There is a guy at mass who prays for rain all year round. After we received six inches of rain in one day, I am thinking I should ask him to stop for a while! We survived the rain. The creek that runs through the ranch with our Italian varieties reached its maximum and nearly flooded us, but it did not rise over the banks.

We started pruning, the biggest job of the year, the second week of December. We hope to finish by the second week of March. I am very fortunate to have 32 farm workers who have been with me for many years. They take real pride in what they do. Pruning is the most important job of the season. What you do in January is what you get in September.

We just returned from Arizona after a fun, fabulous week with club members and friends. I wish everyone had the opportunity to have that experience - new friends, new wines, and new memories.

2021 Malvasia Secco: If you are looking for a light, fruitful wine, this is it. I am impressed with the softness that is in this vintage. Serve well chilled. Malvasia Secco could compete with varieties like Viognier, Gewurztraminer, and Riesling. It has lots of powerful floral flavors without the sugar. It might approach being delicious. This one surprised me. The Malvasia Bianca variety is widely overlooked, in my opinion.

2019 Barbera and 2019 Nebbiolo Barbera: If you are looking for something big and bold, but soft and with great color, this is Barbera. I just compared this wine with the other wine in our shipment, and the results were interesting to me. Barbera is great on its own but when blended with Nebbiolo, it takes on a new dimension. The Nebbiolo Barbera has become one of our most popular wines. When tasting these two wines side-by-side, I cannot believe the difference. I think both are excellent but I am just overwhelmed by putting the two together. We originally did this by mistake when trying to make a rosé in 2004. We left the grapes on the skins too long and the rosé became red, but it turned out to be a great mistake! Enjoy both of these wines.

This morning I broke a mirror and I am afraid to say anything more! It won’t be long before we join a group of wine club members for a Croatian cruise on the Adriatic Sea. I am looking forward to taking the group to the two islands where my grandparents were born. They are unbelievably beautiful. It looks like we will be drinking a lot of Croatian wines because they are not too receptive to outside wines! We are looking forward to the Croatian experience. The men have strong backs and weak minds, and the women are tall and beautiful!!!!