Cargo Shorts of the Winemaker

There has been some real outrage regarding the cargo short; referred to as "a deadly plague" by some in the fashion community. Others treat the cargo short more fairly

I come to the defense of the cargo short, specifically in the work environment. As a working winemaker, I've stuffed all manner of items in various pockets throughout the harvest. On the crush pad, we win wine awards for wine making, not fashion.

The picture and list below is by no means exclusive or exhaustive. It was a picture taken one day with the things I was using that day. Refractometer, lighters, and a fine mesh strainer have been in my pockets too. And yes, women and men both wear cargo shorts on the crush pad.

Mastro_Scheidt_winemaker_cargo_shorts

1. Surgical tubing - Helpful for siphoning wine from one barrel to another barrel or keg
2. Spray bottle - Filled with grain alcohol, it's good for cleaning things (not drinking, well maybe)
3. Whisk - Wanna mix some yeast?
4. Infrared thermometer - point and shoot in C or F
5. Tape measure - tanks needs a tape measure to figure out the volume of wine in them
6. Cork screw - Duh!
7. Box cutter - Breaking down cardboard, cutting plastic, shrink wrap, yeah, you need a box cutter
8. Sample containers - juice and wine are always being sampled and these are the smallest the lab will take
9. Mini-flashlight - wanna look inside the bung hole? Of course you do.
10. Bungs - when you're finished with your flashlight, use these. One is for fermentation.
11. Wine Thief - When you wanna do a barrel sample, this is the tool for the job.
12. Tri-clover and gasket - ubiquitous around the winery
13. Leaky Barrel Fix it Kit includes wooden skewers, diagonal cutting pliers and a ball peen hammer
14. Bin/Barrel/Tank Label and Marking Equipment. One can never have enough Sharpies
15. Box Tape Roller - useful for boxes (not pictured, Duct Tape, because we used it all)
16. Finished Barrel Tagging - index cards, staple gun and Sharpie. Some winemakers use envelope labels.
17. Hand Held Density Meter - for daily brix and temperature testing
18. Fuel - There is a lot of wine made on Energy Bars and Cheap Beer (sorry craft beer enthusiasts)