A Letter From Chris Suarez
WORK IS WORK
As I sit down to write, the clock just hit 11pm. My feet hurt. My shoulder is sore. My hands are blistered. My arms are cut up. And my back needs a chiropractor. But overall I feel amazing.
I woke up at my normal time this morning and headed up to the vineyard before the sun rose. The grapes were ready for picking. I had prepared everything the morning before, because I knew it would be a full day once I began. And although it hasn’t rained here in Portland for almost 60 days, of course today would be the day it decided to rain over 3 inches while I was out in the vineyard. But it didn’t matter.
Over the course of the next 9 hours I picked just over 900 pounds of grapes. Of course it sounds like a lot, but when you are picking them one cluster at a time, it certainly doesn’t feel like that. In fact, by the time I had ended, I estimated only about half of what it turned out to be.
After picking them, I hauled them down to the barn and began the process of destemming and crushing them. I would spend the next six hours working through the 900 pounds of fruit, eventually getting it down to about 125 gallons of must - crushed grape skins, fruit, and seeds.
The process doesn’t end there, as I'll spend the next three weeks or so working through the fermentation process before eventually putting the wine into barrels - to be bottled next year and drunk a couple years after that.
The process didn’t start today either, as I spent the last 8 months tending to the vines, pruning, guiding them on their growth, de-leafing them, netting them, and overall protecting and managing their health.
And here-in lies the comedic relief in all of this. I’m not that into wine. I haven’t had a glass of wine in over a month. I'm actually clean eating currently - cutting out all meat, grains, sugar, and yes alcohol through the end of the year.
But I bought a hobby vineyard mostly for the actual experience of it, and to enjoy the hard work it would bring. To me, work is work. And I enjoy the hard work - whether it be with my mind, my hands, my heart. Work is work.
If we are willing to work hard in one area of our life, chances are, we are willing to work hard in all areas. Studies show that hard workers in the classroom end up working hard on the field, working hard at the office, working hard at home, working hard on themselves, working hard on their relationships.
This isn’t a vote for the “hustle culture” or a statement for work as a badge of honor. It’s a vote for working hard regardless of the outcome, regardless of the result, and regardless if you want to or not in the moment. It’s a vote for not attaching the value of our work to the results of that work. It's a vote for not allowing our own worth to be dependent on any result, anything, or anyone.
Months ago when I started putting in the work on these vines I didn’t know if the weather would prevent them from growing. I didn’t know if the rain or the sun would affect the harvest in a negative way. I didn’t know if the sugar level would get to where I needed it to be in order to produce wine. Even now, after 15 hours of work, I don’t know if the fermentation process will go well. I don’t know if I’ll hit the right alcohol level or achieve the desired taste. In a year I could open the barrel and find out I produced 75 gallons of pretty terrible wine. In three years I could unscrew the cork and find out that my wine would make Yellow Tail look like Silver Oak.
And in the end, I don’t really care. Because work is work. I enjoyed the work. I enjoyed the mornings and evenings in the vineyard. I enjoyed the time alone working on the vines, and enjoyed the time with my wife and my kids and my dog working in the vineyard. I enjoyed making the vines look beautiful, watching the fruit grow, harvesting the grapes, and then putting the energy into creating something.
There were definitely days that I didn’t feel like doing the work. And on those days I thought about how great the results could be. On those days I allowed the future potential to motivate me.
Chris
