Vineyard of Random Enlightment

Two Mays ago we asked friends one Saturday to come to our then field of dirt and "help" us plant the vines of Malbec. We offered free room, free food and free booze, your choice. A few friends saw through the veil of free and clearly saw WORK. They decided not to come, but those that did come have a common love.

A love of the Earth, the soil, the vines. And maybe the free booze, who knows? A love of working in the dirt, getting your hands dirty. A feeling of accomplishment seeing a row planted and ready to grow. A romantic.

The team of vineyard workers were given their allotment of vines, shovels, a 6 foot stick, and a hardy hi-ho shove out into the field. Each of the 29 rows was deep V-ditched. This allows the planter to take the vinelet (is that a word? it is now)put it in the vee and cover it with dirt. Works pretty well.

The fun part is then the planter takes their calibrated 6' stick and measures from the just-planted vine to the spot where the next vine is to be planted. From the very beginning this is more of an art than a science. With 6 crews, all first timers, me included, performing this task, it became rather.....how you say....random.

It's kind of like when you first build something ever, say like a bookcase. Because you don't know any better you measure the length give or take 1/8", you measure the shelf length give or take 1/8" and before you know it, you have to slice a 1/2" off the top shelf to fit, and force fit the sides together. That's how it is in our vineyard.

As dedicated fellow planter, Mark, coined so eloquently "Your vineyard is Free Spirited, a Vineyard of Random Enlightenment." Yes, so to speak it is. I like that idea because I like to lead my life like randomly with a bit of spontaneity. Of course, it also can pose some issues...also another reflective trait in my life.

As you can see from the photo, the posts take a serpentine path that harmoniously follows a wave of.....something. Maybe some ethereal alien crop row path algorithm. Who knows? In addition, our rows have different spacing. The 8 foot spacing between the rows sometimes is 7' 8" and other times it's 8' 4". Some of the rows have 41 vines in the row, others have 46 plants. There is absolutely nothing rigid, consistent or austere about these vines. And I love it!

Thus, the Vineyard of Random Elightenment was born.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Winefest Buy - Bookcliff Winery, Tempranillo

Right now I'm tasting the most expensive wine we bought at Winefest...that we liked (I have to put that caveat in there because there were more expensive, but not necessarily as tasty). It is the Bookcliff Vineyards 2008 Tempranillo.

Here's what the experts say about this grape:

Tempranillo is a primary red wine grape for much of Spain, especially wines from the Ribera del Duero and the Rioja Alta. It is also a key blending varietal in Port and known by the name of tinta roriz in Portugal's Douro Valley. It needs only a short growing season and this early ripening tendency is the source of the name tempranillo, which translates to "little early one".

The nose is of very ripe blackberries mingled with red and black stone fruit like plums and prunes. The dark purple wine fills the palate with a rich medley of intensely ripe fruit admixed with minerals, licorice and leather. The wine's concentration and structure dominates the midpalate. Firm yet round tannins underpin a long complex, fruity finish with hints of vanilla and chocolate. This is a big, elegant, graceful wine with great aging potential.

--
Yeah, what that guy said. I believe a Tempranillo should be a little sassy with a bit of alcohol in the aroma, and a slap of tannins at first drink. That's exactly what this wine does. The wine went for $25 and for a Tempranillo, I thought a bit high in price for this state. We're not well known as a wine producing state so you gotta keep that in mind. But searching the web, it looks like the pricing is all over the map. From $6.99 to $54.99. So I just don't know jack.

This wine is delectable. The aroma lends itself to plums and that hint of alcohol with a whiff of chocolate. (I'm not just making that up, I swear) On the palate you taste berries, spice and some tannins. My favorite part with regard to drinking this wine is the finish....It'smooth. I was going to say flabby at the end, but no....I'd say neat. Neat in a very good way.

This wine would be great with caesar salad with anchovies, pesto penne, seared pork tenderloins, or rack of lamb. A good strong cheese would be a marvelous compliment. And it is also easy enough on the palate to drink by itself.

I went to the Bookcliff Winery website to see what they mentioned about it, and it must be so new, that they haven't had a chance to update their website yet. I'm looking forward to seeing what they taste in their wine.

All I know is that I like it. I could drink it everyday although Kenny might not like the fact that I'm drinking $25 bottles of wine instead of $2.99 but you do what you gotta do.

Remember imbibe and enjoy.

Winefest

Saturday was the Winefest. It is one of my most favorite weekends here. CAVE, Colorado Association of Vinticulture & Enology*, puts on the 4 day event. But really the main event is the Winefest at Riverbend park. CAVE used to be called RMAVV which stood for Rocky Mountain Association of Vinters and Vinticulturists, so I guess CAVE is much catchier. They're catchin' on. And that's what I like about the Winefest. It is the one event I've seen in Palisade that gets it. It gets that people want to eat good food while drinking wine. It gets that there should be music playing while people are mingling about. It gets that you should sell wine related things. The only thing it doesn't get is that you shouldn't close at 5 pm and there's no Winefest park event on Sunday. 5 pm?! Things are just starting to rock at 5 pm. That's that 'sweet' small town attitude (that drives me insane).

Anyway, there were about 7000 people that attended and there were 53 wineries. All of the wineries were from Colorado, if you can believe it. There were all kinds like this jovial red wine glass wearing broad (no, that's not me but could be next year.) When you first go into the show you get my favorite thing. No not wine, that's later. You get the 6 bottle carrying bag. That is a great idea. I always feel the need to fill it up. This year they even added a center slot for non-wine things. Jeez, why waste the space is what I say. Anyway, you also get this commerative Winefest tasting glass. With that glass, I can pretty much go anywhere. Ok, let's go.

Kenny and I's mission is two-fold. First, to drink a lot of good wine. Duh. Second, to find buyers for our grapes next year. We have only one rule- we have to like their wine. If we don't like the wine, we don't want them using our grapes to make crappy wine. If we did that, we'd probably have these bottles of wine we'd be pouring for friends, explaining the whole time how 'if you hold your breath and take a swig of gin right after, you'd swear it was an expensive Malbec from Argentina." No thank you.


So we're in cognito....drinking wines (has to be tasty), scoping out the label (has to be a good label), checking out location (Front Range is better, more people...with money), and the pricing of their bottles. Why does that matter, you ask? Because if they can get a higher price per bottle then hopefully, they can pay a higher price per ton, silly. Get it?


By 2 o'clock we were all starving and the Balastreri Winery had the ticket. For $20 you get a baguette, a block of parmesan, a chunk of salami, a wine opener, a mini-cleaver, and some fruit. All the winery booths should sell something like that, they'd make a killing. Full of wine food, we wander our way down to the last row. We tried most of the wines out of the 53. You get just a little taste but 53 tastes, let alone the multiple tastes per grape varietal that each winery carries, can make you a little woozy. By the time I got to the last row, all the wines tasted tangy. That's not good. With the first lucky bastard I thought 'ooh what an aroma, nice body, good finish'. The poor last sucker I stated, 'this is tangy, I can't taste anything else.' Even with water in between, my taste buds were shot.


At the end of our tasting debaucle, I pull up all my wine notes and we all split up to make our purchases. Tomorrow, I'll tell you a bit about some of the wines we thought were up to snuff.


Remember imbibe and enjoy!




* Enology is the study of wine making

Wine ready to drink

Last Friday we drank only 8 bottles of wine, the light weights. But in order for any party host to be ready for just such a wine drinking occasion, I bought an additional case of wine. Because you can never be too ready, and now we have lots of Malbec to drink.....whenever. I thought I'd give you the scoop on these extra bottles of wine. These reviews are pulled from whatever on the internet. Some interesting adjectives.

Trapiche Malbec Oak Cask 2007 - I've had this before and it is yummy. Intense and deep red violet color, sweet aromas of blackberry and plum with a touch of black pepper, smoke and vanilla. Velvety textures with soft tannins on the long finish. Serve with venison, roasts, red meat and grilled meats. $8.99

Dona Paula Malbec 2007 - 90 pts with Wine Spectator. Dark and winey (is that a word?), with warm currant paste, cocoa powder and Turkish coffee notes backed by solid grip on the fleshy finish. Nice hint of grilled sage adds dimension too. $11.99

Punto Final Malbec 2008- 97% Malbec, 3% Cabernet Franc. The wine has a rich bouquet, lively mouth-feel, lingering flavors of red and black berries with undertones of black pepper and vanilla, and a velvety texture throughout. $11.99

Parados Malbec 2008 - The wine is dense red in color with a full and rich nose of wild berries and black currant. The mouth-feel is lush and full-bodied leading to a well-balanced, full-flavored, lingering finish of more berries and hints of mineral (really?).

Gasco Malbec 2008 - This is a funny one from the 'Good Wines Cheap' blog....."I happen to be in a very good mood tonight, I feel as good as a 19 year old college boy finding out his girlfriend isn't pregnant. (I'd feel more a sigh of relief than good, but whatever) .....this wine plays around with a more fruity characteristic, also incorporating chocolate on the mid-palate, with a strawberry finish. Because this wine is young, the alcohol is apparent, but if you know what to smell for you'll also catch Cassis, dark currant, vanilla and a hint of leathery tobacco." $8.99

Layer Cake Malbec 2007 - The wine has a dense, purple core with a brilliant red rim. Black fruit is abundant. Tasting Layer Cake Malbec is an intense mouthful of fruit-driven wine, finishing with very soft tannins. $12.95

Colores del Sol Malbec 2008 - A flavorful, succulent reasonably priced red that can be enjoyed daily without breaking the bank. Surprisingly complex (at this price) nose of plum, raspberry, and blackcurrant. Juicy, fruit-filled palate with additional notes of chocolate and spice. Tannins are moderate and seem to round out with air. $9.99

If anybody buys these and tries them out, let me know what you think. I'll let you know when I open them up one by one.

By the way, what does currant taste like anyway?

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Feast

Yesterday I filled you in on what we drank, Malbec of course, today I'll fill you in on what filled us up. Argentine food.....Yum!

What is Argentine food you may ask. It is anything with meat. When we were "working" in Argentina checking out the Mendozan Malbecs, all we could find plentiful was meat. Meat, meat and more meat. My diet consisted of an asado dinner around 11 pm and a bottle and half of wine daily. Yes, me alone, almost two bottles of wine. I didn't eat a true Asado every night, I could't stomach it.

A true Argentine Asado is unique. It consists of things we don't eat here.....well unless we're from my original familial roots in the back woods of Kentucky. Normally, they'll bring out a mini-Hibachi grill to your table filled with meat. I mean stacked high. Then you try to guess what you're eating. It's not clear because the names of the meats are different than here...and in Spanish.

The Asado or BBQ consists of:

- Various sausages ranging from chorizo to bratwurst-like. Good stuff.

- Blood sausage. This is terrible both hot or cold. I continue to try it and continue to hold down a gag each time. I think the worse thing for me is the consistency of it.....oh and the smell.

- Small intestine. This is tasty for the first 2 seconds after you take it from the grill. After that, gag me. It tastes kind of rubbery, salty with a liver-like consistency.

- Large intestine. Completely inedible. Tried it the first time and had to spit it out. Very rubbery, bad smell, horrible consistency.

- Pancreas Gland. Kind of yummy if you don't think about it. Cut it into small pieces, we're talking small. Leave the gland on the grill because it needs to be hot. It's not too big so by the time I got the gag factor, I had eaten it all. Consistency of fried chicken livers. Decent salty smell.

- Kidney. Can't eat it. Looks horrible and smells worse.

- Tripe. For those of you that don't know, it is the 1st of three cow stomachs. Tripe is super rubbery with little suction cup looking internals. If you are forced to eat it at gun point, request it fried. I had it boiled one time in an Italian restaurant in NYC and got sick right there at the table. Remember, fried.

- Lomo. Yummy. Delicious. Can't get enough of it. Mecca.

- Vacio. Super yummy. The second time I had an Asado I asked for all Vacio. No dice.

So if someone offers you a real Argentine BBQ, be ready to fake a stomach ailment. Of course, saying your doctor allows you to eat the last two.

The Friday feast was not authentic but was very tasty anyway.

We had shrimp and chorizo baked empanadas with grapes, cheeses, bread and oil. Empanadas are the staple of the Argentine people. The parties I went to in Argentina and Chile always started with empanadas. The guests always were so excited to see them that you'd think they had never had them before but heard so much about their goodness. One older gentleman was trying to school me on the beauty of empanadas, stating also their medicinal qualities. Hmmm.

Next we go to the main course, asado. This asado had chorizo, lomo, vacio, pollo (chicken) in a yummy chimichuri sauce. Besides the fact that I always feel so whimsical saying chimichuri (go ahead say it, you'll know what I mean), the sauce is really tasty. I posted the recipe Kenny used , with his own Kenny touches, below.

The two sides were fresh roasted chile polenta and a colorful vegie salad with black beans, corn, purple onion, roasted red and yellow peppers, and peaches on a bed of greens.

For dessert, there was raspberry tart. It's not Argentine but it's SO good. The recipe is from this Provence cookbook. The crust is to die for. I'm not a big crust fan. Like how much I'm not a big crust fan is I don't eat the pizza crust unless I'm starving..literally. This crust smells and IS heavenly. With yummy, full of calories filling on top of the crust. Eventually topped with fresh raspberries. I could eat a whole one by myself, crust ends and all.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Chimichurri Sauce

parsley 4 cups minced

garlic clove 5 diced
oregano 1/2 tsp

red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp

cumin seed 1 1/2 tsp

paprika 1/2 tsp

salt 1 tsp to taste

black pepper 1 tsp to taste

bay leaf 1

olive oil 1/2 cup

canola oil 1/4 cup

balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup

red wine vinegar 1 cup

Kenny's magic proprietary ingredients

Mix all together in a food processor. You can marinade or just brush it on and put it on the grill.

Winefest Weekend - Friday's WineFest

One of my favorite weekends in Palisade is Winefest. It's a time when people from all over come to imbibe and enjoy. I always have a good time. In order to kick winefest off to a good start, we, mostly Kenny, put together a themed feast on Friday night. The theme was.......what else?! Malbec and Argentine cuisine.

Our guests were our fellow Palisade Vineland neighbors, Greg and Christy, mom Nancy, and our old neighbors from Nederland, Mark and Diane. Later in the evening Christy's son, Mark and his wife, Allie, joined in. To get things in the right mood, I went Malbec shopping. I LOVE Malbec shopping. I got a case, of course, there's 9 people. All Malbec under $25.

Here's the list: Catena Malbec 2006

Alamos Malbec 2007

Andeluna Malbec 2004 Reserva

Tierra Divina Malbec 2006

El Portillo Malbec 2007

Tilia Malbec 2008

Norton Malbec 2008

Marraso Malbec 2006

This is not the complete list, this is just what we drank that night. In order for people to have something to do....really, I printed out what some "experts" said about these wines. There were some common descriptive adjectives that I'd like to share with you here.

Complex aroma of plums and mature black fruits......mature black fruits?

Delicate, spicy notes

Dark purple color with violet highlights

Black cherry with a touch of chocolate and sweet spice.....do I smell BS?

Tannins as soft as velvet.........ooh la la

Hint of currant, fig and mocha flavors......what does a currant taste like exactly?

and my personal fav....

The mouthfeel is rich and lush, with concentrated black cherry and red currant fruit flavors layered with sweet spices, tobacco and a hint of leather

Leather?? Well, well. Ok big boy, leather it is.

I liked all these wines.....and didn't taste cow hide in any of them. But if I had to pick a favorite of the evening, from what I remember ,it is the El Portillo. Unpretentious and spicy. It's a nice flavor at a nice price...$14.99.

Oh no wait...it's the Marraso. It was full of berry, and I really could taste the spice. And it was so easy to drink, not any tastes that I had to grin and bear. It's price was a bit pricier, but the label's cooler, at $18.99.

I like both those wines. I'm torn. Well, I'll just have to drink those bottles again in a standoff.

Well, it looked like these people were having a good time. By the way, who are these people? Just joking. We had a great time and it was a great start for the wine drinking weekend of fun.

Remember imbibe and Enjoy!

Chianti, what do you know?

I bought a Chianti a while ago and decided yesterday was the time for it to make an appearance. Poor thing, I should of brought it out 3 years ago. The Chianti, a 2003 from Via Firenze is a reserve but it was disappointing. Not from the standpoint that it was undrinkable. Oh, no it takes a really bad wine to be undrinkable. But it didn't have the flavor I've grown to know and love about that type of grape.

A good Chianti is one that hugs the tomato sauce in a baked ziti. It snuggles with yummy lasagna. It dances with raviolis in marinara sauce. This would not have been a good date. The cork had a chemical smell to it. The aroma from the glass wasn't the same, thank goodness, but the aroma was flat. When moving it around your tongue, it lacked the crisp berry and spice I've come to know with this Italian wine.

Maybe it didn't cellar well, being over 6 years old. But for $25 a bottle, I still expected it to have some of that ol' get up and go.

Well, in honor of the Chianti, I thought I'd lay before you some facts....and a little poetry.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Chianti is a red wine produced in Tuscany, Italy. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco ("flask"; pl. fiaschi); however, the fiasco is only used by a few makers of the wine now; most Chianti is bottled in traditionally shaped wine bottles. Baron Bettino Ricasolii, the future Prime Minister in the Kingdom of Italy created the Chianti recipe of 70% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 15% Malvasia biancaa in the middle of the 19th century.

The first definition of a wine-area called Chianti was made in 1716. It described the area near the villages of Gaiole, Castellina and Radda; the so-called Lega del Chianti and later Provincia del Chianti (Chianti province).

During the 1970s producers started to reduce the quantity of white grapes in Chianti. In 1995 it became legal to produce a Chianti with 100% Sangiovese. For a wine to retain the name of Chianti, it must be produced with at least 80% Sangiovese grapes.

Brie And Chianti At Midnight

In a tiny hotel room in a city renowned
for its medieval bridges, we share quiet
caresses, Brie and Chianti at midnight.

We have learned silence on our
journey together, passing through
lands where our words were useless.

My eager hands navigate your face
in the darkness: an oddly joyous act,
like reading a Bach sonata in Braille.
from http://blog.ridgewine.com/2009/07/10/brie-and-chianti-more-wine-in-poetry/

CHIANTI - LAUGHTERS OF YESTERDAY
Another hot summer night Its still warm outside Sitting on my verandah Drowning in the wine Waiting for the stars To show up on the sky My bottle of chianti Is glowing in the light Like a rare red hibiscus Swaying slowly in the wild Listening to the wolfes* Playing mournfull guitars Straining hard to listen To laughters of yesterday.
http://www.hackorama.com/badpoetry/chianti.shtml

UPS Ground?

After weeks of research via the web, the local experts, the far away experts, and the local growers, K Squared Vineyards finally orders the grapes.

The company we ordered the grapes from had a weird name for a grape nursery. Inland Desert. They're out of Oregon. Oregon? Desert? So there is desert in Oregon on the east side, but do they have to be so literal? Well, everyone here said that was the place to get the stuff so it seemed alright.

I ordered the vines in November. What happens is the nursery plants those 1500 little vines just for us and then ships them whenever we want. We agreed the first week of May was a safe time to plant. They shipped right before then.

The time came and still no grapes. I called the nursery and they checked the computer, they're on their way. I inquired as to how they were shipped. I would think FedEx Overnight. These are vunerable little plants, for god's sake, they need all the gentle care they can muster, right?

Well, apparently I was wrong. They shipped them ground UPS. It took them 7 days to travel from Oregon to Colorado. 7 days! This Inland Desert nursery must know it's stuff. Funny, they didn't even ask me how I'd like them shipped. I would of paid more to get them here sooner for sure.

Finally, the day came when UPS delivered the vines. A brown guy comes up and starts to unload boxes. One box....two box.......no more boxes? Nope. 1500 vines in 2 boxes? You gotta be kidding me.

Quickly, almost desparately I rip open the boxes to see what horrible condition the vines are in. I'm shocked, they look fine. Fine for first year vines packed in like sardines. They're packed in plastic, no water. The vines look like sticks with roots. I can't tell if they're alive or dead. I'll assume they're alive.

Now I have another problem.....planting is not for another week. What the hell do I do with these besides keep them stuffed in this box. Thus, stage left enters Art, our ageless neighbor. He has two bins that are perfect. In my non-agro past, I would say those are great steel bins to put in lots of ice and cold beer. In my agro-present, these are perfect for putting some water in and getting those little guys some air.

Well, apparently the vines made it and I called the nursery to inquire about the amount of boxes, or lack there of, for 1500 vines. I said,"I can't believe that all those vines came in two boxes." The lady responds, "Yeah, I know, we tried to put all of them in one box, but we couldn't get the last 200 in so we split the lot." Huh?

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Whacky Weed?

Well, unfortunately there is no whacky weed involved only weed whacking. I spent two earlier days on the tractor with the mower on its back end, trying to mow as close as possible to the vine WITHOUT mowing down the vine. Luckily, I succeeded.

But the mower won't get rid of those pesky weeds in between the vines. That's where the manual labor kicks in. Manual me. So I get on my jeans, sturdy shoes, protective cap, long sleeved shirt, leather gloves, safety googles and head out to the vineyard with the commercial grade weed whacker.

Initially, we had just a "normal house with a yard" grade machine. Ate it the first year. Now we have a his and hers set of commercial machines. At the moment it's just hers. The rate is an hour a row. There's 29 rows.

I like doing that work.....sort of. I like getting out in the vines and seeing vine by vine how they're doing. Bringing up their canopy into the new wires, pruning back the wild branches. Communing with organized nature.

The part I don't like is....I don't like having to reset the weed whacker wire and filling up with gas every row of vines. And the strap that initially looks pretty comfortable, becomes a torture device after a couple of hours. And the machine vibrates and after awhile so do you. My hands vibrate for at least 3 hours after a couple of hour stint. Finally, I'm covered in weed debris so any hygenic actions I took earlier in the day are lost. Sometimes the weeds are even on my teeth.

Oh well, I'm gonna quit my whining and pour myself a glass from the liter of the Barefoot Zin. $10.99 a bottle. This is the type of wine you want if you don't need memorable, you just need "God, I've been weedwhacking all day.....give me a drink." Everybody has day's like that....well, maybe not exactly like that but you know what I mean.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Wine and white castle burgers

Last night Kenny and I took time off from vineyard work to enjoy a movie. The movie? "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle". A classic comedy film, right up there with "Wayne's World" and "Dumb and Dumber".

It's funny, I can be a pretty serious person, and I don't enjoy sitcoms like "South Park" or "That 70s Show". But I can be seriously entertained by movies like "Airplane", "Blazing Saddles, and of course this latest and greatest. I've already seen it once, so I know I like it.

To get in the true spirit of the movie night, I head over to the City Market and pick up a 16 pack of white castles. No expense spared, I get the cheeseburgers.

Now the most important question, "What wine would go with white castle burgers?" There is only one place in town to properly pair white castles with a wine that can match the legendary taste. Cottonwood Liquors, the $2 grocery cart bin. Oh yeah!

As I approach the wine carts, I see a lady seriously stocking up her wine cellar. She asks me "Are there 10 or 12 bottles in a case?" A case! This lady is a serious drinker, she must know her stuff. So I ask......"What red wine do you like out of this red wine cart?"

She responds "Well, I only see the Merlot, but I really like the Dona Sol Cabernet Sauvignon." And she put another Merlot in her case box. There it is! I see it! Her recommendation! She and I reach for it at the same time, but I was just a little quicker with the flick of my right wrist.

I quickly bring the bottle up to the cashier before trouble starts. This Dona Sol 2007 Cab Sav from Sonoma, CA has a funky label. I like it and I .....don't like it. It's got a Medusa looking person in black kinda floating against a gold label. But for $3.99 a bottle, here goes.

Well, what'd ya know? We've got another winner, ladies and gentlemen! The wine has a nice berry flavor, with a solid amount of tannins, a bit of smoke, and a hint of kiwi. Just making that kiwi stuff up...no kiwi. It tastes good. A little tangy when first opened, but quickly mellows out.

We devoured that whole bottle AND all the white castles. The white castle burger onions tasted scrumpcious with the Cab Sav. They tasted smooth and beefy. Making the white castle burger experience along with the goofball movie a complete success.

And.....no hangover. An additional benefit.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Rootstock....is that even a question?

When we were planning our vineyard, which now seems like a million years ago or at least a million calluses ago, one of the big questions was "Are you going to use rootstock or not?" I just want to plant grapes, what's up with this rootstock inquiry?

So I check it out on our handy, dandy CSU Vinticulturist website. Horst, the University grape dude in town, highly recommends we plant rootstock. The only thing I know at that time looking at the websites is......it is WAY more expensive than non. What is rootstock?

What the CSU website says is:

"Rootstocks were first used in European vineyards in the late 1800s to combat devastating phylloxera outbreaks. The vineyards began to use phylloxera resistant grape plants as rootstocks. These plants were native to North America, where the pest was naturally occurring.

Today, rootstocks can be helpful in vineyards that have limiting factors. Rootstocks can be used to improve vigor, increase production, and help sustain the health or survival of the vineyard. Careful consideration should be given to match the rootstock characteristics with the site limitations, therefore taking full advantage of the rootstock."

Hmmm...sounds like a good idea, and if the CSU guys likes it........so I ask all our neighbors "rootstock or non?" All of them said non-rootstock. Excuse me? Sounds like Horst may need to be a little more influential.

I inquired with the other vinters further....and here's what they said. It's more expensive. Gotchya. Phylloxera danger is extremely low in the US. Gotchya. They don't necessarily improve vigor. Gotchya. And the clincher...if you loose the vine down to the ground due to the winter freeze, you no longer have a Malbec grape, you have a rootstock grape. OOH, really gotchya.

So if we did go with rootstock, lose the vines down to the ground like we did oh 60% of them this past season, then we'd be having to regraft all 900 vines that didn't make it. No thank you!

Thus, we planted pure, unadulterated 2-year old Malbec vines. And I feel good about it.

When I run into Horst, I never bring it up and neither does he. I figure it'd be better that way.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

SeaBiscuit

When K Squared Vineyards was first getting started, we quickly realized we need some machinery power to help us dig, till, plow, move, ecetera. You get the picture. But one of the key things was to keep it within our budget which was pretty much nothing. We needed a tractor that could do what we needed to do without breaking our bank. Thus, Kenny went to work.

Kenny is like your typical guy, if it has wheels and an engine, he's on the chase. I can't stand going through all the classifieds.....newspaper, the Nickel, Auto Trader, Ebay to find that perfect machine, but he loves it. Everyday he's scouring the classifieds on the web and in the paper, searching for that perfect tractor. One day he finds it. He linked on to this website called "Tractor House" (what won't they think of next) and found our perfect match.

This tractor is owned by an Asian guy in Huntington Beach, CA. Actually, this guy owns lots of tractors. Well, he doesn't really own them. He is kind of the liaison between people who want to sell tractors in America, but the tractors are out of Asia. No biggie, right? Besides, the photo looks great. So we borrow our friend, Bob's big ol' truck with a trailer hitch, rented a U-haul car trailer and mosied out to California....during our Christmas holidays.

We get out to Huntington Beach rather uneventfully, and we make our way out to grab our prize. We already had to put down a deposit. We show up at this indescript warehouse kind of place and just an Asian girl, who speaks no English, is there. Eventually, an old white guy shows up. At least he does know who we are and why we're there. He opens up the back lot and drives out the newly aquired purchase.

He pulls it next to the big ol' truck and the tractor looks like a toy next to the truck. The truck's wheels are up to the seat of the tractor. Is that the same tractor I saw in the website photo? It's, it's, it's... so small. The tractor's like a riding lawnmower on steroids. I ask Kenny, "Are you sure this is it?" We ask the guy that same question, he rummages around inside and brings out the paperwork. Well, it sure looks like it. But we really can't tell because all the imprints on the tractor are in Japanese, and we don't speak a lick. Great. We have a Mitsubishi 20 HP, 4-WD tractor.... maybe. When we ask for the user's manual, the old coot rummages around in the back office some more, and returns stating he'll send us one. Three years later, still haven't seen it. Ok, so this is not so bad we convince ourselves. Especially since we spent 12 hours getting here.

Resolved to make the best of it, we go about the next task of putting the tractor on the car trailer. The old guy drives the tractor around to the back, the U-haul retractable ramps are out. Stop! There is no way in hell we are going to get that tractor on that trailer. The tractor's too narrow! Narrower than a Kia? I find that hard to believe! But ergo, it is. So we put our creative hats on, by then the old guy has flown the coop, and work on getting that damned tractor on that damned trailer.

Our buddy Bob has a 1/2" piece of plywood board in the back of the covered bed of his truck. Ah, that'll work. We put that down, start bringing the tractor up the makeshift ramp, and quickly realize the tractor's too heavy for that piece of plywood. Even if it is just two out of the four wheels making their way up the board of wood. Then the Asian guy who we bought the tractor from shows up from the back with a long 4x4. Where'd he come from? We stick the 4x4 under the plywood and slowly drive the tractor up the ramp. By now we've built a makeshift platform to put the tractor on from random construction wood stacked in the back of that tractor lot. There's a lot of stuff back there. But there are no tie downs to tie down the tractor to the trailer. Nada. Nothing. Nothing to firmly, but not too firmly, we don't want to have the tractor break through the random construction wood holding it on the trailer, tie it down. We decide to hit the Home Depot we passed on the way to the tractor house.

Kenny fills out the rest of the paperwork and says his goodbyes. Meanwhile, I've returned the plywood ramp to the back of the bed of the truck. When I attempt to return the construction ladder back on top of the plywood, my depth perception fails me and I ram the ladder right through the front glass, shattering the glass into a million pieces. On the bed, on the drive, right underneath the truck. I burst into tears. I can't take anymore. This whole scene sucked and I just collapsed under the vacuum.

Kenny dutifully helps me clean up the glass, assures me that $3000 for the uber-riding lawn mower is a good deal, and wasting our holidays by driving all the way out to California to pick up a tractor instead of skiing in the mountains was not a waste of time. I don't buy it, but at least I appreciate the optimism, and spousely support.

All cleaned up, off we go to the Home Depot with the tractor riding free style. We cringe at every curb, and pot hole. We take turns like your 90-year old grandma. We buy a various assortment of tie-downs, not really knowing what kind we need. We get the small motorbike kind, and we get the ATV in the back of the bed kind. And just for grins, we get 2 "holds down the earth" kind. Whoo, expensive. I feel good though. We feel good about this. However, our returned relaxed mood is once again ruined as we see from the rear view mirror, the front 2 tiedowns flying free as a bird behind us as we are on our way back to Colorado. the tie downs slamming heavy on the U-haul trailer, and occasionally on the truck.

We instantly pull over in LA traffic, taking our lives truly into our own hands, and use the friggin' expensive tie-downs. We doublecheck the back ones, and feign ourselves that they'll be alright. What else are we going to do anyway? We don't have anymore ties.

We travel on, feeling good (enough) about the purchase, happy to be on the road without any more crises. Then we hit Utah. The snow is beginning to fall. Look how pretty the snow is, I think. And then we hear the weather forecast on the radio. Severe snow storm warning all across Utah, up to 3 feet in some areas. We were travelling interstate, I-15 to I-70, the whole way but a snow storm is a snow storm. The wind was brutal and the roads were slick so we decided to stay the night (wasting another day of our Christmas holidays) in Richfield, UT, population 700 and another mile high city. We wake up the next morning to a good 4' of snow, and no snow scraper in sight.

K Squared Vineyard personnel slowly, cautiously make their way back to home. Home only 32 hours after leaving Huntington Beach. I am not quite sure if it was all worth it. Kenny in his quest to make the best out of this situation, decides to make a valiant purchase.

We dump the "tractor" out in front of the garage. Fellow farmers come by and inquire about the tractor, pseudo-lawn mower. They'd ask what are we going to do with it, what are we going to use if for. They'd gather together and snicker behind Kenny's back on their 150 HP tractors.

So Kenny's purchase put the mark of honor on our little tractor. He found a Ford Mustang hood ornament on eBay for $12. He promptly attached the hood ornament to the front of the tractor.

Thus, the tractor is named Seabiscuit. After the famous racehorse, deemed "small but mighty." But truth be told, we could use a little more mighty. Just take a look at the rigged gym weights hanging from the front.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy.

Pullin' Wahr

Kenny and I saddled up our two mules and got us started on pullin' wahr. We donned our work flip flops, our sweat stained vineyard caps, our carhart-like workpants and moseyed out in the field.

The vineyard has three layers of wahr (wire to non-redneck folk). Last year we pulled the first layer of wire so we could train up the vines. Transforming them from unruly bushes to those lovely vines you see all over California wine country...and here. After retraining most of the vines BACK up to the first wire (see earlier blog), they are now ready to grow even higher. Even if we're not ready for them.

Ever slaves to the wishes of the vines, we started pulling the 2nd wire. In order to start pulling the second layer of wire above the first set, we saddled up our two mules, Kenny and Kris, and whipped them into the field. Of course, we don't have any mules, WE are the mules.

First, we "drop" the 75 pound wheel of 12 gage stainless steel wire onto the wire wheel. The wire wheel is what minimizes, notice I say minimize not eliminates, the wire from getting tangled. The wire wheel is attached to a two 2x4s and one 4x4 platform that drags behind the tractor, we affectionately call Seabiscuit.

Kenny drives Seabiscuit to the north side of the 289' long row we need to pull and then the mule work starts. Kenny grabs the start of the wire and I yell some "Yah, yah" for encouragement. While he's dragging, I'm bent down pushing the extension arms above the wire wheel as fast as I can. I believe I'm helping to spin the wheel to make it less pull work for Kenny and to keep the wire from getting tangled. But it really is a crap shoot. When Kenny, excuse me Mule #1, gets to the south end of the row, 289' later, I , Mule #2, grab the wire from the wire wheel and pull behind him to the south end of the vineyard row. Mule #1 passes me by on the other side of the row heading north.

When Kenny gets to the end of where we started, he yells down to me to stop pullling. Then I become a sort of Nascar pit crew of one. My job down on the south end of the row is to lift that wire from the ground up to 14 inches above the first wire and attach it with the heavy duty staple nail to the wood post. I race to do this before he starts working on things down at his end. If I get too far behind, I won't be able to lift the wire, that is really heavy, up to the next training level.

Back at the north end, Kenny starts pulling the wire taught, trimming the extra wire, and putting on the crimp. The crimp acts as a connector for the splice of the two ends of the wire. Then with a honkin' crimper, he steps on the crimper, crushing, or crimping, the connector in two places. He then waits for me.

I've now walked an additional 289' back to the beginning to lift up that north side of the wire and attach it with an industrial nail. Then the tightener is attached. This thing looks like a spool. We have a special tightener tool that grabs the spool. As Kenny moves the tightener spool tool in the loose wire direction, the wire will wrap around the spool and tighten up. The spool has a latch mechanism on it that does not allow it to unwrap. The tightener is something we will be adjusting on a regular basis as the vines mature and weigh heavier on the wire.

While Kenny's tightening the wire up, I'm on the tractor, moving the wire apparatus to the next row. Grabbing the bucket full of nails and tighteners, and the short-handled sledge hammer on the way.

Finally, on the row we just pulled, we walk on each side of the wire and pull up the wire to the 5th hook from the top. The wire is tight so gloves and a bit of "oof" are required to raise the jsut pulled wire section. We adjust the vines and the wire as we go.

So that's 1,156' of walking per wire pull. Now you fully understand why I feel like a mule.

The good part is we only have to pull this wire once.....per row....I think.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Plainview Winery

Well, today I went to the Plainview Winery in southern Illinois. It's everything you would imagine. The reason I went is because one of the guys who was in my class owns it and since there's very little to do here.....why not.

The place was very quaint with a nice midwest lake in the front and a ranch-style house for him, his wife, and his mother-in-law. They are in the process of finishing up their tasting room. It is a nice expanded tuff shed building. They have 4 acres of vineyard, and 6 different grapes varietals. Everything from very sweet to semi-dry grapes. None of the grapes, except the Concord grapes, had I ever heard of.

His wife was very gracious and took me around the whole facility. I think one of the best things I learned is that it doesn't take too much money too make your own wine. She showed me around the wine making things in the basement, right next to the packed away Christmas decorations, and I thought "Hmmm, we could do this." Of course we don't HAVE a basement that is cool so that might be a problem, but one step at a time. I was just impressed you didn't have to take out a loan for the wine making equipment.

Then we compared vineyard woes. Everybody does that. It's not so much my woes are bigger than your woes, but more like "Whoa, are we equally stupid to do this, or what?" They don't have to water. We water every 3 weeks. They have to spray insecticide every week? (wow! really?) We spray about every 2 months. They have the Japanese beetle. We have leaf hoppers (we have the better deal on that one). They mow once a week. We mow every 3 weeks. They get root rot. We get powdery mildew.

Because they have so many different kinds of grapes, they end up harvesting for about a month and half. Of course, this season we don't have any grapes, but when we do, we'll look at harvesting all in one day. We all have our crosses to bear, us whiney vinters.


So now after an acceptable length of time for the whine exchange, it was time to drink wine. This is what the Illinois Grape Growers Association had to say about the grapes in their area:

"Five of these grapes—Chambourcin, Seyval, Vignoles, Chardonel and Vidal Blanc—are “French Hybrids,” developed by crossing French grapes, such as the Chardonnay often grown in France and California, with native American vines. This cross-pollination results in grapes that produce excellent wine, but that are less susceptible to the effects of extreme cold—making them ideal for the Midwest’s unpredictable weather. The other grape in the top six, Norton, originates from native American vines."


The Norton was definitely nothing to write home about. And the Concord they grew was all what anyone can expect of wine made from Concord grapes.

There was one varietal, Chambourcin, that held some promise. It was a rose color, which seemed a little odd, but it had a Sangiovese nose and flavor to it. Here's what the Illinois group had to say about Chambourcin.

"Chambourcin - A late-ripening, dark blue-black grape that can produce a highly rated red wine with a reasonably full, slightly herbaceous flavor and aroma. Chambourcin grapes are usually used to produce claret or Bordeaux-style wines, but can also be used to make rosé."

Thus, the rose color I guess. A little rough, but worth more than one sip. I bought a couple of bottles. First, to make her feel good and thank her with something for her time. Second, I'd open it up and drink it with nachos any day.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Colette

I am currently reading "A Year in the World" by Frances Mayes. You may have heard of her from her book made into movie, "Under the Tuscan Sun: At home in Italy". This current book is more of a travelog than a fictional work with a plot. This really has no constructed plot so I'm half tempted to stop reading it because it's not that interesting. However, what is interesting is that she is fascinated by the writer, Colette*. In Frances' book she quotes Colette's musing about wine. It's sheer poetry. Here's what the French writer had to say about wine:


"The vine and the wine it produces are two great mysteries. Alone in the vegetable kingdom, the vine makes the true savor of the earth intelligible to man. With what fidelity it makes the translation! It senses, then expresses, in its clusters of fruit the secrets of the soil. The flint, through the vine, tells us that it is living, fusible, a giver of nourishment. Only in wine does the ungrateful chalk pour out its golden tears. A vine, transported across mountains and over seas, will struggle to keep its personality, and sometimes triumphs over the powerful chemistries of the mineral world..."

And I just like the taste.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Colette was born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, but she always wrote under the name "Colette."