Starting to bubble …

This has been one of the most stressful couple of weeks I have had at work in the last 11 years I have been there. It just seems like nothing is going my way, I can’t really go into it because of proprietary issues but I can say that I am struggling with some slow fermenters so its slowing supply on my end. I have been trying everything and nothing has worked until this morning, FINALLY things are starting to turn around.

The three things above are fermentation tubes, NOT bongs or water pipes or whatever the hell else you want to call them. You fill them with a fermenting wine, so the tube is filled with wine. As the wine ferments it produces CO2 which is captured in tube forcing the wine down into the bulb. Then you can measure the amount of CO2 produced to see the rate of fermentation and do a rough calculation on when the wine will be dry. All three of these wines have been sluggish but finally one of them started to ferment. The tube all the way on the right fermented to completion as you can see that the tube is empty of wine and full of CO2.

Anyway, enough of the science, things are starting to break and move forward. I am still stressed because things aren’t rolling yet but some of the pressure is moving off. I hate not being able to figure out why these problems happen. I go through and check everything I can possibly check and it all checks out but I am still not getting the results that I want. I know that it isn’t my fault, but because I am the winemaker it is ultimately my responsibility and hence my fault. I always worry that people will look at that and realize that maybe I’m not as smart as they think I am. I worry that people will see me as a fraud that has just fooled them for the last 11 years. I know that this is an irrational fear, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting just the same. I am so stressed that I can’t even keep my thoughts straight so I know that this is a boring post and that I am rambling but what the hell, right?

So, I hope the fermentation tubes above are a sign of things starting to turn around, but until then I am going to sit by the wood stove and enjoy a warm fire and a cold beer and try to forget about work for awhile.

Wish me luck!