The Fruit of Her Labor: From Clinical Laboratory to Etiology Laboratory

Barbara L. Fox, MS, MPH, MT(ASCP)
PROFILES
The Fruit of Her Labor:
From Clinical Laboratory to Etiology Laboratory
Jeanette Schandelmier, MTIASCPi
Q u a l i t y C o n t r o l Supervisor, E n o l o g y
Laboratory
Robert M o n d a v i Winery
Oakville, Calif
1994-Present
Education
California State University, Hayward, BS,
Biology, 1977
Laboratory Experience
Supervisor, Chemistry Laboratory,
Associated Medical Laboratory,
Walnut Creek, Calif, 1982-1992
Medical technologist, Special Chemistry
Dept, Biomedical Resources,
Concord, Calif, 1980-1982
Medical technologist, Autochemistry Dept,
Ceders Sinai Medical Center,
M o v i n g Back N o r t h
A move back to northern
California gave her the
opportunity to work for
about 15 more years both in
the clinical milieu and at
home raising two children.
"I was working at an
endocrinologist's office laboratory and received my
layoff notice with four days
to leave. I was devastated at
the time, but looking back, I
never would have found
my current job at the winery, a job that I love,"
Schandelmier says.
Nestled between two mountain ranges in
northern California, the Napa Valley is a fertile area
of gently rolling hills, morning mists, and bright
sunshine. Robert Mondavi is one of the larger
wineries in the valley, employing more than 200
people of various backgrounds and skills. Schandelmier has worked there for 5 years and is quality
control supervisor of the Enology Laboratory.
Enology, t h e Study of Wine
Enology, literally the study of wine, involves many
aspects of testing similar or identical to early
methods and instrumentation used in clinical
chemistry laboratories. Schandelmier and her staff
of four to five people perform testing and sampling duties. During harvest (usually from August
to November or December) additional personnel
often come from nearby University of CaliforniaDavis, whose Enology Program provides interns
to Robert Mondavi and other wineries.
"I was hired as a part-time temporary laboratory worker to help with the harvest workload. Initially, I helped perform vineyard maturity analysis
on the grapes and juice, which assisted the winemakers in deciding when to harvest. After harvest,
I helped sample the wine I needed for analysis
from the large stainless-steel fermentation tanks
and oak aging barrels, carrying large buckets to
haul wine samples siphoned off the tops of 6,000gallon, 12,000-gallon, or 60,000-gallon tanks. The
care I took to sample correctly and to avoid introducing air into the samples added to the demands
of this job. Though it was physically demanding, I
was exhilarated. I felt I could do this job, and my
clinical skills helped me understand much of the
testing being done," recalls Schandelmier.
The sampling process involves removing the
caps, called sparge caps, from the valves of the fermentation tanks and replacing them with caps
that have a hose attached to them. When a ball
Los Angeles, 1978-1980
(continued on page 755)
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The chance sighting of an
advertisement in a Bay Area
newspaper led Jeanette Schandelmier, MT(ASCP), on a new
career path that has proven to
be both satisfying and fun.
After receiving a bachelor of
science degree in biology from
California State University at
Hayward, Schandelmier was
mentored by Helen Sowers,
MA, then director of the Medical Technology (MT) Program
at the university. Sowers suggested Schandelmier apply for
Jeanette
one
of
the
coveted
internship positions at Cedars
Schandelmier,
Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. After comMT(ASCP)
pleting the year-long program, during which she
won the California Association for Medical Laboratory Technologists 1978 Fisher Scientific MT
Student of the Year Award for her published work
i latex ingestion by neutrophils, Schandelmier
stayed at Cedars Sinai
:)
where she worked for 2
years
in the autochemistry
lO-Sscond Biography
department.
iamtinuetl from page 756)
valve attached to the tank is opened slightly, a
small amount of wine is flushed into waiting
buckets and discarded. Then, the actual sampling
process begins as from 250 mL to 2 gal of wine
flows into vessels to be taken back to the laboratory and analyzed. Seven-day workweeks and long
hours are not unusual during harvest time.
instrumentation
The " P a t i e n t s " A r e Grapes
Jeanette
is asked for her input at this point. "I am asked my Schandeimier,
opinion at times on the taste of a wine," she MT(ASCP), m o u t h
laughs. "Where else could you sip fine wine, or pipettes a wine
mouth pipette samples in the laboratory, and have sample as she
prepares to test it for
it be both fun and absolutely legal?"
various analytes.
In addition to the QC laboratory, the winery has
a small microbiology laboratory, which measures
levels of both desired and undesired bacteria. The
desirable organisms include Ocnococcus oenus (formerly Leuamostoc), vital to the malic fermentation
that gives wine a buttery flavor. Undesirable organisms, such as Acetobacter species and Lactobacillus
species, give wine a vinegar flavor and other chemical characteristics due to the acetic acid and other
byproducts produced. Yeasts also play an integral
role in the fermentation process, producing alcohol and sugar from the grapes.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Seeking the
(ATF) is the federal agency responsible for moni- Extraordinary
toring and ensuring the quality of the bottled We are looking for
product after it arrives in the marketplace. Schan- stories of laboratories
that perform exciting
deimier sends samples of the wines and the results research and for
of a battery of laboratory results to the ATF for a stories of clinical
graded "test" every 2 years. This process ensures laboratories w i t h
the laboratory's accreditation for that time period. extraordinary
As one strolls the hallways deep within the win- accomplishments. If
this describes y o u ,
ery, collages of employee photographs dot the contact us at (312)
walls, as well as momentos from many years of 738-1336, ext 1352; or
successful harvests. Robert Mondavi, the founder e-mail:
of the winery and family patriarch sets the tone for labmed 1sascp.org
his business when he states that it is a "family"
operation. When Schandeimier says, "1 love my
job," one feels she has found a second home, and a
family of friends and colleagues who will share her
career for a long time.©
An urgency not unlike that demanded in clinical
laboratory work can be found in the QC laboratory, especially during harvest. Schandeimier
draws an analogy. "The samples of freshly picked
grapes and the samples of wines from the tanks
are my patients," she states. "I treat each one with
the utmost care and accuracy." Raw data generated
through QC testing is entered into a computer
where charts, graphs, and trends are compiled.
These are then given to the winery's "doctors," the Barbara L Fox, MS, MPH, MT(ASCP), is a microwinemakers, who make the final decisions on their biologist, freelance writer, and speaker based in
"patients'" health and suitability for discharge Sacramento, Calif.
from the tank or barrel. Schandeimier sometimes
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The makeup of a typical day in the laboratory
depends on the season. At harvest, in addition to
the daily sampling and testing of the blends from
the tanks, up to 100 bags of varietal grapes are
brought to the quality control (QC) laboratory and
crushed by hand; the resulting juice is tested for
analytes ordered by the winemakers. Brix, or fruit
sugar, helps determine when grapes should be
picked. Measurement is done with a refractometer,
an instrument familiar to Schandeimier from her
clinical training in urinalysis. The pH, titratable
acidity, nitrogen, and sulfur dioxide levels of the
juice are measured using organic chemistry-type
distillation devices, spectrophotometers, pH
meters, and autotitrators. Potassium levels are
measured by using the flame photometer. Levels of
malic acid, residual sugars, and acetic acid are measured with a spectrophotometer. Ammonia, a
nitrogen source for yeast, and flouride, a pesticide
byproduct that must be closely monitored, are
measured with ion-selective electrodes.
"They recognized early on that my skills as a
technologist were transferable to this setting, and
I used ideas from my clinical work to help
improve and streamline things at this job" recalls
Schandeimier. For example, she suggested and
implemented the use of standardized quality
control charts.