General Info on bottling the 2003 Vintage

Hello friends of Fielding Hills Winery,  

We have set the dates for bottling the 2003 vintage:  May 20, 21, & 22, 2005.  Friday, Saturday, & Sunday.  

We added an extra day because will have over 800 cases to bottle.  

With the dates set I need to start putting the “crew” together to make it all happen.  

My goal is to have set up a schedule very much like previous years.  Each day will be divided into 2 – 4 hour shifts, and I would like to have 12 people on each shift.  

If you have helped in the past you do not need to read any further, just drop me an email telling me which day and shift (AM or PM) you would like to help with.  I will then put you on the list and send you a confirmation.  Remember to not feel any obligation to help.  Just volunteer if it will be fun for you and it fits your schedule.  

For those not having previous experience, or receiving this email for the first time, please read on…  

First is to not feel any obligation to fit this into your schedule.  We have been fortunate to have many people ask about and offer to help.

Next is to know this is more of a social event than real work.  With 12 people there is extra help to switch off with people and no one should ever feel really worn out.  If the crew size shrinks, that is when things can become more like work and less like fun.

Each volunteer gets assigned a pretty simple (but very important) task.  The main activities are: 

Moving empty bottles (in cases) to the filling area. 
Sparging each bottle and placing into filler station.
Once filled, moving bottle to the corker.
Corker operator.
Bottle inspection and wipe down
Placing foil capsule on top of bottle
Operating foil spinner
Operating labeling machine.
Loading full bottles into cases
Labeling each case with bottle label and count label
Sealing case
Transporting full case to pallet.

The maximum pace is 50 cases per hour which we may have spiked to in the past, but we typically are in the 30 – 35 case per hour range.

The AM shift gets fed lunch and the end of their shift.  The PM shift gets dinner.  Both are a simple meal.  Make your own deli sandwiches at lunch and pasta or pizza for dinner.  We will be more careful/watchful about how much “sampling” of wine goes on during each shift.  A couple of the machines are somewhat potentially dangerous and I really do not want to see anyone get hurt (or any product get dropped or spilled!).  The end of the shift will be different and much sampling will be just fine. 

In the past I have tried to be reasonably organized, but given the fact we bottle only once a year and for so few hours, breakdowns do happen.  So the pace can vary. 

I also try to be organized about how to put the crews together.  Too many people and it gets a little crowded. 

A delicate item is also how to deal with those people who just show up (which is OK to do) but did not formally “sign up”.

This can cause a little stress because part of the fun is participating and I need to try my best to give some priority to those who did sign up.

Again, this is a low key affair and a very social event, but please be understanding that I need to give priority to those who went through the sign up process.  It is also critical I have firm commitments to fill the shifts to assure the work gets done and keep things fun.

Lastly is to be sure to volunteer only if it fits your schedule and is something you think you will really enjoy.  Please to not feel any obligation to help out.  If I get into a bind with a lack of response I will put out another email making my request (plea?) a little stronger.

And a big thanks to those who have helped in the past.  Oh, and if you do sign up, please where clothes and shoes you don’t mind risk spilling wine on.  It happens!

Please email back any questions or comments.  I will email an update later with results of slots filling.

Thanks for your interest in Fielding Hills Winery.

Mike Wade

PS don’t get confused about my email addresses.  You can respond to any of them & I will get the message:

mike@columbiafruit.com, mwadecfp@msn.com, or mike@fieldinghills.com