In February of 2018, I had been working at Lanthier Winery for a little over a month. A few days before the water got to the building, a co-worker was telling me “if that river rises another three feet, we’re going to have to rent a semi-trailer and empty out the winery.” Not knowing anything, I replied “bull shit. That river won’t come up this high.” Boy, was I wrong. Sure enough, I received a phone call one afternoon from Tami, asking me if I was able to come down and help empty the winery. By the time I got there, the river had already reached the garden and part of the driveway. Then began the longest three weeks of my employment at Lanthier Winery. As the water was receding, we were scrubbing the walls with bleach and soap. Once the water was all out of the winery, then we began ripping out all the drywall and the wood studs, flushing drain pipes, and more bleach and soap scrubbing.
In roughly three weeks, the tasting room was back open. In between serving the hordes of Lanthier customers, we still had all the sheds to re-build and a few finishing touches inside the tasting room and production room. Looking at the place now, the only way you could tell there was ever a FL**D, is the black sharpie mark on a door and the staff’s “fond” memories.
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