On the Contrary

Vine:   Another week of thinning, now mostly in the Grenache.  I finished these rows which is a relief because the Grenache is a very thick and hearty plant and you really have to dig your way in to see each spur and remove the unwanted shoots.  I am now in the final block of thinning, the Mourvedre, which is considerably easier because the plant is not as thick and it is easier to see what needs to be removed.  The picture above shows the lower vineyard before mowing and final thinning.  Once in a while you break off a keeper and it breaks your heart, but that is life.  I have also been back in the Syrah because it is growing so fast trying to push new growth up through the wires so you don’t end up with a jumbled mess or horizontal growth.  The lower vineyard is more challenging than the upper vineyard because you are always standing on a 45° slope and it just wears you out.  Some of my work was slowed down last week as I really started to feel punk.  I thought it was just old age and too much sun, which is always a possibility, but it turned out to be a tick bite or spider bite which my wife discovered (on my back) which was a little infected.  Once it was cleaned and treated with an antibiotic I started feeling much better. It just goes with the territory of working with nature.  At any rate, I will only have one more week of getting up at 5 am so I can be out by 9am and then it will be manageable.

The other major chore is to mow down the grass/clover in the vineyard and then do a massive weed-eating job to tidy up the vineyard.  The picture on the left shows the upper vineyard after I mowed it.  Most of the grasses and clovers have gown to seed and dried out so it is a good time to cut them down before I am dragging my spraying gear through the vineyard.  It is always a chore to drag out my tow behind deck mower and then get it running since I only use it once a year.  After much cussing and pouring gasoline directing into the air intake of the carburetor, I got it running although in fits and starts, and got the upper vineyard mowed.  This weekend I will tackle the lower vineyard in the evenings when it is not so hot.  Mowing the lower vineyard is a somewhat daunting task as the terraced lower vineyard is very steep so there is a distinct pattern to stay safe.  With 500 #s of mower behind you, you never turn downhill or you may see the mower go by you as you swing around and start down the hill backwards.  More than once, before I learned how to manage the turns and hills, I ended up tittering on the brink of disaster having to gingerly climb off the machine in a precarious position and then use the winch on my ATV to pull into a safe position.  This week, like every week, I think just one more week and then I will be able to relax.  The reality is about June 30 everything is really done and then you just coast to harvest, with some minor thinning and other maintenance.  The picture below shows my trusty ATV with tow behind mower.

Wine:   Last week was our Rock and Rhones event in which four of our wineries in Pleasant Valley (south of HW 50) that grow Rhone Varietals have a pairing of food and wine.  I have written about it in my last several Vine/Wines so I won’t bore you here except to say that the wines were excellent and I now have a good supply for the summer.  Believe it or not, one of my favorite pairings was an El Dorado honey, fennel, ginger & viognier marinated salmon cooked in parchment with a Roussanne/Viognier blend at Narrow Gate, and some goat cheese with a lemon olive oil paired with a Viognier at Miraflores.  I know, I know, whites.  What was I thinking?  There was also a Forest King Boletes Mushroom Tart with spring onions at Sierra Vista with their Mourvedre which was excellent (see a red).  If any of the wineries had live music I would have stayed all day.  The Grenache with a La Clarine Roussette cheese pizza at Holly’s Hill was also excellent.

Tomorrow night, my vineyard advisor and good friend Ron Mansfield is coming over to dinner and I am grilling a leg of lamb.  That will force him to bring over a good Rhone from his cellar and we shall sit on the patio and indulge in slow cooked leg of lamb, roasted potatoes, a nice garden salad with some fresh arugula out of my garden, some artisan bread and olive oil, and a nice southern Rhone, watch the stars come out, and talk vineyard stuff.  Could life be any better.  Carpe Diem.

Vine: Spring work in the vineyard is in full swing.  I finished a herbicide spray, going after weeds and unwanted growth along the rows using a backpack sprayer to spot spray the evil demons.  When it is wet (a couple of weeks ago now), the big weeds can be pulled out by hand, but now that we are starting to experience typical Northern California weather (dry till October), Roundup® is essential.  One of my friends wants me to go all-natural and hoe these weeds out, but for one guy on three acres it would be an all consuming job.  What I find is that if I spot spray and stay ahead of it, it minimizes the use of the herbicide, and keeps the really repugnant weeds out of the vineyard.

The next chore is some initial thinning of the new shoots.  While it is too early to thin to two shoots per spur, the plant is putting out new buds and shoots in all sorts of unwanted places including at the base of the trunk.  The good news is that most of this new growth can be easily rubbed or broken off.  One needs to be a little careful and not get over exuberant in thinning because between now and when the canes start to harden and get pushed up through the wires, some will break off due to wind or other acts of violence.  So I don’t want to limit my choices too early.  You also want to see which shoots are producing grapes and are growing hardily.  But there are obvious choices for removing like on the trunk, base of the trunk, or out of old wood that would not produce grapes anyway.  The only exception to that is that sometimes the growth out of last years new wood (spur) is weak and you may want a new spur especially if it is better positioned.  Then you would leave that shoot even though it will not produce grapes this year, but will next year.  Remember the rule, grape producing shoots usually only grow out of last year’s new wood.  Note on the picture on the right, there are two well positioned new shoots growing out of the spur.  If you look closely you can see a grape pod on the shoot on the left.  You can also see some unwanted buds on the cardon (horizontal trunk of the syrah) that will need to be removed.

Walking through the vineyard removing unwanted shoots gives you a chance to really look at each plant and see how it is growing.  Right now the shoots are growing at about an inch to two inches a day, and with the forecast 90° weather next week, I could be up through the first wires by the end of next week which means lots of work for me.  The vineyard is full of ladybugs right now and they are eating all sorts of bad critters.  The cover crop is slowing starting to turn brown and die out. No it is not from lack of water because the soil is holding plenty of moisture.  It is just their cycle. I have to wait another two or three weeks until the seed heads have fully developed before mowing the whole vineyard so I get a good dispersion of seeds for next year.  It won’t be long before I will have to do one of my other dreaded chores, which is spray for powdery mildew (sulfur).  More about spraying and irrigation next time.  See, isn’t owning a vineyard glamorous?  Its hard work if you love the plants.

Wine: Well for wine this week I have a recipe selection for you which goes well with a high acid white.  We have a local fisherman who fishes in the bay and ocean and then sells fresh fish on Saturdays at our local outdoor market.  During the winter, he will tell you (via internet) what is available this week and you can order.  This week we ordered fresh shrimp and monk fish.  Candace was craving shrimp so here is a very simple and excellent recipe for a quick and simple fresh green bean and shrimp dinner.   The green beans can be fixed several ways and this time I added mushrooms.  Basically you trim off the stems of the green beans, and then boil them for no more than five minutes and then immediately remove them from the heat and soak them in ice water to stop them from cooking.  Dice a couple of shallots and several cloves of garlic.  Just before you are going to serve the shrimp, brown the shallots in a large sauté pan for about 2-3 minutes.  In a separate pan cook the mushrooms in some olive oil and butter (the mushrooms will produce juice which you don’t want in the sauté pan).  Throw in a pinch or two of the garlic and a touch of white wine and cook until the mushrooms are just turning soft.  In the meantime, add the rest of the garlic to the sauté pan and cook for only about a minute over medium heat to release their flavors.  Then turn the heat to high and add the green beans and mushroom and cook about 2-3 minutes, tossing frequently, until the beans are hot and the flavors have been absorbed.  The alternative to the mushrooms is to grate about a teaspoon of lemon zest and add it with the green beans instead of the mushrooms and it gives the whole dish a fresh crisp flavor.

For the shrimp, it is really easy.  Heat the oven to about 400°.  Put the shrimp (shell removed and deveined), on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and coat in olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Then simply roast them about 6-8 minutes and they are ready.  Serve with a high acid white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc or a blend of Viognier and Roussanne.  I would recommend the Tamarindo from a Donkey and Goat, a 2007 Roussanne from El Dorado.  Yes I know, in the picture there is a red.  I am incorrigable.  Carpe Diem

Note:  If you click on the pictures (they are all high resolution) you can zoom in to see any details that might interest you.  Clicking multiple times will zoom your view.

There have been a few hits on my site from those interested in pruning their vines.  Please note that all of the pictures that I post are high resolution and you can click on them and they have ample capacity to be enlarged for a close look at the pruning technique.  These pictures can either be found in past Vine/Wine Fridays (just click on the category on the right) or you can visit the vineyard pictures (mostly from last year). I have also included the picture above to show the budding on a head trained (single stake) grenache. The plant is about 5 feet tall and has six spurs (or seven) evenly spaced around the trunk both vertically and around the circumference.  What you are looking for is that the shoots can grow unimpeded by other shoots and evenly space around the plant (balance).  What you are looking at in this picture is one short spur (last years new wood cut back to two buds) budding out and the flower quite apparent (this years grapes if they are pollinated.  They won’t “flower” until June).  There is also some unwanted growth on the trunk which I will remove once I am sure the other shoots are healthy.  These buds will grow to about 8′-15′ in length.  Okay I feel better now.  I have done my educator duty.  Back to sipping the end product.  Happy Friday.

Vine: Finally warm weather in the vineyard and things are starting to waken.  I finally finished my spring chores on Thursday.  That entailed getting the final piles of pruning debris out of the vineyard and down to the burn pile and burning them.  The picture on the left shows my trusty ATV with a load of shoots and in the background you can see the burn pile at the bottom of the hill smoking slightly.  It’s done and I don’t have to do it again until 2010.  Almost all the plants are budding out, and it is now apparent that I took some frost damage as some buds are clearly damaged and I will have to wait for secondary budding.  In a couple of weeks I can really see how much damage I really have.

In the next week I have a couple of chores that must be done.  First is to strap on my backpack sprayer and do some weed control in the rows.  I noticed some new weed growth and if I get to them early, I can minimize any spraying with Roundup.  The second chore is more of an everyday thing and that is walk through a section of the vineyard and remove unwanted growth on the vines.  The plants like to bud out on the trunk and various other places and it is much easier to remove them now than later.  Besides it gets me out in the vineyard every day and in touch with what is going on out there. 

One thing I have noticed is more bees this year and my red clover seems to be making a comeback, both welcome occurrences.   Also this spring is much later than last year so it will be interesting to see how the season goes with this late start.  The other things I planted because I think we are past the frost danger, are my tomatoes, cucumbers, and herb garden (basil, rosemary, sage, tarragon, chives, thyme, and arugula).  I pride myself in my tomatoes and nothing is better than in August when everything but the roast beast comes from the garden.  You can see in the picture on the right that I have some volunteer poppies that are just beautiful all summer.

Wine: I would like to promote a local event that I think is one of the best events up here in my neck of the woods for you Rhone lovers.  The Rocks & Rhônes Festival is on May 23 and 24 2009 from 11am – 4pm.   It features some of our best producers and their wine is on par with some of the best Rhones in California.  It’s not cheap at $30 a person but it is well worth it and for sure you will get to meet the wine makers and ask them all the questions that have been burning in your soul.  Here is the promo:

Visit the Pleasant Valley Wineries for a great weekend of food and wine pairings, new releases, wine club specials, and barrel tastings. Local farms and artists will be highlighted showcasing the flavors, talent and diversity of El Dorado County.

The event is held at all four wineries
$30 per person in advance online, $35 per person at the door.
Price includes logo Riedel glass.

Menu:
Holly’s Hill: Grilled mussels w/ Winterhill EV olive oil ; Pizzas w/ Willow Pond produce and La Clarine Roussette cheese

Miraflores : La Petite Pork Sandwich ; Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches
Chevre Cheese & Tapenade

Narrow Gate: El Dorado honey, fennel, ginger & viognier marinated salmon cooked in parchment ; Allez! house made, grilled French sausages with locally grown, organic legumes on arugula, drizzled with rosemary olive oil & sea salt

Sierra Vista : Lamb Osso Bucco with Local Olive Oil & La Clarine Goat Cheese Blood Orange Gremolata ; Forest King Boletes Mushroom Tart with spring onions

If we get one of those beautiful spring days, there cannot be a better way to spend it.  Heck, you might even run into me.  Carpe Diem

Vine/Wine:  Sorry late again with too much real work to have time to focus on really important things like growing grapes and drinking wine.  And sadly Steve has been one dull boy with very little to report.  The weather has turned cold and rainy.  Hopefully the last hurrah of cold weather.  I did have a U.C. Davis professor up here with some on his enology students to study the vines and identify some of my sick vines (oak root fungus, but they didn’t know it).  It was a trip into a strange vineyard to solve a desease problem.  I don’t know if they figured it out or not.  I have lost about 15 plants to the slow desease and there is little I can do.  It is part of the risk of planting in oak and pine forests.  There is a treatment, but in involves methyl bromide, which is anow a prohibited substance, so I just live with it.  Any way there is nothing else to report so instead of boring you with farmer talk, I will just leave with this picture.  There is tranquility and beauty up here and you just have to take the time to appreciate it.  I promise to use my time more productively next week.

Vine: Okay so it is now Sunday.  It’s like life.  I keep falling further behind, and finally the crowd has lapped me.  Oh well. We had a cold snap two weeks ago and then last week it was 90°.  That got things going.  Now it is cooling down again with highs only around 65°.  Everything is leafing out except the Mourvedre which are always the last to show their little green leaves.  I have detected some damage from the freeze, but primarily in the Viogneir.  I would say about 5%, but the next couple of weeks will be critical as these young leaves are very susceptible to frost damage.  It is remarkable to think that from these little buds will come shoots that grow to 15’ – 20’.

It is absolutely a gorgeous time in the vineyard.  As evidenced by the picture, the grass is beautifully green, red clover heads are everywhere, and the air is crystal clear and fresh.  It is truly a beautiful time.  It is a habit of mine to take a walk with my trusty friend Sophie through the vineyard and just experience, usually with a nice glass of wine in my hand.  When I am old and pretty much worn out, these are days I want to savor in my memory.  My Dad died in the spring in the hill country of Texas and I remember thinking of the sadness of my life without him, and then I saw the beauty of the rebirth of nature all around me and some how it was a great comfort.  We are all part of this great cycle even if we rarely take time to stop and savior it.

This is do nothing time in the vineyard even though I am itching to mow between the rows.  But I must restrain myself to let the clover and grass go to seed and dry out some so I will have a good crop next year.   Luckily I only have some pruning debris which has been raked into piles to pick up and burn, and assuming and I can get a break from my consulting treadmill, I will have that done this week.  Then I just wait and watch.  Even though it drives my vineyard advisor crazy, I will do some early thinning of the shoots.  Remember the rule of two shoots to a spur.  Well the plant can’t remember that rule so it will push out all kinds of jumble.  In the best of all worlds you would wait long past frost season and pick the two best positioned shoots and remove the rest when you are sure they are no longer susceptible to damage or breakage.  But what normally happens to me is that I get some project away from the vineyard and by the time I get back it is a jumbled mess and makes both thinning and pushing the shoots up through the wines a very difficult job.  So about mid-May, I will begin that task.  Other than that, there is not much to report, just very tranquil walks among my rows with a glass of wine and my trusty friend.

Wine:  Last Saturday I went to a venison dinner at the Ward’s.  Mike Ward loves to hunt and I love to eat what he shoots.  In this case it was venison prepared by Christian Masse, my favorite French chef.  He had two versions of venison tenderloin, garlic and pepper and two wonderful sauces.  There were clams and muscles, great cheeses, artichokes, roasted potatoes, fruit, smoked salmon; oh I could go on and on.  But the wine was spectacular.  I may have had too much to drink, which is a lot of wine, but I just could not help myself.  There were three in particular that I want to note.  The first I brought and it was a 2006 Yangarra Cadenzia (Rhone blend Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre).  I had tasted their wines before (Australian) and they produce a very good and reasonably priced wine.  This one was excellent with very little oak letting the Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre display all their wonderful flavors and aromas.  They make wine very much in the style of the Rhone Valley with the complexity and flavor not being drowned out by jammy fruit.  The bottle did not last long.

Number 2 and a wonderful Syrah and that was a 2000 Madroña Reserve Syrah.  Paul Bush, the owner and wine maker has been making some wonderful wines and this one is of the better Syrahs I have had.  It had a flavor that I look for which is hard for me to describe, but a earthly kind of vegetative flavor that many good Syrahs exhibit.  As I noted earlier, I like a Syrah that is big, complex, with a long finish.  This means you have to be careful about too much oak and you can’t let your grapes hang too long (too jammy, too much sugar/alcohol).  But then I tasted my favorite of the night.

It was a 2006 Sonoma Coast Syrah from Lynmar Estate in the Russian River Valley.   Most have tasted their Pinot and Chardonnay and they are excellent.  But this Syrah was just exquisite.   And to my delight it had that wonderful earthly flavor I so love.  Two in one night!  This Syrah (and the Pinot and Chardonnay) was brought by Hugh Chappelle who is the wine maker there and to my great delight took the time to explained to me how that flavor comes about.  It is a special yeast (hope I got this right) that takes longer to act and is therefore a little more risky as you ferment longer.  I had met Hugh at several gatherings, but had never had a chance to really talk with him.  I strongly recommend that if you are out in the Russian River Valley you make Lynmar Estate a stop.  Hugh is a delight to talk with and his passion for his creation comes through.

Okay, I know.  It is tough duty, but somebody has to do it.  Besides, and trust me on this one, I have paid my dues.  Carpe Diem.

Vine: Okay so it is Saturday morning.  Such is my schedule lately.  Those crazy contractor people think this is a great time to build stuff in Afghanistan so I have been busy with the how.  But back to the vineyard.  I don’t think Northern California gets spring any more.  It has been cool and last week it dropped down to 29° in the vineyard.  I don’t believe there is any damage because things have not really leafed out yet. The only thing at risk was the Viognier which is the closest to real bud break.  Los hombres returned last Wednesday to finish the pruning of Mourvedre so the pruning is complete, but I still have the debris to clean up in that block.  It is suppose to be 85° tomorrow and if that weather continues, well besides breaking out the shorts and sandals, everything will leaf out.  That is when the plants will be at real risk of frost damage, when we have young tender green shoots.

This is what I call the wild season in the vineyard.  The cover crop of grasses and clovers is getting tall and I would love to mow it to make my vineyard look nice and neat, but these are annuals and they need to germinate if I want a cover crop next year.  The cover crop does several things in a vineyard.  First it holds in the soil on my steep slopes that are subject to erosion.  Second, it provides a habitat for good insects like ladybugs and later, praying mantis.  Finally, the clover actually increases the nitrogen in the soil.  If you are interested (and if you are you must lead a very boring life) there is a whole science around cover crops that you can lookup at U.C. Davis.  I actually bought a whole book on cover crops, but you can save yourself a lot of time and just talk to some of the other growers in the region who know what works and what doesn’t.

So for the near term there is not much to do in the vineyard except watch for leaf out, hope we don’t get a freeze, hunt the ever present and terrifying gopher, and repair any erosion damage from last year.  Once the shoots really start to develop, I will go through and thin them out (remember you only want two to a spur and you are going to get five or six), and for the trellis grapes (Syrah) push the shoots up through the wires.  Probably won’t have to water till June.

Wine: Last week I went to a birthday party for my good friend Mike Ward (tonight we are going to have a venison dinner there) and the food fair was definitely eclectic, cheese plates, salami, olives, clams, muscles, oysters, and lasagna.  My friend Ron Mansfield brought a Bandol which I found to be the most interesting wine there.  Bandol is a region of France (Provence) known for predominately their Mourvedre.   It is one of the oldest growing regions in France and was planted some 2500 years ago by the Romans.  What I found interesting about French Mourvedres are their more tannic and complex flavors than what we produce here in California.  California Mourvedres, at least the good ones, are very fruity (cherry) with some tannins, but generally a very mild wine.  French Mourvedres seem to have less up front fruit, but a ton of complexity and tannins with a longer finish.  I think most found this wine that Ron brought a little big, but I found it very interesting and was a great food wine.  Some wines are made to drink alone, and some are made to go with food.  This wine would have been exquisite if served with tonight’s faire, venison.  Just try to keep in mind that when you taste wine there are many styles and in one circumstance a wine can just be so-so wine and in another, exquisite.  Learn to inform your tasting with how this wine might be served and it just might expand your horizons on what you like.  Carpe Diem.

Vine: Sorry to be missing in action, but I got home late last night and have been either working in the Bay Area or visiting my son in San Diego so things have gotten away from me.  So here is progress in the vineyard:  First, I have moved all the Syrah pre-pruning debris down to the burning area and burned it.  Just as I was completing that task los hombres showed up to prune the Grenache, which is just starting to show bud break.  The picture shows the post pruning and you can note the un-pruned Mourvedre in the lower vineyard.  The second picture shows the results of the pruning on the Grenache.  These are all head trained plants, which means that they are supported by a single stake.  What you are looking for is about six or seven spurs evenly spaced around the plant, along the main trunk, and they will be the basis for the new shoots this year.  Note how they are cut back to only two buds and the rest of last year’s growth is completely removed along with unused portions of last year’s spur.

This morning the crew again showed up to do the final pruning on the Syrah so all that is left is the Mourvedre.  They were quite excited that I had already removed the majority of the shoots from the wires in my pre-pruning.  Mourvedre buds out late so it will probably be another week before we prune those.  Just a reminder, we wait as late as possible to prune so that we do not force early budding that would be susceptible to frost damage.  Up where I live there is still a risk, but that is part of the package of growing mountain grapes.  I got some help from a friend, Aldaberto Santana and his son, and we got the pruning debris from the Grenache raked up, loaded, and transferred to the burn area so the rest of the week, until they do the Mourvedre should be light work week.  Next week I will post some pictures of budding out so you know what that looks like.

Wine: Nothing spectacular to report here.  I am so spoiled because I live in an area where my friends produce wonderful wine.  So unless something is really spectacular, it is hard to top what I drink for a table wine.  I went to SF weekend before last for my sister-in-laws five year cancer free surprise party.  The wine was only okay, but then who cared on such a wonderful occasion. There was enough joy in the event that wine was an afterthought.  As always, trips to SF have to have one soiree to one of the wonderful things to see in SF.  This time we went to the Palace of Fine Arts.  I got my needed dose of Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Manet, and Toulouse-Lautrec.  This was followed by a nice crab melt sandwich and Amstel Light at the Ferry Building (Ferry Plaza Sea Food).

The trip to San Diego was just a quick visit with my son, but I do have a restaurant recommendation for you.  We like to eat and just kind of hang around in La Jolla.  So we took a very early flight into the city on Monday and then met our son for breakfast at The Coffee Cup.  It is just a little cafe, but it fixes a mean breakfast and is a delightful place to watch the locals walk by while you soak up coffee, eggs, bacon, pancakes, French toast, etc, etc.  Our one big night out was to a restaurant called the Crab Catcher on Prospect Street in La Jolla.  The setting is exquisite with an outside deck overlooking the ocean and the seafood is just perfect.  I had king crab legs (with beer, of course) and they were perfect.  The two restaurants I can highly recommend down there is 910 and the Crab Catcher.  We still have to try George’s, which is also highly recommended for their seafood, next trip.  Carpe Diem.

Vine: Ah, spring is here.  I can tell because when I get up in the morning every muscle in my body hurts.  No it is not the weather, but the work of pre-pruning and pruning debris clean up.  Each year usually I wait until after pruning and then rake up the shoots, some that are 16’-18’ long and then transport them to the burn area to burn.  If I were a real farmer I would have a tractor with a flail mower so I could just rake them to the center of each row and then cut them up.  But only having my trusty ATV, unable to find a tow behind flail mower (except in Britain and China, but that is a tale for another day), and a neat freak, I spend about a month on my most dreaded task in the vineyard, pruning debris clean up.   The picture I have included shows the upper vineyard, the beautiful ground cover, and the pre-pruning (debris cleaned up).

At any rate, our approach to pruning is to wait until bud break and then prune everything back to two buds on a spur.  By waiting later, it slows down bud break so you can give yourself a couple of weeks of insurance that you won’t get a frost that damages the tender new leaves. At my elevation (3000’) that is important.  But if you wait until late March or early April, the ground cover is in full growth and it is then hard to rake up the debris.  So I do a little pre-pruning by cutting back all the trellis vines to about 8” using a heavy duty gas hedger, cut and pull the shoots off the wires, so that when we do the final pruning it is a fairly straight forward affair without the delay of removing the tangled shoots from the wires.  So for the next week or two I will be doing that, tightening wires, and other fun stuff while we await bud break and the final pruning.  Once pruning starts I will show you the technique and try to explain the process.

Wine:  Last Sunday I went to Holly’s Hill for a pairing of oysters with their Patriarche Blanc (Viognier, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc), and Grenache with grilled chicken.  It was a delight.  Josh (of Josh and Carrie Bendick, wine makers) had gone to the Hog Island Oyster Bar in the Ferry Building in San Francisco to get fresh oysters and they were wonderful.  You got your choice of either grilled oyster in the shell with a dollop of butter and garlic, or raw with a delightful rice wine vinegar sauce.  Interestingly, if you ate the oysters raw (which I do) the Patriarche was a little flat in the finish, but when they were roasted with the butter and garlic it was a delightful bursting of flavors from the wine.   The Grenache went well with either and my cohort, Ron Mansfield (vineyard manager at Holly’s Hill and my vineyard consultant) and I just got a bottle of Grenache and it went well with everything.  Going to Holly’s Hill is always a pleasure because the whole family partakes in every event and they are a delight to know and talk to.  The staff in the tasting room are a gregarious bunch that makes every visit a pleasure.

This weekend is the Rhone Rangers Grand Tasting at Fort Mason in San Francisco.  There will be over a hundred wineries so a little planning is in order.  If you start at the A’s and taste everything you are not going to make it to the K’s.  I am still considering where I want my focus to be.  Last year I did the Syrahs and limited it to a few wineries.  I haven’t got a plan yet and my love for Syrahs may trip up my evolving plan to just taste Rhone Blends this year.  Candace is going with the Rhone Blend whites, and I will deviate to taste anything anyone suggests as special.  We will be spending Sunday night in the City and I haven’t decided where to eat yet.  We are considering something simple after the tasting like clam chowder and a beer.  Will report next week.  Carpe Diem.

Vine:   Well, I lied or more accurately, I forgot.  There is work in the vineyard before pruning.  As noted in the picture taken Wednesday morning, winter is not through with us yet.  The snow was gone in the afternoon, but the rain continuous and I will have to repair some erosion damage in the lower vineyard.  This year in the steep sections I may bite the bullet and install some drainage lines.  The soil is soft now and digging in red dirt is one of my most cherished activities.  The other chore is to retie all the vines, which is not as bad as it sounds.  For the trellis vines (Syrah) the cordons (horizontal runs) have all been retied with a little device called a Max Tapener .  It looks like a giant staple gun and it wraps the tie-tape around the cordon and wire and then staples the tie-tape together.  With some practice you can get a nice tight tie and it cuts the time for performing this task to about 10% of what it would usually take.  The ones I did last year held up fairly well last year so I will continue testing this product.  I am sure some traditionalists will tell me this won’t work, but I am just one guy with only so much time.  I also need to adjust the trunk ties so that they are loosened to prevent binding as the plant grows.  Hopefully if the rain stops I will have this done prior to pruning.  Then all I have to do is clean up and burn pruning debris when that little task is complete.  See, isn’t growing grapes romantic?

By the way I watched “Bottle Shock” and it was truly a fun movie to watch.  Buried in the love story and the wine competition in France was a story about terroir and love of the plant itself.  My favorite quote in the movie was that the vineyard is fertilized by the footprints of the grower in the vineyard.  So true.  Say what you want, to grow great grapes is a labor of love, not technical ability, although it does help.  They got several things very right in this movie:  Growing grapes and making great wine requires a respect for your terroir, hard work, and great art.  A fine wine is a confluence of these three attributes.

Wine:    Last Saturday (remember that Saturday is my day to try to make a great meal at home) I broke out my new All-Clad slow cooker and decided to make Pappardelle Bolognese.  I have a slow cook cookbook and this looked really good.  Veal is a little hard to find, but I finally found some and followed the recipe (Williams-Sonoma Slow Cooking).  It slow cooked for about 8 hours and I added mushrooms which may have been a mistake.  When we finally served it with multi-grain bread, salad, and Dunamis (Narrow Gate Vineyard (Rhone Blend)) I was somewhat disappointed in that it was rather bland.  I think I should have cooked down the mushrooms and removed the excess moisture before I added them to the Bolognese.  But with some extra salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese (and a little hot sauce), it picked up nicely.  I highly recommend the Dunamis as it is a very distinctive blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, and Syrah and you can try it at Narrow Gate Vineyard. Narrow gate (Frank Hildebrand) utilizes a very eco-friendly growing style and does mostly whole berry fermentation, gently extracting the tanins and other flavors out of the grape.  It is a delicious wine and I highly recommend it.  Should I add that the wines produce in this area by winemakers such as Frank are of exceptional quality and price.  Wine Spectator hasn’t figured that out yet with their fixation on the costal areas of California.  Carpe Diem.