More fun than a barrel of something

For the past four weeks, my services have been appropriated from the vineyard, and I've been working in the winery. My official job title is Cellar Hand, but I'm more affectionately known as the Barrel Monkey. Basically I have taken the barrels from storage, washed the barrels, stacked the barrels to dry, re-stacked the barrels in the cellar to be filled, and finally filled the barrels with the 09 Pinot. Did I mention that each empty barrel weighs about 50kgs? That's 110lbs. I thought repeatedly lifting 10kg bins of grapes was a workout. That was until I had to create stacks of barrels three high! My first day maneuvering the barrels was quite reminiscent of my first day ever at the vineyard--some three months ago--in that when I got home it took a considerable amount of will just to summon up the energy to take a shower. And I was in far better shape after harvest than I was when I first got here. There's no possible way I could've done the Barrel Monkey job right off the street. I wouldn't have had nearly the strength or stamina required. But it seems that every job I've had here at Rippon has had the effect of preparing my body for the next, more physically demanding one. Pulling out the nets was hard, but it got me in shape for the Monitor job during harvest. Being the Monitor was harder, but it got me in shape for the Barrel Monkey job. The Barrel Monkey job was harder still, but now I'm ready for just about any physical challenge my Employers could possibly dream of throwing my way.

Because, you see, I'm now, without question, in the best physical shape of my life. I tipped the scales this morning at 180lbs--some 30lbs lighter than I was at the beginning of March, and some 45lbs lighter than my all-time high of 225 back in early 2008! I haven't seen the scale south of 190 since my freshman year in college. Oh, and muscles. Holy crap, I've found muscles I never knew I had. Anybody wanna arm wrestle?

I think 2009 will ultimately see Rippon Vineyards produce a good Pinot Noir, but we'll have to wait 18 months to find out. What is already apparent, however, is that (at least in my opinion) they're responsible for the best vintage of Steven Bearden to date!

Cheers!