00:00I'm Lucy Fink. I'm a video producer at Refinery29, but every so often I like to try other people's jobs.
00:06Today I'm at Wolfer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponic, New York, and I'm going to see if I have what it
00:12takes to be a winemaker.
00:13This is Lucy for Hire.
00:20Ah, the Hamptons.
00:22A magical place on Long Island's South Fork where New Yorkers and foreigners alike flock during the summer months for
00:29a dip in the ocean, an evening bonfire, or a day at the vineyard.
00:33But at Wolfer Estate, the busiest season begins in the fall during the harvest.
00:38The grapes are finally ready to be picked, pressed, and fermented to make all different types of wine varieties.
00:44Earlier this fall, I put on my favorite wine shoes, and I had a chance to meet with winemaker Roman
00:50Roth to learn what being a winemaker is all about.
00:53At Wolfer Estate, we grow six different grape varieties.
00:57The quality is the only way we can succeed, so we work extremely hard on the quality of our wines.
01:02So the first challenge is the picking.
01:05Roman walked me through the vineyard and let me snip the ripe grapes from the vine.
01:09Yep, that's it.
01:11This is a little berry that somehow got damaged.
01:14So we'll take that berry out.
01:16We did some taste testing.
01:18Everything you can just eat.
01:19That's the seed. You pick the seed.
01:21Yeah.
01:21Don't buy the seeds.
01:22I swallowed the seeds.
01:23Oh, you can, but...
01:24I'm going to grow grapes inside of me.
01:26That changes your flavor.
01:27And he taught me how important speed is during the harvest process.
01:31And of course, you have to do it quicker.
01:32Oh, yeah, this is taking so long.
01:33Otherwise, you get fired.
01:35At Wolfer Estate, on a good day, we have one person picks one ton of grapes.
01:40This is a third of a pound, one cluster.
01:43Oh, man.
01:43Finally, we had buckets filled with grapes ready to be turned into rosé.
01:48The second challenge is the de-stemming and the crushing of the grapes.
01:52This next step of the winemaking process is pretty hectic.
01:55There are huge tractors that pick up the buckets from the vineyard and transport the grapes to the other side
02:00of the property.
02:01I'm a bad worker.
02:03Time is quality and quality is money.
02:07The grape bins are weighed, and then a crew uses a forklift to dump them into the de-stemmer.
02:12The machine works rapidly to separate the grapes from their stems.
02:16And Roman had me pressing buttons.
02:18Watch that the juice pan doesn't run over.
02:20Jumping over cables and operating the machinery.
02:24Once the stems are removed, the grapes go into the wine press, where light pressure is applied to gently break
02:30the skins.
02:30We even had the chance to taste the fresh grape juice trickling down from the machine.
02:36That is delicious.
02:38That's it.
02:38You stumped it.
02:39Nice.
02:39You're already getting an expert.
02:41Woo!
02:41My third challenge was grape stomping.
02:45Hold up.
02:46This is an old process that was used in traditional winemaking.
02:50And even though this is not how Wolfer makes wine nowadays, Roman was very clear with me that if I
02:54wanted to truly understand the ins and outs of being a winemaker, I needed to give this a shot.
02:59And now what?
03:00Well, now you have to stump them.
03:02They're big.
03:03Yeah.
03:04So I channeled my inner Lucille ball, and I stomped away.
03:09Lucy, stomp some grapes.
03:11It's happening.
03:13Woo!
03:15My final challenge was to taste and compare.
03:18Roman walked me through the vineyard's inside space and showed me the various types of wines fermenting.
03:23You taste how nice the acidity, how vibrant this wine is.
03:28Oh, you spit it?
03:29I swallowed it.
03:30Well, otherwise I'm the best customer here.
03:32I always spit at work.
03:34He even brought me into the top secret wine library, where he taught me how to swirl, sniff, and sip
03:40wine.
03:41This is the glycerol.
03:42It's basically an alcohol level.
03:46I'll take a nice big sniff.
03:48Definitely got licorice.
03:50The key to slurping is that air brings more air.
03:54And it also, on the tongue, you only get bitterness, sweetness, acidity.
04:00And again, you get a lot of the aromas back again.
04:04Mm-hmm.
04:05Delicious.
04:06Yeah.
04:06It's good.
04:07Today, I finally learned about the intense and often hectic steps that go into the winemaking process.
04:13It's honestly pretty ironic that the experience of drinking this stuff can be so slow and romantic
04:18when the process of making it is so loud and chaotic.
04:22Until next time, wind down and stop and smell the rosé.
04:26Cheers.
