WWOOF woof!

Our next adventure took us to Cafayate, whose 23 wineries produce only 1% of the wine in Argentina, but because of an ideal blend of high altitude and desert conditions their wine is spectacular.  Kelly and I took the opportunity here to do some “WWOOFing”  (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) to learn the art of wine making by working at Bodega Utama, a small artisanal winery.   The farm is very quaint and beautiful – flowers brushing the path into the house, and lush plants and vegetation all around.  Sacha (the son of Maud – the owner) aside from now taking over the wine making in the family, is a ceramics artist and his unique work is scattered throughout.  Aside from the vineyard they grow some corn, have a small vegetable garden, harvest walnuts, grow and make “membrillo” (aka quince), have a pig, a few chickens, and 3 ducks – a true farm experience!

A delicious lunch of grape skins.

Grape Press

Once we got settled in we got right to work on some chores around the farm.  We helped feed the animals in the morning, cut up and removed a fallen palm tree, cut back some plants that were taking over the walkways, wrapped the homemade membrillo that Maud made from trees in her backyard and organized wine and beer bottles for later use.  The real work of wine making took a day or two to get underway, but once it did we were elbow deep in grapes and wine!  Juan and I were fortunate enough to arrive right before the end of the harvest season, so we learned almost all aspects of the wine making process.  We transferred wine from one bin to another as it went into different stages of fermentation; we helped press grapes in an old-fashioned wine press and transferred the juice.  We harvested Criolla grapes with Sacha and Carlos and sorted Torrontés grapes with our fellow wwoofers Julie and Nicole for Maud’s white wine.   We also labeled wine bottles that would be sold in town.  We learned a lot from everyone and had a great time during the process.  Although Maud spoke English, Sasha did not, and I probably got a little less out of the experience than Juan because I didn’t always understand what was happening and Juan can only translate so much.  Juan probably knows more and may be more of a connoisseur of wine than me now!    

Sorting Torrontes grapes

It felt great to actually work for a change, using our hands and our brains in different ways.  At the end of the day it always felt like we’d accomplished something, no matter how small.  It was very satisfying, and made us think about the lives that we live and the paths that we take.  Staring at a computer all day under fluorescent lighting seemed so far removed.  There was more time to think, to pause, to chat and to eat.  And being around the family dog all day, Pepa, or Pepita (a cute name meaning ‘little Pepa’), made us yearn to have a dog some day, hopefully just like her.

Newly made goat cheese being drained of whey

We did get off the farm once in a while too.  One of the other girls staying at the farm, Julie, really wanted to learn how to make goat cheese before she left Utama.  So up at 6am, we borrowed Maud’s truck and went searching in the darkness for two particular farms that would be milking goats and making cheese.  The first farm wasn’t ready to start until 10am, so we went hunting for the second farm that would surely be milking already.  By the time we got there the sun was rising and the landscape was bathed in a beautiful orange sunrise.  Unfortunately, these crazy farmers milk their goats at 3am so we did not have a chance to participate.  But the hospitable woman who greeted us let us sample the cheese they had made and we bought some for the road. 

Maud had told us about some “castillos” (castles) that were on the property of this particular farm, so we asked if we could go see them and then off we went driving through a dry riverbed searching for a gate that would lead to these castles.  Once we arrived, Juan and I could only see some rock formations that resembled turrets.  We searched the landscape for an abandoned castle until Julie realized that Juan and I had misunderstood.  So while she laughed at us, we came to the understanding that we wouldn’t be exploring an abandoned castle, but instead looking at these beautiful rock formations.  Oops.

Los Castillos

Having still not milked a goat, we continued our journey.  When we arrived at the second farm we found they had already milked their goats too!  Foiled again.  After trying more cheese and some 3-year aged artisanal wine we were told by some French hitchhikers to try the Cafayate goat cheese farm in town.  So off we went to continue our goat milking and cheese-making quest, hoping Maud didn’t need her truck!  In the end we visited with hundreds of goats, tasted and bought a lot of cheese and wine, but milked 0 goats and made 0 cheese.  It was fun though and we brought home a very tasty lunch for Maud of cheese, wine, olives, bread and mortadela (like a 6-inch round bologna).  

Oddly enough our last couple days at the farm we spent alone.  Just before we arrived at Utama there had been 6 or 7 woofers, when we arrived only 2.  A few days before our departure Nicole had left to continue her journey throughout Argentina and beyond, and Julie was heading north to Salta.  Maud was also off to Salta to take care of some business and celebrate her birthday.  So alone we were left to tend to the animals and complete some odd jobs like creating instructions on how to fill the water tanks, getting tools sharpened, wrapping membrillo and taking Pepita for a walk.  We truly loved our stay at Utama, meeting Maud, her son Sacha and wife Juanita (no jokes here boys), their good friend Carlos, getting to know Julie and Nicole, and learning the art of wine making from passionate people.  But we were in Cafayate and had barely ventured into town, and our taste buds were craving fine wine too much, so we left eager with anticipation…

To Be Continued…

Goat with crown of grape stems!