Vine/Wine Friday
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.