Blogs

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.

read more…

November, 2018

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.
read more…

October, 2018

Toccata - A Little Bit of Dust from the Dirtman

Harvest is in full swing. We have picked about 1/3 of the crop and we are running late calendar-wise. 

read more…

September, 2018

From the Ground Up
Harvest has begun, a little on the late side, thanks mostly to Mother Nature.
read more…

August, 2018

Toccata - A Little Bit of Dust from the Dirtman

The grape crop is behind in our area and all over the state, around 15-25 days behind schedule. A very cool spring can be blamed. Our recent weather has been on the warmer side but not enough to catch up. Our Italian grapes are progressing well. 

read more…
Dirtman Louis Lucas - a photo

July, 2018

From the Ground Up
Today we are experiencing the first truly hot day of the year. At Valley View, it peaked at 106°F for a few minutes To me, the vines are a little behind schedule although, with warmer weather, we might catch up. Right now, we are expecting harvest to be late August to the first of September.
read more…
The Valley View Vineyard scene

June, 2018

Toccata - A Little Bit of Dust from the Dirtman

The grapes are in full bloom. The flowers have opened, and from the flowers will emerge the berries. This is a critical time in the vineyard.

read more…
A photo of Royce and Louis

May, 2018

From the Ground Up
In our last newsletter, we were worrying about the freezing temperatures. Fortunately, the buds were not open and we came out of that in good shape. Since that time, we have had bud break. We had a couple nights of freezing temperatures. We had a few vines get nipped on the Goodchild Ranch and four acres of one of our Italian varieties took a pretty good hit. As we always say, in farming we live with the weather and it is a tremendous influence on what happens in the vineyards.
read more…
A vineyard photo

April, 2018

Toccata - A Little Bit of Dust from the Dirtman

Spring has sprung with a nice three days of rain which were badly needed. The rain really helps us for irrigation and frost protection purposes. All the vines have been pruned and tied and buds are beginning to open. It won’t be long before we are into spraying, shoot removal, and tractor work.

read more…
A photo of Louis pruning vines

March, 2018

From the Ground Up
After a warm winter, March has come in with more than three weeks of freezing night time temperatures. We can be thankful that none of our buds have pushed. Otherwise, we would have some serious problems.
read more…
Louis Lucas walking in the vineyard

Pages