Traveling through 70's wine

Chapter 269 Napa

Wen Qing's job is to pick grapes and arrange grape branches. She also has the opportunity to participate in winemaking. Most parts of this winery use mechanized grape picking, but some plots of land and some varieties are not suitable for mechanical picking and still have to be done manually.

After a year of growth, the grape vines are a little tired by the autumn, so after the grapes are picked, they need to be pruned and trimmed to prepare for winter. The soil in the vineyard also needs to be tested and analyzed and supplemented with corresponding nutrients.

Wen Qing followed the winery's technician Mr. Nelson, doing one thing after another, caring for the grape saplings, striving to get them a good rest before the coming spring, so that they could sprout strong new branches and harvest better grapes next year.

Mr. Nelson, the winery's technician, was a big guy. While pruning and sampling, he said to Wen Qing, "Wen, the Cabernet Sauvignon in Europe was destroyed by grape root nodule bacteria, so we must be vigilant against grape root nodule bacteria. In addition, soil nematodes can also threaten the growth of grapes."

Wen Qing asked, "Is there any medicine to prevent these diseases and pests? Can I use pesticides?"

Nelson shook his head. “We can’t use chemicals. Otherwise, it will affect the quality of the wine. You know, we can only treat the grapevines in a more delicate way.”

"Mr. Nelson, I heard that Cabernet Sauvignon likes gravel soil, which is relatively poor. How do we fertilize it?"

"Gravel soil is not necessarily infertile. For gravel soil that needs fertilization, I usually apply organic fertilizer five times a year to ensure sufficient fertility."

The weather in California is warm, but Cabernet Sauvignon is not cold-resistant and still needs to be protected from frostbite. Wen Qing learned a lot about growing grapevines from Nelson and found that growing good grapes is not easy.

Wineries in the United States have begun to use mechanization and automation in winemaking, but necessary human intervention is still needed. Wen Qing works as a temporary worker in the winery and is a grassroots worker. Like other workers, he has to do everything.

They work together to select the grape stems and bad grapes from the mechanically picked grapes. After washing the grapes, they pour them into a crusher, press them into grape juice, and then pour them into a stainless steel fermentation tank and add fruit wine yeast for fermentation.

The fruit wine yeast of each winery is a core secret. Wen Qing watched the winemaker put the crushed fruit wine yeast into the fermentation tank and began to stir it with a wooden stick. She was very confused, why not use a stirrer? She asked Nelson, and he just said that using a wooden stick to stir can better maintain the vitality of the yeast.

After the first three or four days of fermentation, workers will open the lid of the fermentation tank every day, press the floating grape skins and dregs back down, mix them with the grape juice, and further extract the color and tannins of the grapes.

Wen Qing paid close attention while working, learning the wine-making process and also learning to identify the different flavors of wine.

The wines from the United States belong to the New World wines. They are more particular about highlighting the fruity style of the grapes themselves, allowing drinkers to immediately feel the flavor of the wine. In the winemaking process, winemakers will adopt a variety of techniques to maintain a relatively rich red wine flavor by matching different varieties of wine, instead of eliminating all mechanized operations like the Old World and adopting traditional winemaking methods. Any breakthrough may result in punishment.

During the Spring Festival, the winery held a party for her, and Wen Qing brought Shanshan to attend.

Shirley, the winery's cook, made roast chicken, roast steak, French beef stew, apple pie, cream puffs, and ravioli. She said to Wen Qing apologetically, "Wen, I heard that Chinese people eat dumplings during festivals. Do you think this is the kind? Alas, I only know how to make this."

Wen Qing hugged her gently and said, "Thank you, Shirley, your cooking skills are very good and the dumplings are delicious."

Pointing at Shanshan in the stroller, she said, "Shirley, this is my son Shanshan." She squatted down, took Shanshan's hand, and said, "Baby, this is Aunt Shirley."

Shanshan was only 5 months old at that time. He clapped his hands and greeted Shirley by babbling, which made Shirley laugh. "Baby, Aunt Shirley has made something delicious for you." She made a bowl of mashed potatoes with milk for Shanshan. Shanshan had been eating complementary foods for a while and had no problem eating mashed potatoes.

Wen Qing pushed her child to greet everyone. Those who attended the dinner were the owner and workers of the winery. This was also the winery owners, Mr. and Mrs. Harris,'s way of thanking everyone after completing the winemaking. Wen Qing brought a Chinese knot she had woven as a New Year gift to everyone. Mrs. Harris was very surprised to see the exquisite knot and kept asking Wen Qing to explain its meaning to her.

Wen Qing couldn't really explain it, she just said in simple English: "Chinese knots are made by winding many threads together, which means the close relationship between family and friends."

Mr. Nelson expressed his Spring Festival blessings to Wen Qing, and said "Gong Xi Fa Cai" in out-of-tune Chinese, which made everyone happy. Wen Qing demonstrated how to cut out the characters for "Fu" and "Xi" with scissors, and gave everyone a big red paper-cut. Everyone had a great time throughout the dinner, and they spent a very warm and lively Spring Festival together.

Before the Spring Festival, Wen Qing gave Xiao Mingyi a holiday. She took a leave from the winery and returned to Davis with the child. On the second day of the New Year, Yang Jie gave birth. He first returned to Gangcheng to accompany his mother on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. He set out early on the second day of the New Year to accompany Wen Qing and the child.

The little guy looked at his father very happily. Wen Qing said in surprise: "Jason, he hasn't seen you for two months, but he still remembers you."

Yang Jiesheng said proudly: "My son naturally remembers me. This is the nature of father and son." He lifted Shanshan and touched Shanshan's forehead with his own, making Shanshan giggle.

Shanshan is five months old and can already turn over and crawl in bed at a fairly fast speed. Wen Qing used blankets and quilts to create an area on the floor for him to play.

When he was four months old, Wen Qing hung four small iron rings on the fence of the crib. The child would climb over and try to pull the iron rings. Shanshan likes to communicate with others. When Wen Qing or Yang Jiesheng teases him, he likes to babble. He is a lively and lovely child.

After Yang Jiesheng came, the two of them took care of the child together. He also cleaned the garden and took the mother and child to the shopping mall to buy many things. Wen Qing called Liu Quan, Wang Jianguo, Xu Shengli, Li Zhonghua, Gu Qicheng, Xie Yang, and Factory Director Huang to wish them a happy new year.

Liu Quan, Xu Shengli and Li Zhonghua respectively reported to her the operating situation for the whole year. In a nutshell: everything went well. Although prices rose, profits also increased. Changxia Winery had a net profit of 1250 million yuan, the feed factory had 510 million yuan, and the grain company had 690 million yuan. The shareholders did not receive any dividends, and she would tell them when she returned.

Wen Qing discussed with Yang Jiesheng and decided that she had taken a year's leave. It was only February now and she would start school in May. She planned to return home in April. Yang Jiesheng also agreed and said that he would pick them up at the airport.