and he had to come home and rest for a couple days – looked like insertional tendonitis of the Achille’s tendon, probably from the long hours on his feet.

• Viticulture workers are at risk for injuries of the hands and wrists from pruning and exposure to pesticides, insect pests, and allergic diseases from exposure to the elements.

Like any job, winemaking has it’s risks but overall it’s a pretty incredible job to have. A refreshing beer after a long day of winemaking (because who wants to drink wine after tasting and working with wine all day) and ibuprofen may be your best friends during the harvest.

We find that many of our go to spicy, savory dishes pair well with Oregon whites, particularly rosé or sparkling wine.

Here’s a nifty site from Oregonwines.com that picks a wine to go with your meal. You can select the type of dish, type of cuisine and/or the type of wine you desire.

At our home, we often do a play on stir fry to get a quick veggie and Asian cuisine fix. This one is a stir-fried udon dish using whatever colorful veggies and protein I had on hand tonight. Our daughters love dumplings and noodles. Why not put them together?

Ingredients:

10 frozen cooked dumplings

18 oz frozen Japanese udon noodles

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp gochugaru (Korean red pepper powder)

1 tsp of minced garlic (2 cloves)

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced

1/2 zucchini, diced

1/2 carrot, diced (I used 5 baby carrots)

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

2 king oyster mushrooms, diced (can use regular white mushrooms)

3 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup chopped chinese chives (optional)

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

Dried bonito shavings (optional for garnish)

Step 1: Prep your veggies 

We do so much Asian cooking that we always have minced garlic in a little container in the fridge.

Step 2: Prepare noodles and dumplings

When boiling, add cooked dumplings and boil for 2 minutes. Add frozen udon noodles directly to the boiling water and dumplings and boil for another 2 minutes. Strain the dumplings and noodles.

Step 3: Stir fry veggies

Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat vegetable oil on medium high heat. Add minced garlic, onion, and gochugaru for 30 seconds. Add vegetables and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until veggies are slightly wilted. Add oyster sauce and soy sauce and mix.

Step 4: Serve

Then add noodles and dumplings and stir-fry until noodles are well coated. Transfer to a plate and garnish with dried bonito shavings.

Dave’s pairing picks:

Stoller Family Estate’s Pinot Noir Rose  or Argyle Vintage Brut

Dave also had an Asian dish tonight over at the Stoller intern house. He had this yogurt curry marinated chicken that I had marinated ahead of time and froze for him to take with him. He cooked it in the pan with some veggies and his fellow cellar interns made the sides. They chose to pair the curry chicken with reds from the Rhone valley.

This marks my first season of being a harvest widow. Three years ago, when we left California for Dave to start his enology studies at Oregon State University, I never really processed what it would mean for me to be married to a winemaker and to be living away from any extended family. I had never heard the term “harvest widow” until Dave referred to winemaker wives as such.

The hours during harvest in the wine industry are grueling to say the least. When the grapes are ready to harvest, this signals the start of 10-12 hour work days with maybe one day off a week. This is Dave’s fourth harvest experience, but his first living apart from his pregnant wife and two children. His first two were in Temecula, last year was at Benton Lane Winery in Monroe as a cellar intern, and this year as a vineyard and cellar intern living at Stoller Family Estate in Dundee Hills.

This article called “Living Grunt Life” from Sonoma Magazine put it best:

“Meet the warm body otherwise known as the Harvest Intern: That wide-eyed, gullible lackey enslaved by dreams of one day becoming a winemaker, supported by a measly $15 an hour and somehow still alive come November.”

If your spouse is looking to enter the wine industry, heed these warnings:

1. From August to November, consider your spouse MIA.
2. Look forward to delaying any birthday or anniversary celebrations.
3. If you have kids, you are on your own figuring out rides and finding childcare for sick days.

Personally, for our family, this means our wedding anniversary will always fall during the harvest. It also means he won’t be around for the start of the school year and pretty much unavailable until Thanksgiving. As a mom and nurse practitioner, I also know what that means during the flu season. I will be scrambling for childcare when the kids are sick.

All of this is really hitting home this year, since he’s living away from us and I honestly don’t know when I will see him next. A nice rite of passage!

Of course, there are many perks as well:

1. An unlimited supply of wine
2. A kickass end of harvest party 
3. A promised family vacation at the end of harvest (I’m holding you to this one, Dave)

There is an incredible energy associated with harvest. I can see it in his face waiting for the text message that the first grapes of the season, Chardonnay, are being harvested. The grueling hours make for a close-knit winemaking team and anticipation of the vintage being bottled. All the blood, sweat, and tears poured into the vineyard are reaped into a bottle. This is the first year that his hands have touched the grapes pre and post-bottling, working in both the vineyard and cellar.

Cheers to the 2017 vintage, cheers to the harvest teams, and cheers to all you harvest widows! I like to think we play a large role as well in making these vintages happen.