Blogs

July, 2019

From the Ground Up

Sixty days until harvest. It seems like yesterday that we were pruning and being thankful for the terrific rains that we had. The vines this year are a little larger than normal thanks to the wet winter.

June, 2019

Toccata - A Little Bit of Dust from the Dirtman

This has been a cold, wet spring but we avoided frost on the new growth. Now we are hoping for some heat and no more rain. The grapes are trying to bloom and they are dragging behind, which could make for problems later.

May, 2019

From the Ground Up

Spring is definitely upon us. Today is probably the warmest day of the year so far with temperatures in the upper 80’s. The vines are reaching for the sky thanks to the abundant rain and perfect growing weather.

April, 2019

Toccata - A Little Bit of Dust from the Dirtman

We are just completing our yearly task of pruning the vines. One of the grapes that we prune nearly last is Nebbiolo. It loves to come out early so by pruning late, we delay budbreak by a couple of weeks to hopefully carry it past the frost season.

March, 2019

From the Ground Up

This year’s high amount of rain has been great for the vineyard. It helps cleanse the soils and gives us reserve water for irrigation.

February, 2019

Toccata - A Little Bit of Dust from the Dirtman

Well, that rain I talked about in your last newsletter showed up! In a short period of time, we are at over 11 inches of rain for the season, or 156% of the year to date average.

January, 2019

From the Ground Up

The weather has been great. Grapes have been slow to ripen. Crop size is normal in some varieties and to the heavy side in other varieties.

December, 2018

Toccata - A Little Bit of Dust from the Dirtman

This year’s large vintage is exceptionally high in quality. The weather was kind to us throughout the entire harvest period. We started late and we finished late.