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After working for Domaine Carneros in Napa, she went on to work for Talley Vineyards in Arroyo Grande before consulting for and eventually settling down with Stolo Vineyards in Cambria.
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Much like many before her, Nicole was drawn by the combination of science and artistry that go into winemaking, the almost alchemical process of turning sunlight into wine. “Of course, it sounded like a fun job, but I had no idea how quickly I would realize that being a winemaker would be my dream career.” Nicole, who graduated with a degree in Biology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, got her start in the wine industry working as the lab intern at Domaine Carneros in Napa. “There is much to worry about, between harvest timing and what Mother Nature will throw our way, scheduling crews and machinery malfunctions,” she says. Nicole tells me that even after 15 harvests, she still has a few sleepless nights in the days leading up to the first picks of the season. Halfway through harvest, many winemakers are in a daze, running on large amounts of coffee, breakfast burritos and very little sleep. It’s backbreaking, monotonous work the crews are quite literally bent double, their picking bins becoming steadily heavier as they move from vine to vine. Having worked for a handful of wineries and vineyards over the years, I have personal experience with what it takes to be in the thick of harvest. Nicole Bertotti Pope, Stolo’s winemaker, walks alongside me to where the vineyard crews have been picking since 3am. I can see my breath in the light of my headlamp and am desperately wishing I had thought to bring gloves. It’s 5:30am and shockingly cold for mid-October. The whoosh of soil underfoot echoes loudly in my ears as I walk to where sauvignon blanc is being harvested at Stolo Vineyards in Cambria.