Category: General

I hate my cell phone. Well not just mine, it’s not personal. I hate all cell phones. Phones in general in fact. As Miss Manner’s has said; “The phone is the rudest invention ever.”

One goal in life for me is to not have to have one. To me that’s a sign of success. Really if you are very important, people just can’t call you when ever they feel like it. Obama is not standing at the podium and going; ” We’re coming together because we believe in what…hold on, that’s mine, just a second, yeah, no, the pancake mix is in the bottom drawer.”

Phones are rude, and no invention in the history of mankind has transmitted more useless information to more people, wasting more time, than the phone. Once standing at the airport in the security line I heard this conversation; “I’m in the line at the airport, it’s a long line.”

I thought; “Who cares”? I’m in the line, and I don’t care that I’m standing there. Who in the world would care that you are standing in line? Is their life so boring and pitiful that you standing in line at the airport is interesting? If it is, you should text them links to a park or a movie, or a good book, not update them on your line status.

So as part of my rebellion against this phone culture we live in I owned a phone that was at least 8 years old. It’s main feature was that I could drop it and not care. No Mr Spock in the ear headsets, cameras, or Benny Lava video for me. And belt strap ons? I made Stefania pledge that if I ever strapped a six shooter phone to my belt, she should hit me in the back of the head with a shovel.

I had lots of little pledges like that. I made Jaye, our favorite bartender at Chevy’s, pledge that if I ever sat at her bar and made her wait to take my order, she a live person in front of me, so I could talk to someone on the phone, she should pick up a fork and jam it into my forehead.

I loved that phone, because it was an outward symbol of hating phones. My sign to the world that I wasn’t going to participate in that silliness. Some people have bumper stickers, I had a ratty old cell phone.

Well, it’s dead now. Lost in the vineyard and presumed run over by the tractor. A fitting end. It was sacrificed to the gods of wine. It’s terroir now, for ever more part of the 2008 vintage. Probably the finest contribution a phone has ever made to society in my opinion. We’ll toast it tonight with a glass of wine. Actually we’d have the glass of wine no matter what, but any excuse works in a pinch.

I think I’ll get one of those new iPhones 🙂

Oh yeah if you call the winery and I don’t pick up, it’s because I ran over the phone with a tractor. Give me a couple days to get a new one.

The weekend is the annual Santa Cruz Mountains Vintner’s Festival.

http://www.scmwa.com/VintnersFestival.htm

We’ll have the winery at Chaine d’Or open for visitors.

http://www.chainedor.com/directions.html

The cost of the event is $30 in advance or $35 at the door, but we will not be charging our mailing list members or their guests for any activities at the winery. If you want to visit other wineries that are participating you’ll need a ticket, but your stop at Chaine d’Or is free.

We’ll be pouring the 2006 Chaine d’Or Chardonnay, 2004 Chaine d’Or Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Stefania Haut Tubee, and 2006 Stefania Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah. In addition I’ll be clearing out the very, very last 2005 Uvas Creek Cabernet Sauvignon for $45/bottle. There are only about 18 bottles left that I had held on to for restaurant reorders, but we’re going to let those go.

There will be food and snacks for everyone and every hour I’ll give a short 10 minute tour of the vineyard and talk about our farming practices and how they effect the final wine. We’ll also have some of our 2006 and 2007 barrels available to taste. There is room for a picnic as well on the small hill by the crushpad. It can get chilly though so bring an extra layer if you plan on spending some time outside.

We spent a long day yesterday racking our two Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignons.

Racking is the process of removing a wine from barrel, cleaning the barrel, then returning the wine back to barrel. We do this for three reasons. First it lets us get the ‘gunk’ out of the bottom of the barrel. The fine lees that have settled into the bottom of the barrel. These lees can develop amino acids called Mercaptans, that create off flavors, so best to remove them.

Second, and especially true with Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s a chance to expose the wine to some oxygen. This helps with the softening of tannins, and makes the wine rounder and more enjoyable.

Finally, we use racking as an opportunity to make any sulfur additions that are needed. Sulfur acts as a preservative for wine and kills any bacteria. Some people add sulfur directly into the barrel, but this can cause problems. Sulfur doesn’t really travel well, so if you add it to barrel, it tends to just sit in one place. By doing it when we rack we have a chance to stir it up and expose all the wine to it.

We had a rather complicated set of blending we were doing at the same time, and ended up using four tanks. The final result was seven barrels of Chaine d’ Or Cabernet Sauvignon. Six barrels of Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon, which contains fruit from the Harvest Moon Vineyard, Elandrich Vineyard and Chaine d’Or Vineyard. That blend is also about 10% Merlot, which has added some really nice cherry notes. Finally we ended up with one barrel of Haut Tubee. We’ll combine this with 1-2 barrels of Syrah we have at Big Basin later and end up bottling about 75 total cases of Haut Tubee for 2007.

Sorry to everyone in New York, New Jersey and Michigan who received a message this morning that your order shipped. You probably thought, “Is he insane shipping on a Saturday?”

It’s a software error at the shipping company. I sent those orders in weeks ago and they are processed and then lined up for shipment. They had a hold on them though as we were still waiting for label clearance from those states.

When the shipper removes the hold from the computer, the “Your Order Has Shipped” email goes out automatically. I complained about this last fall, and they told me they had fixed it, but it looks like the software glitch has remained.

Bottom line though is the boxes are still sitting in the climate controlled warehouse in Napa, waiting for pick up next week by Fed Ex.

Sorry for the confusion, I’ll speak to the shipper about it again on Monday.

From 5/26

Woodruff Family Vineyard – Corralitos, Santa Cruz Mountains AVA

Needs suckering, the old Freedom rootstock is prone to throwing suckers. Mid flowering, overall excellent shape. Should yield 8-9 tons of very high quality Pinot Noir.

Llama Vineyard – Bonny Doon, Santa Cruz Mountains AVA

Needs water for 3-4 weeks, drip system has not been on at all and new plants have not had bud break. Turned on water system for owner. Needs a spraying and some suckering. Should yield 800 pounds or so if we net it, vineyard in very good shape.

Arastradero Vineyard – Los Altos Hills, San Francisco Bay AVA

Water needs to go OFF ASAP. Over vigor and throwing laterals from too much water. Needs thinning and a spray of Stylet oil. This was the only vineyard I’m not happy with, I didn’t know they had the water on so much. Yields look small, the vines are putting all their energy into growth. Crew needs to spend 4-5 days fixing this vineyard.

Harrison Vineyard – Los Altos Hills, San Francisco Bay AVA

Looks awesome, plants are at wire and have recovered fully from the frost. Need to go out in 3-4 weeks and get the grow tubes off and start training the plants. I’ll do this personally so that the it’s done right as it’s critical for future growth of the plants.

Elandrich Vineyard – Portola Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains AVA

Overall looks good, with good potential yield. Some plants suffering from mites which a sulfur spray will get rid of but no long term damage to the plants or crop. Other plants show 2,4d damage, probably from a weed and feed applied around the vineyard in error. We’ll have to watch after that and do some replacements. Bummer, but it happens in suburban vineyards with lots of neighbors and lots of gardeners in the area. Expect we’ll get about 1500 pounds of fruit.

Crimsom Vineyard – Morgan Hill, Santa Clara Valley AVA

Vineyard looks great! Much higher yield than expected, in fact we’ll have to drop fruit for sure. This looks like it will be the replacement for Uvas Creek we’ll need. Very excited to have this come on line a year ahead of schedule, this could become a top site.

Sesson Vineyard – Coyote Valley, Santa Clara Valley AVA

Some frost damage, but most plants re-pushed, others unaffected. Time to mow between the rows. This vineyard looks great. Suspect we’ll have very healthy plants here. It’s nice to work in these vineyards we’ve installed rather than rehabs. No problems to correct.

Haut Tubee – San Jose, Santa Clara Valley AVA

Flowering finishing up, which makes sense. The home vineyard is like a little lab for the other vineyards, it’s always 2 weeks ahead of the other locations. Clusters look large and loose with larger berries than last year, and a lower chance of bunch rot. Yields look lower, which should help the plants get riper flavors even though the berries are bigger. Things are looking pretty good so far.

We decided to take a mini-road trip on Memorial Day and visit all* of the vineyards we take care of.

We left San Jose at 9a.m. and dragged Kathy and Millie along with us.

The vineyard agenda was:

Woodruff Vineyard, Corralitos
Llama Vineyard, Bonny Doon
Arastradero Vineyard, Los Altos Hills
Harrison Vineyard, Los Altos Hills
Private Consultation site, no photos – also Los Altos Hills
Elandrich Vineyard, Portola Valley
*Chaine d’Or in Woodside would have been here on the tour, but we skipped it
Crimson Clover Vineyard, Morgan Hill
Sessen Vineyard, Coyote Valley
Haut Tubee (home), San Jose

Photos are uploaded here: http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/388768

Given that the Summit Road Fire was at 80% containment yesterday, we noted several groups of fire trucks headed home, thank goodness for that. We passed the “road closed” signage and the Red Cross station at the center of town in Corralitos (where much of the filmed news reports were taking place over the last several days) and only one remaining tv crew truck was on site.
Several of the houses, fences, gates, had home made signs thanking Cal Fire and the firemen who came to their aid.

We walked through the vines, saw Pete on the tractor mowing the grass between rows and snapped some photos before heading back over the hill part way to Bonny Doon. A quick tour through that vineyard and a few extra moments chatting with the owner about the watering schedule for the new plants and we were in Scotts Valley for a noon time snack. Yep, 3 hours, only 2 sites so far.

Heading north on 85 to 280 we chatted about Kathy and Millies trip to Washington DC and dining at Fogo de Chao, good eats.

Paul and I walked to the top of the Arastradero site, vertical stairs (!) and were amazed by how much vigor there was – it was like a jungle between the rows. Next stop was the new vineyard that Paul and Millie installed last summer and though we saw frost damage a month ago, the vines have all recovered and sent long healthy shoots.

A quick drive up the next hillside and Paul stopped in for a private consultation for a guy growing ~100 assorted vines that he is determined to get fruit from this year (past problems with powdery mildew have left him with no fruit for several seasons). I took no photos at this site but did see a jack rabbit that took off before I could get the camera ready.

Next stop, Elandrich in Portola Valley. This site was a major re-hab project when we took it on and we are smitten with the results. There is still some unknown pest though on a handful of the plants so I took several photos of that to see if we can find someone who can tell us what it is and what we should do, if anything. The zinfandel was doing great, the Merlot was happy, and all of the usual trouble spots were still troubling though still doing so much better than our first visit to the site.

At 2:30 we were back on 280 to 85 to 101 south. More fire trucks on the road headed home, I tried to get mobile photos from the car, but again, by the time the camera was on and ready, they were well past us – caravans of 5 to 7 fire trucks at a time.

The homeowner at the Crimson Clover vineyard in Morgan Hill was on his riding mower and cleaning up between the rows when we got there. The cover crop between rows here is Crimson Clover, which is gorgeous when it’s in full bloom and lush green with bright red tops, but by now, it’s dry and done and though the rows don’t really need to be mowed it sure does look better when it’s done. A blue jay kept flying through the site while we were there so we addressed that issue with the owner since there will be tons of fruit to harvest (thus requiring netting to keep out the birds) this year.

Almost done.

Our last stop was in Coyote Valley, also a Morgan Hill address, but further north on the outskirts of San Jose is the Sessen Vineyard (though I’m not certain yet if that’s what they plan to call it or if I’m even spelling it correctly). This site is an installation we just planted a month ago. The little vines are looking great though you have to search for them in the tall grass and clover (yep, we put in the same crimson clover here too). We’ll get the site mowed soon and do some weed control under the rows, as well as get the wires installed. No real urgency just yet on the wires as the plants are barely 6″ off the ground.

It was just around 5 p.m. when we pulled in to the driveway at home, a full day with a short lunch break and market stop for rib eyes.

Kathy and Millie stayed over for dinner; fresh bread, baked potatoes, chard, and rib eyes. We opened a Belle Pente Rose to refresh ourselves with snacks while the food cooked, then Paul opened a couple of Bordeaux’s to have with dinner (a ’98 and ’01 Calon Segur).

The road trip was just about 190 miles…billable under vineyard management.

I was glad to take the day and see all each of the sites in one shot, it gave us all a full glance into what each vineyard is up to right now. Most are in full bloom and showing great fruit set, all look spectacular. Our guys are working hard for us and it shows.

Yesterday we drove over to Corralitos as part of visits to every vineyard we manage (more on that 8 hour 190 mile trip later). Things were calm and the town square was mostly empty. Home made ‘Thank You Firefighters’ signs were up everywhere.

We saw lots of fire crews on the roads, either headed home (North), or to Uvas Canyon (South). There was a real good sense that the Corralitos area is safe and returning to normal. It looked like there were two active areas of the fire from the smoke we could see, and that it had moved back to 5-6 miles from the Hazell Dell Road, Browns Valley Road junction.

The CDF is reporting more than 70% containment now anf that 100% containment should happen tonight.

The CDF is now reporting that the fire is 60% contained. It looks like a succesful stand was made at Redwood Road and Hazell Dell Road at the south edge of the fire and that area is no longer in danger. Windy Oaks has reported that they’ve been told they are no longer in danger.

The fire looks like it has been held at the northern edge of Uvas Canyon as well. There’s an access road to the summit, that’s one of the hardest hikes in the Bay Area, and a claring near the top of the canyon, and it appears crews have stopped the fire there. Keeping the fire out of the canyon would have been a priority.

Once a fire gets into a canyon in California it becomes critical. Canyons become wind funnels and push flames up the sides and out, spreading the fire as flames race up the sides. There was an advatage in this fire as the fire was entering the canyon from the top, and not the bottom, making it easier to stop.

It looks like the fire has been stopped in the critical areas near housing and crews will now work to contain it in the more wild areas.

Just caught up on reports of the fire and it’s mostly positive news. The weather has been cool, and the winds down the last two days. It looks like the crews were able to stop the fire at the junction of Hazell Dell Road and Browns Valley Road.

The Woodruff’s look to be out of any danger now. We’re planning on trying a visit tomorrow to see the vineyard, but suspect we won’t be able to get past the fire lines. I’ll send off a note today to Pete and Barbara to see how they are.

Reed’s Vineyard also seems out of danger now, and there’s no chance of the fire moving down Redwood Retreat Road and getting close to Martin Ranch or Fernwood Cellars.

The bad news is that it has moved into Uvas Canyon Park. The area just east of the park is more populated than the areas the fire has been burning in so far, and the construction is much older, which means very poor fire clearance and breaks. Almost all the housing in the area is build right into the forest.

Some good pictures of the density of the forest in the area are at :

http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/3Dbayarea/html/UvasCanyon.htm

For a referance point on where the fire is to us, check out our lable. The view from the label is the view from our backyard. The fire is burning right behind the twin peaks you see on the left side of the label.

We’re fine. Working the day jobs as normal today. Herardo was scheduled to work in the Woodruff Family Vineyard today, but I sent him to the Harrison Vineyard and Elandrich vineyard in Los Altos instead.

We could see Reed’s vineyard and home in the TV coverage last night. We consulted there and helped him put in the vineyard. He hasn’t called me, but I’m sure he evacuated. IF you check out this map:

map

He is located right where the color of the vegitation changes on Summit Road, south of the fire. There’s a cluster of houses there, with a good cleared fire area, so it’s likely that if the fire does reach that area it will be defended hard and they should be able to save the houses. The vineyard is organic, so all metal, but the plants could be lost. The big risk I think is that they’ve probably already drained his tanks so there’s no water left for the vineyard.

I just spoke with Barbara Woodruff. The are located on Brown’s Valley Road, just south of Avocado Road. If you check the map there you can see the terraced vineyard. It’s also an area that can be defended well. They have the tractor out now incase they need to help cut a fire line. They have heard a rumor that they are in an evacuation area, but they are going to stay. They can see the smoke on Redwood Road, and the helicopter activity, it looks to them to be about a mile away now. Barbara said it looks like they are changing out the fire crews as there have been trucks on the road for the last 20 minutes.

She seemed fine and we spent more time talking about who I’d sell the grapes too this year than the fire.

Windy Oaks actually looks to be a bit closer at this point. If you follow the junction where Brown’s Valley Road turns into Hazel Dell Road, and follow that, Windy Oaks is at Hazel Dell and Sweetwood. I got the email from Judy yesterday as well that they were fine. I suspect she’s just not wanting to answer the phone so hopefully they’ll send out an update today. They are in a bit more rugged and wooded area than the Woodruff’s with less open farm land around, so a slight higher risk.

The weather is cooperating though and winds are down, so keep all fingers crossed.