Weekend Update

As I promised, here is the link to the KQED program Quest and the episode about wine. http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/490 I’m really only in it for about 5 seconds, but its still neat, so check it out. You might even learn something about global warming and wine…Al Gore would be proud! I am also the one changing all the solution colors in the cuvettes, but you can’t see me. Sad, sad, sad.

So after becoming legal this past week, what else is there to write about? You can’t really top that honestly, but I’ll give it a shot. Professor Schultz, Magali, and I finally had a chance to sit down and talk about my project. Professor Schultz has so many great ideas and is so excited about everything, that we found it really hard to narrow our focus to one or two topics. Originally I was going to look at the same Pinot noir clone on three different root stocks in five locations in Germany and Luxembourg. Unfortunately, I do not have a car here yet and cannot drive any of the Institute’s cars, so the ability to sample would quickly become a big hassle, especially since some of the vineyards are about 3 hours away. We decided to then work on a project here in the Geisenheim vineyards with Pinot noir and 5 different rootstocks. This will make sampling a whole lot easier, and hopefully the tannin binding assay will compliment the research already being performed on the grapes from this vineyard. Professor Schultz would also like me to use the assay on some other students’ work, so I guess I will become the cell wall binding specialist for my first few weeks here. The really cool thing though, is that in Winter/Spring Professor Schultz wants to see if we can do some sensory work on German Pinots. From our brief conversation we are going to try and team up with the marketing department here at the institute and try and develop a sensory and tannin picture/profile of German Pinot. A similar project has already been done in Australia and MJ did something similar at Davis in terms of Pinot quality. I guess I know where to turn when I run into problems…right MJ?? :) I think that will be a nice change from normal lab research.

I was also finally able to purchase a cell phone this past week as most of you know from the email I sent. It was somewhat of a fiasco but it all worked out in the end. Just for future reference, in case anyone of you would to buy a prepaid cell phone in Germany, you must show a valid ID and address when you purchase the phone. When I first made the ~1 hour long journey to the electronic store, I only had my passport with me because I figured that was sufficient. When the man asked for an address I told him what it was, but he needed to see it in writing. But, in order to get my German VISA I needed to have an address in Germany so I thought this extra step of seeing my address was a pain, especially since it meant I would have to come all the way back. I guess the cell phone companies have a problem with phone fraud or something, but considering it’s a prepaid phone and card, I’m not sure what the problem is.

On Saturday I also made a trip to IKEA with Magali and another PhD student Catharina. As usual IKEA delivered hours of fun and we had a blast. Unfortunately my room is SOOOO tiny that I couldn’t really but that much stuff, but I did buy a few things to make it feel like home. I bought some candles, a desk organizer, laundry basket/bag, bathroom mat, etc. Slowly my room is beginning to feel less sterile. On a quick side note, I saw into the room next to mine on Friday and it is incredibly huge!! I knew my room was the smallest, but I didn’t know by how much. Well, the room next store has enough room for a built in closet, one window like mine plus another that is about 4 times the size with curtains, two arm chairs and plenty of space in between all the furniture. I can pretty much take about 1 or 2 steps and be either in my bed, my desk, or out my door. I was so bummed when I saw the other room. Maybe there’s a way I can get this other girl to move out or to switch rooms with me. I’ll have to think long and hard about this one. If any of you have suggestions I’m all ears.

On Friday, the Institute had a holiday of sorts, since there was a party for all the workers on Thursday night. I think it was expected that everyone show up on Thursday, and then in return you can the next day off. The party on Thursday was excellent, except for the fact that it rained so hard for about the first hour. It was funny at first, but then sad as everyone stood with their wine glasses under three large umbrellas waiting for the rain to stop. And this was no spring shower, it was a huge downpour. After the clouds passed the sun came out and we all helped dry off the tables. The band then began to play, and of course all the songs were oldies from the 50’s and 60’s, and all in English. This is Germany right?? Where are all the German songs?? I had the chance to meet some other PhD students and we made a plan to meet up this Tuesday at the Bootshaus, which is a restaurant on the Rhein.

Because Friday was a holiday, Professor Schultz offered to show me a little bit of Geisenheim and the surrounding towns that afternoon. He first took me to the terraced vineyards above Ruedesheim which were so great. The terraced vineyards had largely been abandoned for several years, but within the past year he managed to establish a contract that allowed him to plant the terraces with vines. He is using the terraces as a project with students, where they help take ownership for the care and maintenance of the vineyard, and in return they get a portion of the wine made from the grapes by two local wineries. It seems like a really cool project, and hopefully I can be involved in it somehow. After the terraces he took me up to Schloss Johannisberg which is spectacular. Schloss Johannisberg sits up on a hill above Geisenheim overlooking the entire Rhein Valley. It is spectacular and a must see for anyone visiting the area. The Schloss has ties that date back hundreds of years, and most notably has been the home of the Metternich family until about two years ago, when the last of the Metternich line passed away. Our final stop was at Schloss Vollrad, which was also simply incredible. This Schloss is nestled right into the hills and has been around forever. One of their vineyard plots is the oldest in the world that has been in continuous grape production. Obviously the vines themselves have been replaced, but the land itself is the oldest vine cultivated vineyard in the world. Pretty darn cool. Because Professor Schultz knows everyone, we had an impromptu tasting at the Schloss and it was incredible. We tried some first growths from 2005 and 2006 and they were damn good. German Riesling is pretty spectacular, and I only wish we got the good stuff back in the States.

I think those are all the highlights for now, more to come later I am sure.