If you’ve ever dreamed of a romantic, idyllic life as a vineyard owner, read about the real life trials of a year in wine country. First comes pruning, which has to happen in the dormant winter season, except not while its wet for fear of fungus. When the buds come out in early spring, your cell phone or pager may go off in the middle of night with a message from your frost warning system. Time to go out and operate the heavy machinery, wind machines and sprinklers, that keeps your vines from freezing and dying. One vineyard manager contended with 22 frost nights in a row; a toll that would cause even an all-nighter-pulling college student to pause. When warm weather finally takes a hold, you get to contend with mildew, disease-carrying insects, root-eating insects, and bigger things like moles, gophers and rabbits. Vines that grow too quickly may produce grapes that fall off too easily. From summer through fall, the crop needs to be carefully monitored for proper irrigation and nutrients. Birds arrive as the grapes mature. Then harvest must be carefully timed. After the grapes are safely tucked into wine barrels, the fields must be prepped for the next year. And the cycle begins anew.