Crushing Cab with Cousin John

Today we faced the final and most daunting physical task of our winemaking, getting the Cabernet picked, crushed and into primary fermentation. We have four varietals, but we’ve planted more Cabernet than the other three put together. So we knew, whatever we’d gone through with the Mourvedre, Grenache and Cinsault, we’d need at least to double that for the Cabernet...

A Hill of Beans

Most of my friends would say I’m a pretty good cook, but I don’t think that begins to describe it. Andy is much more what I’d call a good cook as in the bold, adventurous, “cooking as contact sport” Gordon Ramsay kind of cook. Me? I’m all about the gadgets and the processes. I can improvise, but I want the scientific tests to back me up before I...

State of the Grape Address

It’s been a scary few weeks for grape growers in Sonoma and Napa Counties, what with two long-lasting, drenching and unseasonable storms hitting us at the end of growing season. The problem with late season rain on vineyards is that, just when you are trying to get the grapes to concentrate their flavors (most of us have turned off irrigation for the last month or so), a sudden...

The Grapes of Wrap

I’m still slogging up to the crush pad to punch down the fermenting grapes and take readings three times a day. Which gives me lots of opportunities to think about workflow and processes. One thing that’s been driving me crazy — Andy’s haphazard rodent and fruit fly protection. Since we are doing primary fermentation on an open crush pad in large one ton bins...

Rainy Days and Mondays

Usually farmers pray for rain. Especially in semi-arid places like California. Except when that rain comes at the end of the growing season and just before harvest. And if you are growing wine grapes. Typically, we shut off the irrigation water (which is only a drip at the best of times) about a month before harvest . That concentrates the flavors of the berry and creates a greater...

This Post Pre-Empted By Oscar’s Em...

This post was supposed to be about more winemaking technique. Or maybe about my latest adventures in cooking and canning with the produce I’ve grown. Instead young Oscar got stung on the nose by a wasp and precipitated a tour of Sonoma’s veterinary clinics in search of a place that would take him on an emergency basis. It all started as I chatted with John the Baptist and...