Class and Netflix

8/19: Today we learned about acids and acidity in wine during lecture. Then, we discussed white wine making in the tutorial. On Mondays we finish class at noon so I went to the city campus library to finish working on my bud dissection report that is due on Thursday. I had only been at the library for about an hour when my dad texted and called me wanting me to go to my apartment. I had no clue what was going on until I returned home. They told me about Brownie. I dropped to the floor. My legs gave out. I couldn’t stop screaming and yelling “no”. I just couldn’t believe what I was told. She had at least 8 more years. Why was she taken from us so soon? I was on the phone with my family for at least 5 hours. It was the afternoon here but after midnight at home. They had been crying the entire day. I cried the entire day and during the night. I watched Brooklyn-99 the whole rest of the day. I forced myself to get up to eat even though I didn’t want food. I forced myself to take a shower even though I didn’t want to. My stomach was in knots all day and night. How was I supposed to face tomorrow? I put on my brave face. Brownie was always so brave. She went outside during storms even though she hated thunder and lightning. She still went outside. I couldn’t fall asleep. I had to cry myself to sleep but still that didn’t work. I woke up at 5am and watched Brooklyn-99 until my alarm when off at 7:15am.

8/20: I talked to some friends before class. They could sense something was off. I told them. Then bursted into tears. It was so difficult to say without crying. I didn’t believe what I was saying. We learned about grapevine propagation today in lecture. We had practical in the rain in the orchard and nursery vineyard on campus. It was cold, rainy, and miserable. We were showed how to graft cuttings together and to the vine. We were also showed how the rootlings form while being in the heat bed for many weeks and how a callus forms while being in the sand bed. After class I went home and watched Brooklyn-99.

8/21: In sensory studies we learned about wine aroma and flavor. In practical we had a basic wine exam and a threshold detection activity. We were given various bottles with different amounts of sugar, acid, quinine, MSG, and salt mixed with water. We tasted each in order of increasing amounts and noted the point of detection and recognition. For me, I detected 0.74 g/L sucrose but recognized it at 20 g/L of sucrose. For NaCl, I detected and recognized it was salt at 1.6 g/L. I detected at 0.0625 g/L tartaric acid but recognized it at 0.5 g/L. I detected and recognized at 6.6 mg/L of quinine and at 2.5 g/L of MSG. After class, a group of friends and I attend the vintage conversation. This where a winemaker visits and talks about various things from winemaking to requirements for working at a winery. I had been on the fence about going after recent events but I was told many times that the speaker is hilarious so I went since laughter is the best medicine. I’m really glad I went and had a fun time hanging with my friends, eating brats and drinking some tasty wine.

8/22: In lecture we learned about the grapevine water relations and observed various parts of the leaf and stems under a microscope in practical. We drew pictures of what we saw under the microscope in our notebook. So many circles and detail.

8/23: Happy 29th birthday Joe!!!!!!! Have an amazing day!! Thanks for letting me chase my dream 9000 miles away!!! Today we finished the rotation of experiments that we have been working on for the past few weeks. We were given this time as a refresher and to finish what we didn’t get to previously. I took this time to review the SO2 and VA apparatus since that was a bit tricky for me. During sensory studies tutorial we had another rate-all-that-apply test for 6 red wines. The wines we tasted were Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Petit Verdot and a Pinot Noir. We also tasted 3 white wines: Vermentino, Fiano, and a Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Gwerütraminer blend.

Weekend: On Saturday I bought a bike! I’m so excited to have another form of transportation so I don’t have to take the bus everyday. I continued writing my reports and read this weekend. I also watched Brooklyn-99 quite often.