Goodbye Adventure Park, hello Seppetsfield Winery

Looking back to my carreer as a ride attendant in the Adventure Park, I am quite happy to have been there! It was a good bunch of colleagues over there, very easy and relaxing work, the chance of working outdoors and meeting a whole lot of people and cultures. My last day at work was Thursday the 2nd of Feb, just perfect timing because the schools were about to start again and the workload declined significantly anyway. To finish the day off after work, to dot the „i“, a fair few of us went out for a dinner in Ocean Grove and a bit of beach cricket and swimming after that. Nothing too special but it was exactly how I wanted it – a good night out with friends and not just going for a piss (read: drink).

Oh, V8 is a great engine! Driving with one Holden V8 ute was one of the most thrilling experiences here yet. The sheer power just throws your head against the headrest! J And Bells Beach indeed is a b-e-a-utiful surfbeach, even when you're not surfing and it's a windy cold weather.

 

Next morning I packed my car and headed off, back to Melbourne once again. J Met up with some friends of mine, went out to an open air cinema in the Botanical Gardens which was screening Steven Spielberg’s „Warhorse“ that night. Good times! Saturday started off with a lovely brunch in Richmond, cosy little restaurant called „Friends of Mine“. And with friends it was indeed. At that time I already started to appreciate Melbourne a lot more than before, especially because once you know someone living there you tend to go to places which really are enjoyable and you otherwise wouldn’t find. Melbourne has a lot of vibe, liveliness, good positive emotions. Another major factor ofcourse was the fact I had found great people there. I guess I have to consider myself lucky because quite honestly I have met only really nice people here, espacially the Estonian nationals. Good on me! J

 

 

After 9 hours of driving and covering over 730km I finally reached Seppeltsfield village, Barossa Valley, South Australia. I got in contact with Travis a week before, and as I told him how I got his number, it was a deal made that I could rent a room in his house and live there during the vintage work. As it turned out he is a good friend with Lea from Adelaide Estonian House, has been there a couple of times and also had some Estonians stay at his house a year ago. Moreover, two of the latter are coming back this season. To make this even more better for me, I am living just about 15-20min away from where I work, and that’s on foot! J As I heard, Travis himself, his father and grandfather have all worked in Seppeltsfield winery, all of them are good winemakers and wine is something that is consumed here daily with dinners. Good wine, really really good wine! So this time around I guess I have to be really happy how things have turned out. J

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday were the induction days at the winery, first two of which consisted of theory and practical exercises about working in confined spaces. That in a winery usually refers to those big steel tanks the wine will be stored in. But also the area I will be working at – the fermentation tanks. Safety at work is very highly regarded here in Australia, and those confined spaces are quite a hazard if you don’t appreciate and know the risks involved. Thursday was the general induction about the winery, the work we all will be doing and the amount of work that is involved. The casual employees are young and old, male and female, first timers and others with plenty of years of experience, so it has turned out to be an interesting crowd. At least the head winemaker Fiona is very pleased, so i guess the rest of us should be aswell. Altogether it’s about 25-30 people doing different jobs during the vintage.

 I personally will be one of the 12 people working at the frementation tanks, that are the tanks where the crushed grapes will be pumped into and where the wine will be made. The tasks will include monitoring the fermentation process, the temperatures within the ferment, pumping over the juice from the buttom of the tank onto the top cap (a layer of skins), probably a lot more aswell. J I also know by now that I will be doing nightshifts, which will be something interesting, definately not easy, but why not try it. It’ll be 12 hour shifts, most likely all 7 days a week for the whole vintage, i.e. 7 weeks. And most likely the work commences on the 20th of Feb. We’ll be crushing about 5000tons of grapes which will eventually make about 3,5-3,75mln litres of wine! Now that’s a lot! Then again, everything is comparative – Jacob’s Creek crush over 100’000tons of grapes a year! Now that's A LOT, MORE! J

Meanwhile in Adelaide. Friday, 10th of Feb was another Esto Pub Night in the Estonian House. Again a good chance to meet the ones I’ve met before and maybe meet some new people, have a few bottles of Saku Kuld, maybe a shot or two of Vana Tallinn. It was all there. J On Saturday everything got even better! After some wondering around in Glenelg, the beach area I headed to see Relika and Dave, who had planned a SAUNA evening for a few of us who showed up in the Estonian House the night before. Sauna, here, in Adelaide?! Well, whatever it is, it’s better than nothing! To cut the long story short – it was an awesome evening! Even 70 degrees in the sauna does the trick brilliantly! And the sauna whisk made out of gumtree... what more can you want! Maybe a few beers and a dinner?! It was all there! Dave’s parents bought a kit sauna and installed it in their back yard after he got married to an estonian. What a nice present for Relika! As the four of us – me, Relika, Merli and Annika were utterly enjoying the emotions provided by that scarce phenomenon in Australia called a sauna, the friendly aussies apparently could barely understand this happiness! J And dispite sleeping on the floor on a thin mattress, I was sound asleep as a baby.

Sunday was a combination of spotting different things - dolphinspotting (unsuccessful), Chevrolet-Corvette-carclub-meeting spotting (very successful), old classic car spotting (also successful), folk singing (not so successful), folk dancing (fairly successful). To cut the long story short – me, Merli and Annika are awaited back to the Estonian House to take part in the folkdancing performance during the Independence Day celebrations on 25th Feb. J As I have never ever done folkdancing, apart from once or twice at school maybe and now two times over here in Adelaide, it would still be pretty interesting experience. Now it’s just a matter of making sure if I can actually get the weekend free from work.

Current week has pretty much been about relaxing, getting to the new casual staff a little more and of course about drinking good wine. Really exceptionally good wine! And suprisingly not feeling very hung over in the mornings after. Maybe it’s a sign to commence to work. And during work it will hardly be any drinking. I guess getting used to the nightshifts will be a bit of a struggle and it will take some days, if not more. On the other hand nightshift has the benefit of tolerable temperatures. Recent days have been quite hot, well over 30 degrees and when you’re working indoors, in our old gravity flow fermentation building without any cooling except open doors, imagine the temperatures in there in the afternoon.

And it’s a bloody awesome place this Seppeltsfield! Just come down here and experience it by yourself! J