Life in the Vines

Pinot Noir anyone

2011-05-28T16:41:00.001-07:00

Our new place when it's ours has a good amount of land to have grapes again. This time I think Pinot Noir would work best. With the rain and the fog, those humidity loving vines will do just fine. We'll have to work the land but like we didn't in CO. But maybe this time we won't go as high as 1500....just enough for a case or two.

Bottling in Palisade

2011-05-28T16:40:00.001-07:00

Well Kenny and our friend Cindy bottled half of the wine last weekend. A good time had by all.

Frost and Death

2010-11-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

The time has come once again. The grape growing season has drawn to a close. I find it fascinating that just one frost makes the lush, hardy, green grape leaves shrivel into brown aged ones.

One day the leaves are hardy and healthy. Frost steals in overnight. The leaves are all brown and shriveled.

It is just one example of how delicate

life is on this planet. It is best never to take things for granted. I'll bid adieu, leaving you with this poem by the famous Robert Frost.

Desert Places

Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast

In a field I looked into going past,

And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,

But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

The woods around it have it- it is theirs.

All animals are smothered in their lairs.

I am too absent-spirited to count;

The loneliness includes me unawares.

And lonely as it is, that loneliness

Will be more lonely ere it will be less-

A blanker whiteness of benighted snow

With no expression, nothing to express.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces

Between stars - on stars where no human race is.

I have it in me so much nearer home

To scare myself with my own desert places.

Remember enjoy and imbibe!

Glass Tasting.

2010-10-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

Yep. Glass Tasting. If you've ever been with me at a decent to high end restaurant, you know that I always ask the server for a red wine glass. I don't do it for the snob factor, because believe it or not, it actually makes a difference.

About 10 years ago, Kenny, our friends ,Bob and Cindy, and I went to a wine class weekend in the Hyatt at Beaver Creek. It was great. The first class we went to was glass tasting. At first, I thought I misread the agenda. Don't they mean wine tasting? No glass tasting. It was being sponsored and led by Riedel, the makers of expensive wine glasses. Aha! I get it. We have to sit through this spiel so they can get a few suckers to buy their wares. Right. I'm so on to them......so I thought.

We sit in front of a water glass, a mug, a Riedel white wine glass, and a Riedel red wine glass. They do their little routine about how the shape of the glass is the key to how the wine tastes, and blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, yeah, right, right.....let's get on with the drinking. It's almost 1030 in the morning.

(For emphasis, another friend Cindy illustrates the feelings I felt when drinking wine at the class)

Finally we get to the important part. We are told to pour white wine into the mug. I pour it into the mug, take a sip and think "this is okay wine". Then they tell us to pour the wine into the Riedel white wine glass and take another drink. I drink from the glass and think "wow"! Is that the same wine? I can't believe it. I repeat the mug drink "Hmm, okay". I sip from the Riedel glass "wow"! Okay, okay. It's a fluke. A glass can't make a difference, can it?

In order to really prove their point that the type of glass is important to enjoying the "real" taste of the wine, they bring us new Riedel glasses and tell us to pour our white wine in the red wine glass. Now taste the white wine now. It's just a little better than the mug. Short finish, one flavor. We do the same with the red wine and pour it in the white wine glass. Eh. Whatever with this wine.And then we repeat the whole process.

White wine, white wine glass. Red wine, red wine glass. Heavenly.

After everyone in the room is thoroughly impressed, they tell us why it is so.

The bowl of the glass allows the oxygen to mix with the wine, so a larger bowl works well with the red wine because it lets the tannins and oak flavors release. A white wine glass does not have a big bowl because it doesn't have tannins or oak. The design of the lip of the glass is also important. It positions where your tongue first touches the wine and positions the wine on various places of the tongue. As you can see from the picture, we have four different major tastes - sweet, salty, sour and bitter.

If the lip is thick, the wine will go more towards the back of your mouth were the bitter area is located. A thin lip will allow the wine to enter the center of your tongue where there is a mix of sweet and salty, giving the drinker a pleasant experience. Then the shape of the glass near the lip is important. A rounder glass will give the drinker more time on the tongue. More time on the tongue allows for all the complex flavors of a red wine to come forward. A straighter line at the lip of the glass will "throw" the wine on to the front of your tongue. So even a pinot grigio may seem sweetish.

With all that, we bought some glasses! Who could not buy with all that cool new information?

Right now I'm drinking a red table wine, J. Moreau & Fils, from France for only $6.45. I'm drinking out of a stemless, pseudo-Riedel glass with a medium size bowl with an average line near the lip. Perfect for the type of wine.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Yum.......Wine......Our Wine

2010-10-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

Here's where we are in the whole wine making process. We picked the grapes, we destemed the grapes, we killed the wild yeast, we added tame yeast, we mushed must (grapes with skins) for 10 days, we racked the must into the glass containers. There it stayed in our winery (aka ground floor closet) for three weeks and a day.

Thus, it is time to rack again (move the filtered wine to another container). In order to see if it is worth it, I open the little glass container first. Because for the past three weeks, the yeast is sitting there. The yeast has been eating sugar, making alcohol and pooping out carbon dioxide. And we have a vapor lock on the top of the container because the juice reacting with the oxygen in the air is not good for the wine making process. The vapor lock allows CO2 to get out and air to not get in.

Thus, I have not been able to smell the wine or taste the wine. For all I know, it could have been sitting there making vinegar as we speak. So I cautiously take the vapor lock off the 3 gallon carboy. I put my nose to the neck. Hmm, it smells good. I pour myself a glass. Hey alright, not bad for only a month old. Tangy (too tangy), berry, and a hint of tannins. If I am desparate I can pour myself a full glass right now. I've had lots worse from wineries that say their wine is done. Ours is not done. So it can only get better.

No vinegar, so we move on. We take the inital 5 gallon glass container and put the auto-siphoning tube about 3/4 of the way into the bottle. This is so we can avoid sucking up the lees. The lees are the dead yeast that lay on the bottom of the container. You can see them in the photo. They are the lighter color in the container on the right. Pinkee color. The beautiful red juice moves from that 5 gallon container to another container just like it, sans lees. But this time there is no room for air. The juice is filled all the way to the top. The vapor lock is put back on and more sitting continues. Next it will sit in the winery for 2 1/2 more months. And I haven't figured out exactly why as far as chemistry goes, but one book says 2 months, the other says 3. So in the middle it is. 2 1/2 months will be around in the midst of the holiday season. Perfect. I think I'll celebrate with a glass of wine.

The 2008 Gascon malbec is one of my favorites. When you take a first sip of this wine, you don't have to brace yourself. It's smooth. It's berry. It's fruity with a hint of tangy. Just like I like my malbec. I can only hope our wine tastes that yummy.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Fluorescent Orange Alien

2010-10-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

So now the wine is sitting in the winery (closet) becoming......wine. No work required for that.....now. Thus, it's time to pay attention to the ever changing vineyard. Geez, it's like a kid.

Thus, I'm walking on the south side of the vineyard and I see a bright, fluorescent orange. Shoot, you can't miss it. Oh-h-h-h-h no. It truly is fluorescent orange, super bright orange. It's weird. It's unnatural. It looks like that 70s silly string in the can, remember? You spray it on people, but it doesn't stick. It's just like that. Super- duper orange.

And even more unnatural is its super hero action of starting from a small, unobtrusive bunch white buds into a spider-webby big pile of choking death in a mere couple of hours. It wraps around the vine like a python, killing whatever it touches.

This spurs me to action, not so superhero, unfortunately. And thus, the job of the day begins. I walk up and down the rows with shovel in hand attacking the orange alien creatures. You have to dig down to get to the roots, otherwise they'll pop up again. Like the aliens. Fortunately, the roots are shallow.

I thought I'd look it up on the internet what this alien creature is for kicks, and I can't find any information about it. Anybody know? Everytime I search for fluorescent orange climbing vine, the internet comes up with something having to do with marijuana. Marijuana? I hope not. Otherwise I'm digging up my cash cow. Geez, who needs grapes? We got pot. Producing alcohol and drugs?! Alright.

While pondering what the heck this superhero vine creature is I'm drinking 2008 Santa Rita 120 Carmenere, $6.99. Carmanere is my favorite wine from Chile. It's always super cheap and never disappointing. Dark red and lucious, with great legs. It has strong tannins, but the fruitiness is so also strong. Thus, they compliment each other. Yum

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Okay I got it.....for now

2010-10-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Once again I was clueless as to what to do for the next step in the game of wine making. The Ye Olde Winemaker said wait three weeks, then rack again. Well, okay but why? Your tired, just give it a rest or what?

Then came the ah-ha moment. It came when I was watching the small carboy's vapor lock dribble sterilized water into the grape juice. I saw that dribble leak into the red juice with panic.....again. That water may kill the yeast in the juice. It will kill the yeast.

And then I took a good look. Wait a minute. The yeast is already done. How do I know? The vapor lock top on the top of the container wasn't floating. And on the other two they were. That means that all the CO2 that the yeast was producing is gone.

Thus, those little yeasties are no longer of this world. Okay, okay I get it. When the vapor lock top is flat on the plug then the yeast is done doing its thing. Yeah!

Time to celebrate with a nice Valpolicella 2007 by Zenato. I'm a big Valpolicella fan anyway and this is a big wine. The blend of smoothness of berries and chocolate with a hint of tannins is a perfect wine with the raviolis I'm having tonight.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Racking Wine

2010-09-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

Measuring the specific gravity of the juice last Saturday showed that it was time to rack. Yeah! Wouldn't you think that would be the perfect pick up line? Hey baby, you want to come back to my place and rack? Who could resist.....once they figure out you're not some kind of weirdo masochist that is.

Ye Old Winemaker said that once the juice got down to 1.0 that it's time to rack. So the SG went from 1.3 down to 1.0 in just 3 days, and that seemed fast. But the juice was in the pfvs for 6 days which is normal so it's all good.

The kitchen (see mess above) was the perfect winery to perform racking, as you can see. This involved the primary fermenting vessels, secondary fermenting vessels, trash cans, trash bags, grape juice, grape juice and more grape juice. The only thing that didn't get covered in grape juice was the ceiling, thank goodness.

The saving grace in this whole event was the auto-siphon device to move the juice to the carboy. The first transfer I didn't figure out that I should raise the 40 pound pfv at least a couple inches above the other vessel. But after I got a nasty blister on my thumb, I figured I need height. And the cat stand, see to the left, was the perfect height. Now the crazy, I almost spilled it, event of raising 40 pounds up to that height was something to see. Grape juice, grape juice, and more grape juice. On the floor, on the walls, and on everything else. This new height worked perfectly. No more infinite up and down. The juice went from the bottom of the pfv smoothly to the next level....the secondary fermenting vessel.

I realized that there was a good amount of juice still left in the pfv so I took matters into my own hands. I raised the pfv up again, and squished grapes in the can while the juice ran slowly into the bowl. This "extra " juice was dumped into the subsidiary A/B buckets. Waste not, want not I always say. And anyway we only have 13 gallons of wine. Definitely no waste. More juice everywhere...counters, cabinets, and walls. More fun.

Now the beautiful juice is in the glass containers, secondary fermenting vessels, bubbling away. On it's way to being wine.

I think we'll celebrate with a unique wine......Mokelumne Glen Vineyards 2006 Lodi Dornfelder, Zinfandel. It did exactly what I love about wine. When it was first opened, it smelled like wine you wouldn't want to drink willingly. Then give it a couple of hours and it became tasty. Now today, a day later, it tasted like the best Zin in the world. Life is like an open bottle of wine. It changes, becomes complex, smooths out, and hopefully getting better with time.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

It's Time to Make Wine!

2010-09-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

We've harvested and now the berries are in the primary fermenting vessels (pfv's) (aka trash cans). We have about 20 gallons of juice in our winery (aka kitchen corner). You have to add yeast to the juice to get things going. So we bought already mixed yeast, Merlot yeast, so that we'd get the best fermenting results. The yeast was put in the day after we sterilized the grapes.

The grapes have to be punched with a puncher (aka manual dry wall mud mixer) twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. Here I am punching the way-full pfv. The grapes float to the top. So in order to "mix" up the liquor and break the skins of any non-bruised grapes, I push them with the mixer back down to the bottom.

Initially, when we put in the yeast nothing happened. Oh no, this sucks....but the the next day EVERYTHING happened. The yeast started doing its thing big time. So much so that it oozed over the pfv rim in the middle of the night. In the morning there's grapes oozing down the sides of the pfvs like some over carbonated soda cup. Which I guess technically it is. I took the two extra food grade 3 gallon buckets we had and put the extras in those two. Now we have four pfv's. I'm not quite sure what I'm gonna do....either keep it as two batches or four. It all depends on how much I can get in the 5 gallon carboy for the next fermenting step.

With the help of the Ye Olde Winemaker I was able to figure out what tests need to happen to move on. We did an initial acid test and the test went great. .65% acid. Perfect. No adjustment necessary. Next I took specific gravity (sg) measurements every other day. The initial test measured around 1.1 give or take. When the sg gets to 1.0, it's time to move on. Shoot! This is so easy! Why didn't they say so. Yesterday all the buckets measured 1.0. It's now time to rack the wine.

We talked to a local household winemaker yesterday, asking him what he thought. And he said we should keep it in the pfv for at least two weeks to get the color. As you can see from our pfv above, the color is just perfect. The color of burgundy. Yum. So this week I rack the juice to the secondary fermenting vessels (sfv's). Stay tuned.

Yesterday was Winefest. Always a good time and I had a marvelous Malbec. Grand River Vineyards served a 2009 Malbed that was perfect. Light tannins. Tangy, but not too much. And easy to drink. It's a little pricey, as all Colorado wines are when you compare it to California prices. A good local wine. Try this.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

It's Time to Harvest!

2010-09-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

It's finally time. The grapes are at 25 Brix and tasting yummy. We are harvesting tomorrow. At a bright and early 10ish. It'll maybe last for one hour. Two hours, tops if we drink while we cut. Hey, it's noon somewhere!

Even at this late stage in the game of making wine, we're not quite sure as to what to do. After cutting off the grapes and sticking them in the bucket around your neck, it's still a little foggy.

We bought a wine kit from the Wine/Beer Making Shoppe in downtown Grand Junction and the guy was really helpful. Too helpful, really. After about 10 minutes of the most minute detail of everything you have to do to make wine, I went into this glossy-eyed, blank stare of a phase. I just couldn't keep up. Geez, I should brought a notepad and took notes. So I looked like I was paying attention. And he finished with "Ok, so now you know everything I know. Have fun." Meanwhile, I don't know squat.

We get a book with this kit. I'm one of those dorky people who likes to read the book first before jumping into most things. So I devoured the book one day when I'm voluntarily trapped on a flight from Grand Junction to my next work gig. I read through the whole thing. Not too bad, it's small. But after all that, I still don't know stuff.

Like what do we measure to go to the next step after we've put the grapes in the trash cans (I mean primary fermenting vessel(PFV))? How do we know when to take out the juice from the PFV and move it (I mean rack it) to the secondary fermenting vessel (aka. car boy)? Same thing on the SFV wrt to measuring stuff. Ok, now when do we bottle?

I'm sure it'll all become clear when I start really doing it, but for now I'm somewhere way out in the middle between a winemaker and a grape picker. Hopefully, I'll make it to winemaker before I need to do something serious. I do not want vinegar.

But for now I think I'll drink a glass of 2008 Dancing Bull Zinfandel, winemaker's reserve, for only $6.99. A little much for drinking alone, but it has a strong jammy flavor that makes it nice to drink without food. No problem.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Refrac.....what!

2010-09-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

I was told that we need a refractometer even if we weren't going to make wine. Now that we're making wine we REALLY need this thing. This thing measures brix.

I give a blank stare. Right. Sure. Brix. Uh-huh.

So I leave the winery and find myself a computer to google all these things that I must know.

Brix. "Symbol Bx is a unit representative of the sugar content of an aqueous solution. One degree Brix corresponds to 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution and thus represents the strength of the solution as a percentage by weight." Hmm. Okay. Hmm. Bottom line, it is the measurement of sugar in the grape.

Ok. Now we're getting somewhere. What's the Brix supposed to be for Malbec? More google. Well, some say 22. Some 25. Some 26. After reviewing about a dozen of totally unacademic articles, blogs, and chat room responses, I think between 25 and 26 should work.

The refractometer measures the Brix of the grape. When the measurement is at that magic number of 25 or 26 (whatever), we should pick. Okay, now that makes sense....sort of.

I order one of those refractometers (see above) from our neighbor who owns a hydroponic supply store in town. Funny, a number of those stores sprang up after using medical marijuana became legal. Hmmm. That aside. Finally, the expensive, needed device comes to our doorstep.

It comes in this official looking case which I guess makes it worth the 100 bucks alone. The refractometer allows us to measure those Brix with just 2 or 3 drops. What's not to love? The directions say I should go out in the vineyard and pick a representative sample and mix them together.

I pick out 4 precious grapes from four rows and squish them together in a cereal bowl. Maybe I should of squished them right on the glass because getting any drops out of the bowl is pretty impossible. Thus, I take my handy, mostly clean right index finger and dip it in the bowl. I bring my saturated finger to the refractometer glass and spread it around. This does not look scientific. I close the plastic cover on top, bring the refractometer up to the light to see....something. Nothing. Nothing.

I now review the one page of directions that came with the case. Seems alright. I do it again. Nothing. Bummer, I'm starting to run out of precious grape juice. Then I notice something different on the actual refractometer versus the picture. There is a dark , peel off cover on the clear plastic cover. For protection I guess.

Okay, now I do it again. I put my eye to the eye piece and hallelujah, I see something! What do I see, it's all blurry. I focus the lens and see the bluish half on top and clear on the bottom. Yeah! What's it say? 21.5 Cool. We have time.

How much time? I have no idea. I'll check it again next week.

Meanwhile, I think I'll indulge in Sterling's 2008 Vintner's Collection Meritage. It's a yummy blend of cab sav, merlot, cab franc, petit verdot, and malbec. And quite a bargain at only $7.99. Go get yourself some.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Ye Olde Winemaker

2010-08-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

So after netting last week, we got a full look at how many grapes we are going to have this year.

To get a feel for how many grapes we think we're going to harvest, listen in as I mimic our phone conversation with our potential buyer....

Buyer: Hey, I'm really excited to have your Colorado Malbec to bottle this year. When should I bring over the half ton crates? Do you think five will be enough? I scheduled the semi to come the evening you harvest to bring them back over to the Front Range right away. How's that sound?

Seller (Us): Well, we think one crate should hold everything pretty well and I'd cancel the semi if I was you. Your crazy uncle's beat up pickup truck should be able to haul the grapes back to the winery just fine.

Buyer: Huh?

Seller: Yeah. We were a little optimitic on the output this year. We're thinking we're looking at about between 100 to 200 pounds of grapes.

Buyer: (click and dial tone)

That really didn't happen, but it's what I imagine could happen. But by the way, we really ARE only going to have about that 150 pounds of grapes.

So what do we do? What do we do? Because we don't have anything else to do, we decided to go into the wine making business. Well, not really a business because that production is only going to produce about 48 bottles of wine, but the wine making hobby all the same.

We bought our own "all you need" wine kit (see pic above) from a friendly fellow at the beer and wine making store. And it looks like we can intially ferment it in the kitchen. And let it sit and age in the closet downstairs.

We got a fermenting bin (aka trash can), 2 car boys for final fermenting, and all the stuff that goes with it. Including a book telling us step by step what to do. That's good since we have no IDEA what to do.

Now we need to save 48 wine bottles so we can reuse them for our wine. We should have that in about 4 weeks or so.

Have you tried the 2007 Bolla Pinto Grigio? Nice, crisp, fruity but not too fruity, lemony and grassy. Just right. I highly recommend it.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

The Birds!!!!!

2010-08-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

Ack!!!! Ok, ok, ok, I totally need to vent here so bear with me. After weeks of cutting, mowing, pruning, training, repeat, repeat, repeat, the vines are happily producing the final product we put our blood, sweat, and tears into for the past three years.

Our grapes, for whatever reason decide to ripen early. We were the only game in town with purple grapes. And THAT was the problem. Is the problem.

Well, there's another problem too. What you ask? We have a freakin' neighborhood bird "sanctuary" in the yards just south of the vineyard. Lots of big, leafy trees surrounded by always full bird feeders and bird baths. Sounds like heaven if you're a bird, doesn't it? With that kind of nirvana, why the h#ll are they pouncing down on these grapes?!

Because they taste SO-O-O-O good. Like little sugar candies. All of our final product going up in smoke, or in those little birds' stomachs. We had to do something quick.

Thus, we had an emergency netting event on Sunday. Never having netted before, it was quite an experience let me tell you. We borrowed pieces of netting from our neighbors who have the perfect vineyard. This amount of netting available was just right for us because we only have one row that is fully in bloom anyway. The others are a vine here, a couple of vines there. So piecemeal was perfect.

Laurel & Hardy (aka Kris & Kenny) grabbed those nets and made our way to the grape producing beauties. How hard can this be? I see old ladies doing it, what's the big deal? Well let me tell you, with this netting, you just think about it getting tangled and it's off to the races.
Here's how it went.....we untangled everything in the yard. And made piles of short, medium, and long lengths. Then we took those 3 bundles in three separate trips out to the grapes that needed the nets. We surmise we need a short net, for example, and pull a neatly folded net from the......hey wait a minute all the short nets are back in one tangled mess. Same for medium and for long.

Still determined, I take one side and Kenny takes another and we begin the journey of re-untangling the nets. Ahh, ok let's put it on the vine. I on one side throws the net over the 8' trellis wires, and in the process the net tangles with the leaves and branches. Kenny is taller than me so he begins to untangle the net from the branches, ripping the netting in the process.

This defeats the purpose of putting on nets because the birds can now fly through the holes in the nets. Not to worry, we clip, or use clothes pins (handy for laundry too) to close the gaping holes. After a couple more we don't rip the nets, but we still can't look at those nets funny without them tangling. Even when one of us would hand over the net, it would tangle. Imagine a Laurel & Hardy comic routine for sure.

Tenacious we are and the nets are on! The birds are still loitering about at the bird baths trying to think up ways to get under that netting. Thus, things are all right with the ways of a vineyard.

Ok now that the grapes are under control....for now, it's time for some 2005 Bin 70 Lindman's Chardonnay Riesling. Chardonnay Riesling? Yep, that's right. I got it at World Market for $5.99, so I felt gutsy with the blend.

It's nose is unique with the distinct aroma of honey. The flavor has the weight of a Chard with the tanginess of a Sav Blanc. It is very similar to a Viognier which is one of my favorite whites. I don't normally EVER want to drink sweet wines. I wouldn't call this sweet, but there's that honey essence throughout your palate. Not overpowering though. In a good way. Try it if you find it, shoot especially for the price. You don't like it, use it to thin a white sauce.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Premature Veraison

2010-08-09T07:39:00.001-07:00

Veraison. The time has come. No, no, this is not a subsidiary to the cell phone giant, it's a phase of a grape. Why they just don't call it "the grapes are ripening now" is beyond me. It's all part of the secret club. The secret grape growing club. Shhh.

Veraison is a viticulture term meaning the "onset of ripening". It is originally French but has been adopted into English use. The official definition of veraison is "change of color" of the grape berries. Veraison represents the transition from berry growth to berry ripening, and many changes in berry development occur at veraison.

The berry ripening signals that its sugar concentration is increasing. In addition, malic acid degrades and there is an increase of tartaric acid. This acidity will decrease the pH and help in aiding the degradation of chlorophyll.

That said, the only problem is that our grapes seem to be ahead of the curve. Until a couple of days ago, everyone else's red grape were green.

Being a head of the class is not good in this case. It means our grapes will mature too early, and the tartaric acid will not have enough time to degradate from the vine. Meaning the grapes will be very tart.

Sitting back drinking Malbec from a nice open-mouthed Ridel wine glass staring at the vines, I realize there is absolutely nothing we can do. I think we'll just watch them be over achievers and turn that beautiful dark purple color I love so much.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

My Kingdom for a Contract

2010-08-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

Ok the initial pruning of the vines is complete. Yeah! I'm praying all that doesn't have to be done again. It would be the fourth year in a row. Geez. Give it a rest will ya?

The grapes (the photo is not our grapes, I just want to imagine it'll be our grapes someday) are growing and ripening as I write. Yeah!

We won't have a huge crop, but a crop none the less. And it gets even better.

When we went to the Colorado Mountain Winefest last year we tasted the wines and the wines that we liked we talked to the winery about buying our grapes. We figured that if we didn't like what they were doing to the current finished product, why would we want them to ruin our grapes too. Thus, we came up with about 4 wineries that we liked and they liked that we were growing Malbec. We really liked one winery in Denver because besides making good wine, they have a good marketing program. Key to selling more wine, and thus they need more grapes. Aha!

So we have this winery that want to buy our grapes. Whatever we can give them. That makes me way nervous......in a good way. What if something happens?

Maybe we'll have nothing after the birds pick everything off the vines. Maybe we'll have rot with "all" the rain and "cool" weather we've been having here. (Yes, you midwest people would be WAY jealous of the past couple of days) I'm having nightmares about being late to put the nets on the vines. I dream I get out there and they've picked away everything, even the leaves. (I definitely need a better sleep dream coordinator.)

But all that aside, I imagine we'll have something. Thus, we need something more than a firm handshake and a hardy pat on the back. We need a contract. I figured our local vintner and vintnerculturist organization would have a library of buying and selling contracts for every flavor under the sun. But no.

So off to the internet I search. There's contracts....kinda. There's no real template but then there's no actual grower's contract either. The information somewhat tells you what to do, but suggests this is only an example, not one that should be used in any legal environment. Now that lingo was written by a lawyer if ever I read one. Thus, it'll be an ask around process. Partially putting together what info I did gleam from the internet with the trials and tribulations from others in the same boat.

I think I need a drink. And this 2007 Blackstone Merlot from California is just the ticket. Priced at only $9.99, you can't go wrong. Drinking it along side a plate of lasagna (yum) or by itself, the wine can stand up to both challenges. It's hint of oak and light tannins are just right, and it's finish is smooth. It's spicy with a taste of berry but not jammy. We definitely need to buy another bottle.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Poodle Shearing

2010-07-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

Poodle shearing you ask?

Why yes, that's what it looks like when pruning the vines.

The vines are all bushy, green, large, and unruly like you see here. Bad vine!

The weeds are everywhere. Four o'clocks (no longer the pretty, petite flower of my yesteryear) are racing to see if they can choke out the vine and get its share of the bamboo pole to the top. The grasses are a foot high trying to bury the vine.

When I'm done pruning the vine, they are merrily prancing before me like a newly shaven poodle. Kinda scrawny, skinny, and definitely a little embarassed. This photo to the left definitely tells the story.

When I see those scrawny, newly shaven poodles I think "Oh, you poor things. Who did that to you?" Who started that tradition of shaved poodles with bows and nail polish? Seems like a French renaissance thing to me, doesn't it to you?

Well it's the same primping with the vines, sans bows and polish. The vines when they're newly pruned are free of all big leaves down below the fruit wire. The area around the base of the vine is free of big weeds and any other invasive flora beside vine. The trunks are tied around the bamboo support stick to ensure they "want" to grow up to the sky. Just like a newly shaved poodle, don't ya think?

Have you tried the 2008 A to Z Pinot Gris from Willamette, Oregon? Yum. You can't go wrong with a white from Oregon grown the Willamette valley. This white wine is lemony and fresh with hints of fruits. It feels like summer. Perfect with caprese. Give it a try.

Remember imbibe and enjoy.

This Weekend's Eco-tourism a Great Success!

2010-07-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

Everyone that attended the eco-tourism had a great time! There was sunshine, and cool breeze. No fingers were missing and all backs were strong as boards. Our resident dogs, Elsie and Marley, were keeping cool in the shade of the vines. They were making sure that everyone was having a good time.

At the crack of dawn, lattes, croissants, and fresh fruit was ready for the enthusiastic crew. With ties, wires, and pruning shears in hand, the tourists ventured out into the vineyard to commune with nature while NPR was playing in the background, giving the listeners Click-n-Clack, What'd Ya Know, and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.

Kenny, one of the founders of K Squared Eco-tourism, is shown here really getting into the pruning vibe. He's making sure that the vines are properly attached to the fruit wire, the bottom wire. You can see he's making sure the bamboo pole that the vines use for support is perpendicular to the wire.

Later that morning, after a refreshing shower and a jump in the hot tub, we asked Kenny how he enjoyed his first eco-tourism adventure.

Kris: "Kenny, so how'd it go this morning? Did you have a great time?"

Kenny: "Kris, I loved the French style breakfast, and my machiatto was out of this world! Delicious. The attention to detail was first rate."

Kris: "When you got out in the vineyard, did you feel at home? Like you knew what you were suppose to do?"

Kenny: "Ya know, Kris, K Squared Eco-tourism did a really fine job prepping us on what to expect and what to do once we got out there. When I finally reached my first grapevine, I already felt like an old hand."

Kris: "That's great. What do you feel was the best part of the eco-tourism morning?"

Kenny: "I felt like being one with nature, feeling the sun and the breeze, and really being a part of the event was all really good. It's hard to pick just one."

Kris: "How did you like the peach-infused Goulart Torrentes 09 white wine served chilled when you returned to the main house?"

Kenny: "Wow! That was really a surprise. The wine was peachy, grassy, with a hint of flowers and citrus. A nice wine from start to finish. Delicious."

Kris: "Well, that's all for now folks. Come join us for our next eco-tourism weekend at harvest time."

Remember imbibe and enjoy.

Ecotourism, my patutti!

2010-07-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

We are now looking at more work, I mean fun,with final training up the vines. It's tedious, detailed and.....fun. As Kenny's email invitation shown below will attest.

Well, that all depends on your idea of fun. I can't think of anything I'd rather do at dawn then don some bug protection, pull my hair back under a hat, put on my pruning backpack (complete with vine ties, vine wire holders, and pruning shears)and perform endless deep knee bends in the vineyard.

And besides, look at how enticing the marketing director of K Squared Vineyards made his request.....

"Hello All,

Yes, that’s right—we are offering the opportunity of the summer! The weekend of July 24th-25th we are offering a FREE Eco-Tourism Vacation at K-Squared Vineyards in beautiful Palisade Colorado! Should you choose to accept this unbelievable offer your vacation will start on Saturday morning with FREE coffee or tea before heading out to the vineyard very early before it gets too hot! Our main goal of this FANTASTIC Eco-experience is to prune and re-train the vines which were lost (80%) to the extreme freeze of this past winter. When it gets too hot to work in the field we’ll break for the day and either go float on the river, ride on the Mesa or take a nap! The evening will include a dazzling BBQ feast, dancing and of course plenty of wine (and or beer)! For those that didn’t get enough of the Eco-experience on Saturday, we’ll repeat the process on Sunday!

We hope to see you here! It’s sure to be an unbelievable experience!! Please RSVP for choice free accommodations!"

Operators are standing by to take your reservation now!

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Spicy Watering

2010-07-16T18:16:00.001-07:00

Nothing like the sun in the middle of July to fry everything under the sun. In Colorado, the humidity is low so the nights are cool, but 110 in the sun during the middle of the day is still hot and way unpleasant. But it’s a dry heat. Thus, you’re being baked in a pizza oven as opposed to be braised in the pressure-cooker humidity of the Midwest. Neither feels good. Ergo…..

Ahh……cool, crisp water. It’s time to water the vineyard again. Time to provide the vines a needed reprieve from the elements.

The cool water from the grand Colorado River diverts into our 6 inch pipe and flows through the dozens of 3” holes down the furrowed creases positioned about a foot away from each vine. As the water oozes from the furrow into the light brown, sandy, clay dirt, the soil’s color transforms from harsh, desert tan to a rich milk chocolate brown. The saturated dirt feels cooler…literally. When it’s completely soaked into the top soil and reaches the vines, I can physically see the vines get happy.

I imagine the satiated vines must feel the same way I did when I made the 9-mile hike down into the Grand Canyon in July a couple of years ago. I started at the top of the south side of the canyon and it was hot (low 90s), and by the time I reached the bottom of the canyon, it was super hot, oven hot, oh my god hot. Way over 110. Luckily, there’s water and lots of it, the Colorado River, flowing through the bottom of the canyon. Exhausted, dehydrated, and overheated, I took off my hiking boots and lowered my bare feet into the river.

The initial feeling of my hot, sweaty skin surrounded by the immersion of my feet into the cool, caressing water was orgasmic. The coolness immediately sent chills up my spine. My feet felt pain, then a tingly, prickly sensation. Followed by goose bumps all over my body. Expressed by an uncontrollable “Aahhhhh” spilling out of my mouth while my head tipped back and my eyes closed uncontrollably. Finalized with an endless smile. (You know what I’m talking about.) I happily fell back against the rock and contently stared up at the desert blue sky.

Well, shoot no wonder those vines are happy.

Remember imbibe and enjoy.

Nous Sont Fini

2010-07-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

....for now. For now the field is mowed, the weeds are whacked, and the vines are happily growing tall. The vines are intermingled amid the 2nd and 3rd wires, a very happy sight for sure.

For now we can spend our weekends doing something else besides vineyard work, sunup to sundown.

For now the vines don't need to be watered, sprayed or pruned. They don't need to be fertilized, aerated or taped.

At this very moment, they remind me of little children all snug in their beds. Their faces have that angelic look that makes you fall in love with them all over again. The vines all big and leafy, some with green grapes thinking about turning purple, are the true gifts given to us by mother nature. Heavenly.

So tonight.....we celebrate. We crack open a very yummy bottle. A must have in every drinking person's cellar. Tonight we open a bottle of Blackstone Sonoma Reserve Rubric, 2006 vintage. Rubric is 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 8% Petite Verdot, 8% Syrah, 7% Cabernet Franc,

6% Petite Sirah, and 2% Tannat. Whoo, what a mix! By the way, I have no idea what Tannat. Could use some help here. :)

It's a $20 bottle of wine, steep in my book of always finding the cheapest good wine. But boy it is good! I mean like take the first sip and say "ummm." good. It's smooth. No tastebud adjustments required. You know when you drink some wines, your first response is "whew! that is tang-g-g-y. I'll get used to it." None of that.

Here's what they say about their wine: "Aromas of black cherry, blackberry jam, cassis, cigar box (really? please), and coffee with a hint of toasted spice. This stunning blend carries layered flavors of ripe , jammy black fruit (that I can actually taste, that's it. No cigar box or coffee) This is a concentration wine with a rich mouthfeel and silky texture. Fine, supple tannins provide a lingering finish perfect for pairing with braised short ribs, herb-coated lamb, or dark chocolate souffle.

Alright now I'm getting hungry. This should be perfect with the pork chops we're having tonight. For tonight and this weekend we celebrate the vines at their finest.

Remember imbibe and enjoy.

The Zen of Mowing

2010-06-30T15:03:00.001-07:00

Ah, the zen of mowing. There's just something about it. After wandering through 3 feet of random weeds, there's something so fulfilling about the neatness of a lawn in the vineyard.

Not that it is the green-ness of grass by any means. I mean, take a look at the photo, but it's now orderly and my worry about the vines being completely taken over is at bay for now. There is such a satisfaction in having a task completed.

Yet it's more than that. When I'm sitting on the tractor being jiggled to death by the mower on the back end, smelling diesel exhaust, and feeling the heat of the engine, it feels like life. Slowly moving down the rows, the mower spinning away at high rpms just inches away from the vine feels god-like. To take life or to give it.

Travelling down each row, skilled at moving the tractor-mower as one without harm to the vines is cathartic, like knitting, except with something that would happily run you down and chop you into bits if you didn't pay attention.

My mind starts to wander when I get to the 10th vine only to be jolted back again into reality realizing I'm too close to the next vine. "Move it or it'll be toast!" my mind shouts out. With this kind of scenario one is required to be present.

Present in every part of the action. Is the tractor running okay? Is it almost out of gas? Is the mower linkage loosening up due to the vibration? Is the mower too low, too high? Should I stay in the row crease or should I move closer to the vine to really cut down those close weeds? All this rolls around in my mind the entire time I'm mowing. No room to think of anything else.

Zen. See I told ya.

Remember enjoy and imbibe.

The Trunks are Outta Here!

2010-06-25T11:49:00.001-07:00

The first step in re-training the vines is complete! Last year's dead wood is a thing of the past. Now on to bringing up the new growth back to the first wire.

You gotta take the successes where you can get them.

One of the things I noticed this year compare to last year is this year the vines look a lot hardier. They look like they've established themselves and are ready for business. At least that's what I'm hoping anyway.

The old trunks and branches get mowed up by the tractor to become mulch in the field. That should help keep the nitrogen high for the vines to absorb.

I was drinking wine with my next door neighbor last night and asked him if their vineyard was this much work at the beginning. Over a supersize bottle of Beringer Pinto Grigio he assured me that what is happening is completly normal. Who needs a shrink?

Remember enjoy and imbibe.

Farm Hands

2010-06-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

Day after day our hands dig in the soil, the vines and the weeds. Pulling out the unwanted, pushing around the nourished, and pampering the blessed. Our hands are showing the toil of our work.

Tried wearing gloves, but the barrier between vine and skin is as if it is a vast desert of leather that can never be crossed. Ergo, the hands are naked. Exposed without shield to the elements of nature.

After working with hundreds of plants, our hands our permanently stained the color of green and dyed that of black dirt. Our fingernails look as if we just finished up a long hard day at the mechanic's shop. The blisters that are upon even deeper blisters, no longer hurt at the surface because the rawness is so deep.

Thorns from thistles and small pieces of wood from dead grape vine trunks embed themselves into our flesh, but the skin needs not to react to the intrusion. The tips of our fingers are so calloused that they have no more wrinkles. And the rest of our hands have now have more wrinkles than can be counted. Our fingernails our non-existent, smoothed down with the sandpaper of life in the vineyard.

We soak our hands nightly in vaseline, and attempt to suppress our pain with wine and pain killer. But the throbbing soreness still interupts our dreamless sleep.

The life of a worker in a vineyard. Even more of a reason to relish the flavors of the grape.

Remember enjoy and imbibe.

The 80/20 Rule

2010-06-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

The grapes leaves arrive but not quite as planned. Last year, Kenny was quite optimistic with regard to the maturity of the plants. So I reluctantly tied up the vines last year as if they will be strong and fruitful from now on.

Now fast forward to the present, as you can from the photo, some of the vines were not as optimistic as the owner. What we're seeing is the 80/20 rule.

Twenty percent of the vines are growing nicely from the branches on the fruit load wire (bottom wire to the non-vintered). Beautiful shoots are nicely placed with loads of grape blossoms obediently beginning to hang down to make that lucious fruit. But they are not sprawled out all over the vineyard. Just in strategic locations. The location of the growth is somewhat telling. It's by the house and the garage and by the neighbor's trees.

Hmm......what gives? Maybe the vines were saved by the "heat" of the structures. Or maybe not. Maybe it's that those vines are closer to the water source and there's underground leakage. Or maybe the planets have aligned to send protective energy across just those sections. Who knows?

That leaves 80% growing up from the ground. Yes, I said the ground. Many of you may remember from last season, and the driving reason why I started a blog about life as a vinter was that I was so frustrated with the "training" of the vines from the ground.

The work is back breaking and slow and hot and whine, whine, whine. Geez, enough already. Poor you! Get over it! So moving on....

Well, we get to do it again for 80% of the vines. But this time there's more to the fun. First, we'll have to cut the old branches and trunks too for that matter, some 2"in diameter entangled in the wire. And more disentangling them from the new vines and disposing of them somewhere. Bonfire party here we come!

Only then do we get to retrain all the new vines back up to the fruit load wire....again. Resculpting the main vine to drive cordon shoots up to the second and third wire (called the canopy wires). Cordons are just shoots from that vine that is on that lowest wire.

It looks like not much harvest of grapes for wine this year. I think this might be a good time to try our hand at making our own wine. What'd ya think?

Thank goodness there is plenty of wine from mature, happy vines from all over the world happily chilling in our wine cooler. Waiting for me to just drink. Ahh....

Remember enjoy and imbibe.

Can't Get Away from the Farm

2010-05-24T01:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was so marvelous! It started with searching for the right picnic food at the farmer's market at the Bastille area. The vendors were hawking everything from electronics to rose bushes. We picked up some cheese (goat and cow), spectacular sausage, cherries, tomatoes, avocado and of course, bread.

We met our friends at the Champs d'Elysses with picnic blanket in hand. They came with two bottles of wine. We were set. Cheese, sausage, tomatoes, bread....yum. The white peaches were the best.

Then it was off to the farm in the street. They brought hundreds of plants from the country to the city so the people who can't get out to see farms can see here. It was a surreal event seeing grape vines with the Arc d'Triomphe in the background. Pines, wheat, sunflowers, and hops. All kinds of plants grown here.

Then there was the products made by the farmers. There was turrade. A concoction of cheese, truffles, and mashed potatoes....wow. Champagne, wine, beer, oysters and mustard. All different kinds of mustard. I bought a jar of dijon mustard with green peppercorns for 3 euros. What a bargain!

The crowds were staggering. There's a great picture in the NY Times that shows the event and the crowds. Great crowds. But the crowds were pleasant. Happy to be enjoying the event. And so were we.

Today we are off to eat some croissants and an expresso. Then we're off to the Munch art exhibit. He's the artist who did the work "The Scream". And for lunch bread, cheese and a lovely glass of the Cote du Rhone.

Remember enjoy and imbibe.

Paris in the Springtime

2010-05-21T00:19:00.000-07:00

When first arriving in Paris, the weather was everything I expected. Gray, drizzle, cold. And then ouila! The weather is amazing. Days of blue sky in the high 60s. Perfect. Each day has been better than the other. Manifique!

Last night we went to a souffle restaurant. Started with a cheese souffle for an entree (appetizer), moved to a fish souffle for the plat (main course) and then finished with a chocolate souffle. Wow! The two other souffle eating folks ate asparagus and herb souffles. Sharing all round. We need one of these restaurants in Palisade. The souffles served in white, scalloped bowls were light and fluffy. Beautifully prepared. Yum.

Did all the tourist stuff so far. I never tire of the eiffel tower, the Louvre, musee d'Orsay or Notre Dame. There were thousands of tourist all enjoying the view with me. French buildings as far as the eye can see. Yesterday it was off to Versailles. I've been there before but never made it to Marie Atoinette's estate. The main palace is decadent with gold, mirrors, crystal and fabric for as far as the eye can see. They say each room has been remodeled at least ten times. But at her estate, it is pastoral. Vineyards, stables, an unconstructed pond. Two story brick houses with thatch roofs. Very calming. They say she wanted to live the life of a peasant. Of course, without the threat of starvation and hours of back breaking work.

Today Kenny comes and that will start the next leg of my trip. I hope to dive into more souffle-like restaurants, outdoor cafes, and cheap wine. Last night we had a 2008 Sancerre - Reserve that was quite quaffable

And remember....enjoy and imbibe.

Ah, Paris

2010-05-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

I just got into Paris this morning and the weather is everything springtime in Paris claims to be. A pale sun, longinglyg basks the pale skin of the Parisian people. The breeze is cool with a tease of warmth. Yellow roses in public gardens and red geraniums in window sill pots ostentiously display their finery throughout the city. Raghu's apartment is in the 8th arrondisement. The 138 sq ft apartment is on the top floor. The 6th floor and no elevator. Whoa. The main window faces a courtyard where horses once were tethered. When I look out the window, it is unknown to me what decade, let alone what century I'm observing. I look out at hundreds of chimneys. Copper, Terra cotta, sheet metal, and clay. New and ancient. All different shapes and sizes for as far as the eye can see. All ceremoniously surrounding the nearby black roofed cupola with two glorious windows, and oxidized copper gutters. The filagre below the dome is fringed with leaves, grapes, and flowers. There is a large blank tan stucco wall just begging for a mural or at least the hand of some industrious graffitti artist. A marvelous setting for a grand wine tasting adventure.

Remember enjoy and imbibe.

Ahh....water.

2010-05-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

It's officially growing season! The Colorado river is flowing through the veins of the Vinelands. The land is turning from a brown, desolate landscape to a vibrant spring green. The vines are thirsty. Time to water.

But before watering, we need to mow, weedwhack, and hand weed. It's always something. Thank goodness that weed killing chemical I talked about earlier did the trick. Instead of the weeds fighting with the budding vines, their brown fronds are protecting the buds from the cold of night. Nice. All except for two rows. Who knows why I missed those rows? Doing goofy stuff like that makes me think of the movie line from "When Harry Met Sally", "I want what she's having?" Must be some good sh*!. Geez.

Mowing is pretty straight forward except I've got to be careful not to fall into the water creases. I fall into the creases on either side of the grape and I get sucked into the hole making the tractor push into the precious vine. I can get close, but not too close. When that happens, my adrenaline shoots up and I'm in panic mode. Save the vine! Save the vine!

Now I'm weedwhacking those two rows I missed for..... whatever reason. Still don't know. Then manually weeding 95 plants because if I get too close with the weedwhacker, I accidentally chop off three years of my life, the vine. I did give one vine an early demise. Breaks my heart. Okay, now on to the easy part.

Watering. Kenny and I move each of the 25' aluminum pipes in place. I hold them in place for the proper water gate location while Kenny pushes the pipe into the upstream pipe. Then we go open the irrigation gate off of the Colorado river, open our irrigation gate, and adjust the water level in our water vault. Next we walk the first three sections of pipe and open those gates. Giving the vines the life giving liquor needed for everyone's happiness. Then I go back up to the vault and adjust the level ....close gates....open gates...adjust the level.....again. Over and over. Meanwhile keeping an eye on the rows, making sure the water in one crease isn't being deverted to an adjacent row. From the standpoint of exercise, its great.

Walk, walk, walk. Bend, bend, bend. I can hear my personal trainer (if I had one) now "Walk the row, back and forth. Come on, put some heart into it. Now bend down and up, down and up. Really bend! Open those gates, close those gates. Hup to it! Put some effort into it." All this exercise for free.

Now half the vineyard is watered. The vine buds are literally popping open as the water reaches them. They are so happy. The air smells of water soaking into the earth. It's smells like life. Somehow comforting and hopeful.

I believe Spanish Sangria is what calls tonight. Tastes good and it's good for you too. Ole.

Remember enjoy and imbibe.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it sn.....oh no!

2010-04-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the weather was beautiful. A little windy, but to be expected this time of year. For the past two weeks or so, the weather's been hovering around 70 during the day and 40s at night. Perfect. The vines are starting to bud out. Exciting.

Today is not so perfect. We woke up a layer of melting snow. Snow! Not good. It's snowing, sleeting right now. I think sleet is worse because not only does it freeze the bud, it blugeons it to death from the heavens.

The snow is never any good this time of year but the cold temperature makes it worse. The snow keeps the air relatively warm but if it stops and night comes (and it always comes), we'll have a freeze on our hands. Then we'll wake up to limp, mushy, lifeless buds. And we'll have to start all over.

The orchards folks do have those windmills in their fields just for such an event. Maybe they'll get them going next door to us and we'll benefit from them heating the air with the fans. This one in the photo automatically starts so we may hear it tonight. It always startles me. The sound of the blades through the air sounds like the opening scene from Apocalypse Now.

We'll see. Patience is a virtue? Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue. Keep repeating.

I think this calls for something a little stronger. A nice 20-year Taylor Fladgate tawny port is just what the doctor ordered and of course pieces of Lindt dark chocolate. Yum.

Remember.....imbibe and enjoy.

No Thruway

2010-04-26T11:08:00.001-07:00

The constant "beep, beep, beep" has been the familiar sound this week on the vineyard homestead. Bulldozers, backhoes, and big hydraulic excavators are disrupting our relatively idyllic vineyard lifestyle.

Apparently, there's a problem. Our road is closed. There's nothing wrong with our road. Our road, 38 3/8 Road, is a potholed, dusty gravel farm road. The potholes are fine. It keeps the locals from driving more than 25 mph in the front of the house. The dust is bearable. Ask me again in August. And the gravel hasn't broken my windshield yet. Except for the goofy address, all's good. The address by the way is how many miles we are from the Utah border. Some may celebrate, some may dread. So anyway...

About three months ago, our neighbor with the young peach orchard was having some problem with flooding. We had a similar problem with flooding when we first moved here six years ago. It seems flooding would be the norm.

Legend has it that before the vineyards, this area was initially a swamp. We believe this to be so because the Colorado river is just a couple of stone's throws away from us. Starting in 1905, the Palisade Irrigation District (PID) started constructing large dirt-walled irrigation canals above the area to water Orchard Mesa. And that lent itself to a lot of water seepage. So the land was way cheap (pretty much unliveable) until a smart fella started building subterranean water channels in the area. The water would then runoff into the underground channels as opposed to stagnating at ground level. This idea really caught on and now the entire Vineland area has underground piping that moves the ground water back to the Colorado river.

Well that infrastructure was built a long time ago. And now it's time to replace it again. We've been told that basically the Palisade Drainage District (PDD) is broke and can't do anything to fix the leaking, corroded, crushed underground piping. That the affected landowner has to pay. Crazy, huh? That's because landowners in the area are only required to pay $5 per acre per year. That must of been the rate turning FDR's administraction. It doesn't seem like they've EVER raised their prices. Thus, each landowner takes on the staggering cost of repairing a broken system that will affect everyone downstream and upstream as well.

Thus, at 38 3/8 Rd we have a f*!+ing mess. Mess aside, it is amazing to think there's this huge spiderweb-like subterranean piping system under our feet that keeps us afloat. I just hope OUR subterranean piping system doesn't go the same way as this fiasco. That flooding we had six years ago was in the center of the vineyard.

Well, the excavators have gone home and the beeping has stopped. Time for a delicious local Grande River Vineyards Syrah. Not too spicy, heavier than a Merlot, but not quite a Cab Sav. You can drink this wine with or without food, but I bet this is going to go really well with the pork loin Kenny's making.

Remember.....imbibe and enjoy.

Get me Outta Here!

2010-04-15T17:45:00.001-07:00

I can hear them yelling out, "Hey I'm ready to come out! Do you hear me? Help! Let me outta here!" All said like a class of kindergarteners let loose at the opening day at Disneyworld.

This is when I love this area most. There's still a coolness in the breeze, but the sun is the summer sun. The sky is the most beautiful cobalt blue. When you look up, you get lost in the "blueness". Gorgeous.

Here in the Vinelands, the cherry trees are in full bloom. The aroma is exquisite. Not quite jasmine, but a hint of jasmine with a bit of rose. And the blossoms are unmistakable. A blue white, delicate flower with an extremely pale, purple center, and green and orange tendrils exploding from the center. The beauty demands you stare at its wonder. And with the orderliness of the pruning, the trees hint of a Japanese garden. It is a very zen picture.

The peach trees are also in bloom with their bright pink flowers shivering in the breeze. Their centers are as demanding as the cherry trees. Their bright pink centers draw you to their posture like a bee to nectar. In the distance, the blossoms look like dusty rose clouds rising up from supportive brown branches, not like flowers at all. Only when you are within their heady aroma can you see the full splendor of a temptress.

I take comfort in knowing that all those blossoms are for another purpose besides their obvious beauty. If they make it through the frost, they'll become lucious fruit. The cherries come first and then there's peaches from June until August. Yum.

The grapes are not so showy. There's no true flower with the vines. Maybe that's because the grapes are so tempting to the bees by their sheer nature, that no accoutrements are required. Naked blossoming. Hmmm.

And now I believe it's time for a nice 2007 pinot gris from the Lurton bodega in Valle de Uco Argentina. Valle de Uco is a splendid wide open valley right against the Andes' mountains. A beautiful area. A must see.

Remember, enjoy and imbibe.

Spray, Pray and Love

2010-04-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

The vines are all pruned, most of the trunks tied, the main area is mowed, but there's still a nagging problem. It's always something.

The weeds (ours are No. 1 remember?) along the length of the vines is still going strong. Big, beautiful, spring green weeds full of life......ready to choke out the life of our still not awake vines. Geez.

We asked our neighbor, our normalcy gage, what we could do to get rid of these weeds. Especially the alfalfa. Now alfalfa is a very good crop for the fields in Illinois. What else is there in Illinois, sans Chicago? Oh yeah and corn, but I diverse. Alfalfa is full of nitrogen which helps fertilize the soil. But it's not very good when it grows right where the vine trunk is coming out of the ground with roots so deep it competes with the vine for water. Sorry buddy, no can do.

I first think "What about precision weedwhacking?" But the vines are in such a sensitive state that accidentally nicking the base of the vine would be very stressful and possibly kill the vine. I'm out of ideas.

So our wise neighbor says "You can spray weed killer." To that I retort "Spray! Spray? Are you crazy, spray?" He begins to calmly explain how there's this weed killer that absorbs through the leaves and then oozes down to the roots from the leaves. There are no leaves on the grapes so it shouldn't hurt it, right?

Hmmm........so off to Murdoch's (the friendly redneck hardware store) to get some of this killer stuff. We come out with an expensive 5 gallon container of MadDog Plus. As if just MadDog wasn't enough. It smells sweet and flows like molasses. It looks deadly. When I look at the ingredients, after getting past the glyphosate and N-glycine, it really is .......salt. Oo-ooh.

I don my rubber gloves and paper face mask and begin the mixing in our portable backpack sprayer. This truly is the farmer's friend. You can carry up to 6 gallons of .....whatever right on your back. I carry mostly deadly stuff.

I hoist the sucker on my back and walk to the far row. That's the one that gets all the water so it's the lushest (is that a word?). And I pump and spray. You pump with your left hand to pressurize the tank and you spray with your right. Pump and spray, pump and spray. All the while thinking "Aha, there you go you little green leafed plants sucking the life from my precious grapes, so there! Take that!'

Meanwhile, to get the weeds I have to spray the base of the vines most times. Hmmm....... As I finish up my tank, only getting to the end of the second row, I wonder "Will this work? Will it kill the vine by accident?" I enter slumber that evening a little guilty and extremely hesitant.

The next morning I jump out of bed and cast open the curtain facing the vineyard so I can see my dastardly deed from yesterday's work. Nothing. Not a drooping leaf in the field. They all look as beautiful as before I came in with the dead squad. Hmmm....... I tell Kenny of this and he says "Oh yeah, they didn't die for me until like the next week."

So here I go out in the field again to spray more rows with stuff that looks like clear molasses and sprays like water to not see dead weeds until next week.

Now that, my friend, is faith. Amen.

Time for a rose wine, Vega Sindoa 2007 will do nicely. Yum.

Remember...

Enjoy and imbibe.

Mowing and no grapes

2010-04-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

Today we mowed the field. It's April 11th and I'm really surprised the weeds are so high. What's another surprise is that the grape vines still are barren. I've been told that is normal, and my normalcy gage, our next door neighbors, is fine.

But those weeds are growing like gang busters!

After a week of intensive investigative research, I believe we've won. Within the entire area of Palisade, I think we have the best weeds. Yeah! Wait a minute, we don't want to win. So today we mowed.

Mowing is a 8 hour process. You see it all has to do with the tiny Japanese tractor, Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit can't mow the entire row. The row is too wide. So the row has to be mowed twice.

Precision mowing is a balancing act really. I try to get the mower as close to the vine as possible without ripping the grapevine out in the process. It's very tricky because our vineyard is the Vineyard of Random Enlightment. There is not a vine, a pole, or a wire that is exactly the same as the one beside it. Some are spaced closer than others. Some lean to the west, some lean to the east. Thus, the Mower must be ever vigilant mowing slowly down the row.

Precision mowing is done. Now time for precision weedwhacking. Maybe someday it'll be an Olympic sport, you know like precision water ballet.

Well for now it's time to open a bottle of Ravenswood Zin. Remember....

Enjoy and imbibe.

Dead or Alive

2010-03-04T10:16:00.001-08:00

Welcome to a new season at K Squared Vineyards! We just finished celebrating the completion of running wire so that those healthy, lush, green so green vines will have plenty of space to grow upward to the sky.

We've been pulling wire forever....at least it seems like it. You be the judge. I figure the vineyard is 29 rows at 300 feet plus 7 rows at 50 feet each, and we have to pull 3 levels of wire. Thus, the vineyard holds 54,200 feet of wire. That is a little under 14 rolls of wire. Each roll weighs 60 pounds. No wonder my shoulders are tired. The great part is that this job should only be needed to be performed once....I hope. I pray.

Two weekends ago, in the snow....barefoot (just kidding about the shoeless thing) I went to the Colorado Vinters and Vinterculturists' monthly meeting. A pretty lively group, if I do say so myself. I think it's the wine drinking in the afternoon. During that meeting, we went on a little field trip out to a vineyard to check out the liveliness of the vines. With razor blade in hand (in a gentle snow storm that part's true), I meandered down vineyard rows of Merlot and Chardonnay, cutting buds from the vines to see if anything's growing. I tell you, it's a crap shoot. Some yes, some no. Some how the hell should I know? Mostly that.

So now we are pulling wire like mules through the vineyard. While I'm mushing, I'm looking at the little brown, shriveled, dead as a doornail-looking vines. They don't look good. But they don't look bad.

I cut a couple buds from the vines and they look kaput. Not good! I get a mini anxiety attack and think "OH MY GOD, THEY'RE ALL DEAD! THIS IS GONNA BE SO MUCH WORK! ALL THIS WORK FOR NOTHING!"

So then I do what I always do when I think the vineyard is going to hell in a handbasket....I ask our neighbors, Greg and Christie. Their vineyard is just a stone's throw from our house. If their grapevine buds are dead, then everything is how it should be.

Calmly, I wander over to their vineyard and all their buds look dead too. Okay. Okay. But I'm still wrangling with the irrational thought that BOTH of our vineyards won't produce grapes and just about to panic again when Greg saunters up to the fence. We ask Greg what he thinks about the funerary buds, and he nonchalantly answers "Just wait. Give it time."

Wait? Wait! Wait. Wait I can do. I'm not too thrilled about having these 1400 vines take up all my awake, non-working hours of summer anyway, so wait I can do.

Then I realize there's a REALLY, REALLY good side to this dead bud thing. When cutting the buds, I noticed the vines themselves are alive. THEY'RE ALIVE! Last year most of the winter vines were as dead as a doornail at this time. Not this year. I dare ya to try and break off a vine branch this year. They are happy to be there and are ready for spring!

YEAH!! THEY'RE ALIVE!!! Geez, I hope I'm not this bi-polar through the whole season. I'm sure I won't be. Yes? No? Yes? No? I better get outta here.

And as always, Imbibe and Enjoy!

Reinventing Malbec

2009-10-08T17:20:00.001-07:00

The grape growing has sadly ended. The harvest is off to the wineries to become those beautiful wines we love to taste. Thus, ends this season of Life in the Vines. It was fun. I appreciate all the support and I look forward to sharing the trials and tribulations of a harvest season next year. Yeah!

An appropriate ending to this Life in the Vines season, I've taken some information from WineBusiness.com that sums up what's going on with Malbec. It is exciting. It's exciting to grow the grape, make the wine, and wine drinkers everywhere are excited to drink it.

The reporters went to Mendoza, visited several wineries and talked with winemakers. They found people who were excited as well as dedicated. With the snow-capped Andes Mountains as a backdrop, the vineyards were stunning. There was a good mix of old-time, rustic wineries and gleaming, new, modern facilities. Clearly, Argentine winemaking was reinventing itself, and Malbec was the variety leading the charge.

There is no doubt that Malbec is succeeding. Sales in the United States are soaring. Exports of Malbec to the United States in 2005 saw 631,800 cases, an increase of 32.3 percent over 2004. Exports of Malbec in 2006 saw 903,800 cases, an even bigger increase of 44 percent over 2005. This upswing in Malbec sales has spurred more plantings of Malbec here in California and has caused the varietal prices to increase dramatically. And in Colorado. I believe we are the biggest growers of Malbec in the state of Colorado.

'Malbec is the primary variety associated with Argentina for a good reason. They work with Malbec that is pre-phylloxera genetic material planted to its own rootstock. The quality of this material is unique. It no longer exists, even in France. Malbec is a genetic treasure that Argentines happened to plant in the perfect place. Malbec is delicate at bloom time. It hates dry heat or wind during set. It doesn't like cold weather or a lot of rain. But grown in the well-drained soils of the Andes, Malbec has done very well, and at the higher elevation sites, it consistently gets ripe and seems to maintain acidity.

Argentina has a long, proud history of winemaking, but current, modern winemaking techniques have only been practiced for 20 years. In many ways, winemaking there is in its infancy. Winemakers are working hard to learn the modern ins and outs of their craft. They will soon have a better handle on how to grow perfectly ripened grapes and how best to use oak, micro-ox and other winemaking techniques. It is reasonable to assume that Malbec from Argentina is going to improve as time goes on.

Talking about his experiences working with Malbec in Argentina, Paul Hobbs once commented that he had learned "that culture is part of terroir." With that in mind, I set up this roundtable luncheon/interview at one of my favorite restaurants in Buenos Aires: Parrilla Don Julio. We sat at the table and ate our way through lush salads, spicy chorizos and enormous steaks. We had impassioned discussions and finished off most of 11 bottles of wine before the afternoon ended.
This passionate attitude about dining, discussion and camaraderie is an Argentine thing. It permeates every aspect of their daily lives. Along with their strong sense of family and country, it helps define who they are. Who is to say? I like to think that this attitude and way of life contribute a lot to the success of Argentine Malbec. wbm'

11 bottles in an afternoon? Now that's why I like growing grapes!

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Acid and the Harvest

2009-10-07T15:24:00.001-07:00

Ok so yesterday we talked of brix. Today we talk of acid and pH. Brix, acid and pH are the three things you measure to ensure you pick no grape before it's time.

In his book, From Vines to Wines, Jeff Cox says, "Acids give crispness, brightness and thirst-quenching qualities to wines and are essential components of the balance in a fine wine."

Grapes contain two major types of acid - malic and tartaric. Together they are referred to as total acid or tetratable acid. Acid-testing kits may be purchased form home winemaking supply stores. The optimum level for acid is from 5 to 9 grams per litre of juice. To determine tetratable acidity the grape juice is neutralized with an alkaline solution and the point of neutralization identified.

Hydrogen ion potential or pH refers to the strength of the acidity in grapes. pH is a measure of how many hydrogen ions are combined as acids versus how many are free floating. The more free floating hydrogen ions there are, the lower the pH and the more tart the juice tastes. A portable pH pen can be used to assess grape ripeness.

When sugar comes closest to its ideal for a given grape variety at the same time that the acid comes closest to the ideal, grapes are ready to harvest. Ripe grapes will pull away from the stem easily while unripe grapes will not. Grape berries soften as they ripen, the skin of fully ripe grapes collapses easily when bitten into and the pulp is thick, but not watery. Fully mature grapes have brown seeds. If the seeds are beige or tan in color but not brown, the grapes are not quite ripe. And definitely not if you see green seeds.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

What is a harvest without a few bricks, I mean brix

2009-10-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

What is a harvest without a few brix? Well for us this year we cut off all the grapes but our neighbors grapes are ripe with brix and we're ready to help them pick, even if they don't want us to help.

What is brix you ask? Brix. It’s a word uttered almost hourly by grape growers and winemakers during the peak weeks of harvest season, and it represents the most vital bit of information on the progress of the grapevine’s maturity. Brix is a scale measured in units of degrees, used to indicate how much sugar has developed in the juice of maturing grapes on the vine.

Because sugar content of the juice is what will be converted to alcohol during fermentation, this measurement tells the winemaker when the optimal time is to pick the grapes for harvest. If the grapes are harvested too soon, when the Brix number is low, the juice will ferment to a low alcohol level, producing a thin, acidic, unappealing wine. Waiting too long, and picking the grapes at a Brix number too high, indicating over-ripeness, will produce a final product that is heavy with alcohol, giving an unpleasant impression of heat on the palate.

Our neighbors grow Cab Franc and their brix range is between 26 to 28 degrees. Malbec has a similar brix number. Although digging around the internet, I saw some brix as low as 22 and some as high as 28.

The grape grower uses a hand-held instrument called a refractometer to measure the Brix level in the juice. Grapes are picked off the vine and the juice is squeezed onto a glass lens. Sunlight passing through the juice on the lens is viewed through an eyepiece on the opposite end of the refractometer, seen next to a graduated scale of Brix numbers. When temperatures outside get hot, sugar content in grapes start to soar, so careful attention is paid to Brix numbers everyday. Typical Brix levels for grape picking range from 20 to 26 degrees.

I'm looking forward to having this fun next year.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Last Rites

2009-10-05T16:16:00.001-07:00

Well we were puttering along weeding here, and pulling there when all of sudden it happened.

Winter. The first frost. On October 1st the temperature went down to 30 degF and a horrible thing happened.

All of those beautiful green, succulent vine leaves turned brown. Like a yucky, mushy leafed brown. I opened up our curtains on the 2nd and said "Kenny you better see this."

It was a dreadful feeling. All that work. They're all dead? Wait a minute, wait a minute......what's up with the neighbor's vineyard? We can't be alone on this. I hope we're not alone on this. So we put on our bathrobes and sneakily went to the neighbor's vineyard to check to see if this was normal.

Well, their vineyard looked the same, thank god, and we can all say the season is over together. Which is very weird. First off, that's really early to get a frost the first day of October, second it is normally not so sudden.

Good thing for the neighbor's vineyard is that the frost doesn't hurt the grapes, it doesn't help them either. They're picking ASAP.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Anyone for a Flight?

2009-10-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are going to this great, but somewhat expensive for our small town area restaurant/bar called 626 Rood. That's their name and that's their address, pretty clever huh?

What IS clever about this place is their great list of wine flights. What's a wine flight you ask? A wine flight is a non-committal person's dream.

A wine flight consists of three different kinds of wine of some common theme. There's a French flight, a Syrah flight, and a California flight for example. There's more but I can't remember all of them. The server pours you a bit of three different wines in three separate glasses. A bit is a little more than a taste but definitely not a whole glass. It's heaven. I get tired of the same old wine so easily in a big old full glass and this keeps me a little teased, maybe wanting more, maybe not.

These flights are perfect with the tapas they serve at the restaurant. Tapas are the Italians way of saying appetizers. I love saying we're going to a tapas bar. Because reading looks perfectly normal and saying always makes people reply "Topless?! You, Kris Brandt, are going to a topless bar?" (Go ahead say it, you'll know immediately what I mean) And then I set them straight. I'm NOT going to a topless bar, Kenny maybe going to a topless bar for all I know later, but I'm going to the tapas bar.

Ok, off we go!

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Dog Tail Red

2009-10-01T17:46:00.001-07:00

Hi everybody! I have to tell you about this fun wine we had the other day. Friends of ours came by bearing a bottle of wine. A marvelous gift idea for all friends wanting to have fun at KSquared Vineyards.

The wine is Fire Hydrant Red by Dog Tail Vineyards out of California. It's just plain funny. I buy wine because of the label all the time and this label is colorful, cute, and funny. Buy it for the label alone. The description on the back reads "Dog fanciers know it's all about good breeding. But sometimes your childhood best friend was just a mutt. You know a bit shaggy with mottled colors and a body that looked like you put together a German Shepard with a Basset Hound. And they never let you down. That's what you can expect from Dog Tail Red. It's got good breeding-varietals true to their character now mixed together to create a one-of-a-kind. Give it a try_you'll be in love for the rest of your life.

Is that sweet or what? I don't know if I'm in love but I'm definitely in like. It's a good red table wine with a great attitude.

Here's what some experts said about it too from http://wine.appellationamerica.com/wine-reviews/1107/Dog-Tail-Vineyards-NV-Fire-Hydrant-Red.html

'Dog Tail Vineyards is the latest endeavor of the Kautz family, whose flagship operation is Ironstone Vineyards in Calaveras County. With this new brand the family decided to pay homage to the many family dogs that roam the vineyards, chasing squirrels and digging holes.

The Dog Tail wines are inexpensive, colorfully labeled and sell for between $8 and $12. While some wines are form single varietals and are vintage dated, this is one of the non-vintage blends. This entertainly named wine is finished with a twist-off screw cap and is geared towards existing wine drinkers looking for a fun wine, as well as towards those who might be turned off to formal labels and all the hoopla. It is daringly named- the connection between dog and fire hydrant might be off-putting to some folks.

Bright, lightly saturated ruby, and viscous, the wine has notes of plum, prune, blackberry preserves, vanilla, mocha, spice, stewed meat, bay leaf, wintergreen, and maple syrup. It is clean, medium bodied, rustic, and flavorful, like the inexpensive, food-friendly, quaffable, non-hangover producing wines one finds everywhere in Buenos Aires or Naples, Italy.'

I did NOT taste that myriad of flavors but I did taste the berries and the stew meat. Yes! I did taste the stew meat! It's a table red made to be easily forgotten. This can be forgotten but why? It's so cute. And if you've have Ironstone Winery's "real" wine you know they made this taste like this on purpose. Good stuff.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Vineyard of Random Enlightment

2009-09-29T07:00:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Wine ready to drink

2009-09-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-17T14:10:00.001-07:00

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?

2009-09-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-09T14:36:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-08T12:57:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

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."

Million dollar views

2009-08-31T11:44:00.001-07:00

Well, I've been in southern Illinois for almost three weeks now and I'm tired of the landscape. When I look out the window all I see is the flat horizon with corn fields, and some trees way off in the distance with a pale blue sky. I need contrast, damn it!

Where we live in Palisade, the views are spectacular on three sides of the property. In addition to what you see on the horizon, there's also that beautiful azure blue color of the Colorado sky that is hard to find anywhere else. Most everyone who lives in Colorado appreciates the deep blue, the color of a clear, endless sea. Your eyes are driven to find an end to the depth, but they finally just have to give up and relax. Timeless.

That Colorado blue sky complements perfectly the Bookcliff Mountains that we can see to the west and the north. If I look to the west, I look through the vineyards and see the view of Mt. Garfield. That mountain rises to an elevation just above the six thousand foot level. In respect to the local topography it is two thousand feet higher than the floor of the Grand Valley. It really gives quite a contrast. In addition to its height, the Bookcliffs are this redish sandstone color with streams of black from coal veins. The red of the range against the blue sky is what really makes it stand out. I was told the range was named by an exploring civil engineer that thought the mountains looked like a stack of books. I think it looks more like the lucious folds of a velvet tablecloth on a table. To each their own.

To the north, the Book Cliffs peek out of the canyon formed by the Colorado river. There is a slight smaller mountain called Mt. Anderson that pokes its head up. And the cliff contrast is still just as stunning. The morning and evening shadows are an artist's fantasy. The shadows with the sunset skies are dreamy. The stark contrast of barren cliffs towering over the green growth of Palisade makes everyone appreciate the view. Many a photographer tries to capture the essence of what they see here. You can't not be moved by the vision.

Then to the east is our view 0f the Grand Mesa. It is five thousand feet higher than Mt. Garfield, attaining a height of eleven thousand feet above sea level. The Grand Mesa deserves the title GRAND by virtue of its own merit. It is the largest flat topped mountain in the world, and lies to the south and the east of Mount Garfield. I love looking up the mountain and still seeing the top covered with snow in July. I look out the window at the top of the Mesa and can gage what to wear for the day by its snow melt, or not. The range has a nickname of amber ridge because during a sunset, the sun's light on the barren cliffs below the Mesa produces a red glow that cannot be captured by camera. And it is gone in a few moments.

Ok, now I think I'm more homesick for the views than before. Shoot. Well on Friday I'll be back and they'll be there.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Cheap wine

2009-08-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm back from another relaxing weekend at the river off of Missouri. We did a whole lot of nothing and boy, was that fun. I joke that "What happens on the River stays on the River", but truth be told, I really just can't remember anything that happened on the River. It wasn't like I was a blubbering puddle of alcohol, it's just to say nothing really of note happened. And that is good.

Another good thing that happened was drinking that $3.59 bottle of wine. I brought a bottle of Argentinian wine, wanting to check it out. Definitely not expecting much. I was very surprised. This bottle of 30% Pinot Grigio/70% Torrentes from Lost Vineyard of Argentina is a winner. Light and fruity with a hint of kiwi (I'm serious this time, I really DID taste kiwi). The first taste on your tongue was a hint of sweet, then it moved on to kiwi, and then it finished with a lemony fade. All for under the price of a McDonald's Value Meal. A real test of a cheap wine is that killer, cheap wine hangover headache. No headache. Wow! And you can order it off of the internet for $2.99 a bottle. I'm in.

I also brought that bottle of 2005 South African Chardonnay from Storyteller winery. It was drinkable, but not very noteworthy. One of the things I did note was the initial taste of diesel. That was a little strange for that grape. It was tangy but not much else. It didn't overload you with tanginess so that was okay, but it didn't give you anything more to speak about. It is probably because of its age. A Chardonnay is normally best drunk within two years of its life. This one needed to go on to the retirement home.

Taking chances on cheap wine, I love the game!

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

The River and Wine

2009-08-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'm going with good friends, Jan and Fred, to the River. River with a capital "R" because it's a religious routine for those two with good reason. On Friday afternoon, they strip themselves of their weekday work-laden corporate suits and don the beach clothes, but more importantly, the beach attitude. If someone was to ask me what we do there specifically, I'd respond, "Nothing."

And nothing it is, a whole bunch of nothings, but they're all trivial somethings of some sort. But one thing they're not is painting the kitchen ceiling, or mowing the grass, or cleaning the fridge. And that's why I'm really going to enjoy myself this weekend.

Of course, no weekend is complete without some beach-complimentary bottles of wine on hand. I'm bringing two bottles of white with us for the weekend, plus a good amount of beer. Both of the wines are white grape varietals. No self-respecting wine drinker would bring a heavy red to the beach, a rose maybe, but no way a Primitivo or a Cab Sav. So white it is.

My choice of purchase was very scientific. The first one I selected by price. I passed by the bottle in the Shop-n-Save, and exclaimed, "What? That price can't be right!" and put it in the cart. The second bottle I chose because I like the label. I don't know about you, but I choose a bottle by its label all the time. My method is...I normally have a grape in mind, like this weekend I knew I wanted a white, something that won't wither agianst the heat or weigh me down. Maybe a Pinot Grigio or a Fume Blanc, or it could be a light Chardonnay. And that's what I got.

The first one is a blend of Pinot Grigio and Torrontes by Lost Vineyards of Argentina, no year. Hmmm. That's kinda concerning but even if it's swill, who cares? Mix it with lots of ice cubes and you're set. When you purchase a bottle of wine for $3.59, yep....you heard me, you give it a lot of leeway.

But the price is not extremely concerning to me because when Kenny and I were "working", touring the Malbec vineyards of Mendoza, Argentina at the beginning of this year, we feasted on some great wines. And even the best wines were under $20. Most other things were comparable prices to the States, but the wines were not. So I'm going to check out this white. Here's what their website has to say about it:

"blah, blah, blah, blah.........slightly more fruity and aromatic than traditional Pinot Grigio, the addition of the highly prized Torrontes grape creates the perfect blend. This wine is everything but boring!" (https://www.lostvineyards.com/argentina/pinot.htm)

And this bottle of wine won a gold medal in the 2008 Hilton Head Area Hospitality Association Winefest.

Well, ok then! And on the internet they're selling the wine for $2.99 a bottle. Shoot! I paid 60 cents too much. Darn it! Like I said, anybody can make a good $50 bottle of wine but it takes a real master to make a $2.99 bottle of wine that you want to drink. So we'll see how it goes. The website didn't say not boring in a good way. :)

Then there's the 2005 South African Storyteller Chardonnay. I couldn't find a thing on the winery, so maybe there's no "winery" per se, but since I bought it because of the label, I will pass on the story on the label that caught my attention and solidified my purchase... "Chapter IV (looks more official) "The Sea Serpent" There once existed an imposing rock wall barrier, which had kept The Young Man of the Sea from his village bride. To claim her, the Young Man of the Sea brought with him a glittering green sea serpent. Swimming headfirst into the imposing rock, the sea serpent created a gaping hole though which the Young Man rode his ocean wave through and swooped up his bride. Upon the wave retreating....." What?! What?! Wave retreating what? The rest of the story is finished on the back of the bottle. That's why I bought this bottle. On a quality of the wine note.....

This wine did win a silver medal at the 2007 Los Angeles International Wine and Spirit event. On the bottle it says, "A provocative mix of apricot, rich melon and honeyed peach flavors, with good minerality enhancing the fruit." That last part really is a good thing. The wine was cheap at only $9.49.

Well I think this is going to be a good weekend. I'll let you know.

And always remember, Imbibe and enjoy!

Food Pairing

2009-08-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

One of the main things that makes drinking wine interesting is what food should I serve this with?

Well the experts say white wine with white meat, red wine with red meat. In today's dining climate, however, this saying does not hold true. Properly matching food and wine is a little more complicated, partially because wine makers are more sophisticated in their wine making than 20 years ago. Today winemakers try to impart specific qualities out of their wine.

Now when pairing any wine with food, the eater needs to think about the body of the beverage and the body of the food.

Malbec is a medium-bodied wine that is ideal with flank steak in fajitas. But if you take the flank steak and serve it wrapped in blue cheese and proscuitto, you need to pair the steak with a full-body wine like Zinfandel.

Or you have a salad. That would be great with a light, fruity Sav Blanc. But if you add spiced chicken to the salad, it would be best to serve it with a Chenin Blanc.

The most important thing I think is that you like the wine you are drinking. Many a time I'll pour a glass of Cab Sav, put in ice cubes and drink it with salmon. The triple no-no. But you know what, the only thing that is important is that you like what your drinking. And the food tastes good. Screw em if they can't take your taste.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Whites

2009-08-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

Whites! I love white wine, but I tend to drink more reds. It's probably because in the magazine, Wine Spectator, they only mention red wines providing the healthy benefits. And of course, the only reason I drink wine is for my health. :) The poor white wines just don't get a fair shake.

So let's talk about whites in the general sense for now. Whites are normally light. You can easily drink it without food. And white wine is SO refreshing on a summer day. You can even put a couple of ice cubes in the glass without a wine snob turning up their nose. Well, maybe not, but who cares.

If you are a new wine drinker, you cannot go wrong with a Riesling. It tends to have a range from super sweet to barely sweet. That sweet flavor doesn't mean the wine cannot be complex, it's just that our new-wine-drinker taste buds tend to like sweet wines more than non-sweet wines. A Riesling is perfect with Asian food, and appetizers like artichoke dip and spring rolls.

A great grape that Kenny and I always like to start our night with is Sauvignon Blanc. The wine is rarely harsh. Most times the wine has a fruity, sometimes lemony, flavor. It can sometimes give you a little tangy kick at the end. Sav Blanc is perfect with salads, breads and crackers, and even chicken soup. The same can be said of Pinot Grigio and Fume blanc.

There's a wine called Viognier (vee-en-yay) that grows exceptionaly well in our Grand Valley area. Before moving to Palisade I never heard of it, and it was my loss....until now. The grape has powerful flower and fruit aromas. Viognier is intended to be consumed young. Viogniers more than three years old tend to lose many of the floral aromas that make this wine unique. The color and the aroma of the wine suggest a sweet wine but Viognier wines are predominantly dry. When I worked at Grand River winery, I would pour a taste for customers with this to say....I suggest you save enough for three sips. The first sip you'll taste a sweet wine, the second taste you'll taste a fruity but dryish flavor, and the third taste will provide you with a dry, smooth fruity flavor that will last the rest of the bottle. Truly a unique wine. This wine is great with fish, vegetables, and can hold its own with pork, depending on how it's cook.

Then of course, there is the Chardonnay. The wine can give you a wider range of flavors. My favorite Chardonnay is one that has a bit of a smoke taste but not too much, with a hint of peach, ending with a buttery finish. It is the only wine that is fermented in barrels for a period of time. I believe that fermenting is what brings forth the complexity in this white. I have a friend that is a Chardonnay fanatic. It's the only wine he'll drink. Bruce says the flavors are one of the reasons for his preference, but more importantly it's the great memories the wine bring to the forefront while drinking it. He associates the glass of Chardonnay with good times and the good life.

On that note, I think I'll pop open a bottle of Chardonnay right now.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Does size matter?

2009-08-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

Does size matter? What kind of silly question is that? Of course, size matters.

That's why when K Squared Vineyards had to decide what size the spacing should be between each row during our vineyard development, we took the decision very seriously.

The space between each one of the rows is a crucial part of vineyard management. If the width between the rows is too far, then you've wasted precious property that could yield something besides weeds. If the width between the rows is too narrow, then the vines are not able to grab all that precious sunlight and the grape yield may suffer. It has to be JUST right, like Goldilocks.

So before we made our decision we took a walk about. We walked hither and yon with a tape measure, measuring the distance between already established vineyards. We measured our neighbors vineyard, and they offered us a glass a wine so that was good. We measured our east of the peach orchard neighbor's vineyard and they offered us a glass of wine, and that was good. We measured one of the largest vineyards in the area and was chased off, and that was bad. The conclusion was that 9' was the magic number.

Now before I continue on, if any of you reading this is a farmer, then you can just stop reading from now on because you know what I'm gonna say but if you're not, then this may be of some casual interest for you. Farmers (and I am one) are notorious for rural legend. What starts out as a swag, within 15 years becomes a scientific fact.

Kenny and I have seen 100s of vineyards all over the world and depending on the area, they all build vineyards differently. Most times when we ask why use wood posts over steel posts for example, there's no real good answer. Why is the spacing 9' between rows we asked as opposed to 6', there was no strong definitive answer. So we consulted an expert.

Horst Caspari of the Colorado State University Extension in Grand Junction (http://www.colostate.edu/programs/wcrc/pubs/viticulture/viticulturehome.html)
is the leading expert on vinticultural practices in our area, so we paid him a visit. He was very excited that we were planting Malbec. When we asked him about the spacing issue, he said he thought there was no reason we couldn't plant them as close as 5 feet. That seemed a little close, but it would really improve the grape yield that's for sure. Not for certain on going almost half of 9', we went to a real working expert.

Jim has been a vineyard manager for years. He used to work for Grand River Vineyards at the winery where we both worked, and now he is an independent consultant. Not by his own choice I would imagine. The winery sold all the vineyard at an auction two years ago and he had nothing to manage for them anymore. It was a shame. Anyway, he IS the expert we needed. That first year Jim was an invaluable resource for us and we couldn't have done it without him. Well, we could of but not nearly so well that's for sure.

Jim gave us a great answer. Why not space the rows 8' apart? It sounded logical. Far enough apart so an industrial tractor could still get through but close enough so you could get more rows in, meaning more yield.

And so that's what we did. By making the rows only 8' as opposed to 9', we were able to put in 5 more rows. That was a great idea. He and Kenny were the ones that put in the 116 posts with the tractor driven hydraulic post hole digger. Took them 4 days.

The funny part is when it came time for tilling up the soil between the rows, we hired Jim because he has a big commercial tractor that can do that work in a jiff. During a break, I walk up to him to chat. The first thing he does is complain about how god damned close those rows are. I just howled in laughter and retorted, "Well Jim it was you that suggested we space 'em this close!" Then he started laughing too.

Imbibe and Enjoy!

Ensemble

2009-08-24T14:01:00.001-07:00

Two weekends ago Kenny and I went to the recently opened Palisade Grill, aptly named because it is a grill in Palisade, CO. I highly recommend it. Now we have two restaurants that are worth their salt in Palisade, thank goodness.

One of the wines they are serving is the Book Cliff Vineyard 2006 "Ensemble". Marvelously named because it is a symphonic collection of Cabernet Sav, Cab Franc, and Merlot. It is a well put together wine and is quite drinkable.

This is what their website http://www.bookcliffvineyards.com/ had to say about the wine:

"The Merlot makes this wine approachable, the Cabernet Sauvignon adds body and structure, and the Cabernet Franc gives it a light fruity finish. This wine is easy and friendly, good with a fancy dinner and enjoyable on its own. Light tannins and a smooth finish."

I completely agree with their review of how it travels down your palate. In addition, I'd like to add that the color is pleasingly rich with hints of Cab Sav's deep, luxurious purple, and it lays well in the glass. You want to swirl it in your Cab Sav shaped vessel forever. If I was do a blind tasting and someone asked me what type of wine this was, I'd say it was a Cab Sav. Thus, it can hold its own with a hearty meal.

Ensemble's varietal blend is: Merlot - 46%; Cabernet Sauvignon - 31%; Cabernet Franc - 23%

The great part about this wine is that the vineyard where these grapes were harvested is just east of the peach orchard right across our street. Hopefully, our grapes can produce some quality wine as well next year.

It's still tough to compete with those California reds, but I believe this is one of the best Colorado wines around this season.

Find you a bottle and pick it up.

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Poisons and People

2009-08-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

K Squared Vineyards sprays about 3 times a year for pests and powdery mildew. Last year we hired a guy I used to work with at one of the wineries in town to spray our vineyard. It was a bit expensive and we had to buy our own chemicals. The chemical acquisition was a trip into la-la land. I thought "Hmm, what we spray on the grape vines should be pretty straightforward, right?" but when I ask him about what we should use, he says under his breath (we are in the middle of the vineyard, not a soul in sight), "Go to the Co-op and ask them." Ok, but I am a little baffled as to why he wouldn't tell us what he used in the past and presently, for that matter. And he was really reluctant to spray our field. I felt like I was doing something illegal or pervertedly nasty.

Since I never got a straight answer from him, I quietly, and wearing dark glasses, sneak into the Co-op. This store is the farmer's friend because it's close and they've got everything a farmer needs: horse hoof lotion, lamb feed, chicks (they are so cute), and THE CHEMICALS. I silently walk up to the staff person working in the back and ask, "Do you have the chemicals needed for spraying a vineyard?" I half expect to get reprimanded or at least shooed out of the establishment for daring to ask, but he calmly replies, "Sure, follow me." We go outside, to the very back corner where this dilapidated storage shed, with a big lock on the door, is ominously looming. He pulls out his big bundle of keys and unlocks the rusted lock with a very tiny key. The door plops open and the official smell of Dow chemical races out to embrace us. Whoo! Any length of time in that shack can NOT be good. He goes in and pulls out container after container until he finally reaches a large bag filled with cocaine-looking powder.

"Here's the stuff for powdery mildew, right here." he says as he passes it out to me. It's covered with white dust and I wonder if I should be wearing gloves. But no immediate burning sensation, so it turns out all right. Then he opens the lid to the covered bin, digs in deep and pulls out a gallon jug (looks like a windshield washer fluid jug), with no label and passes it out to me. The light brown fluid is thick and I don't dare open the cap to smell it. "Ok, that should do ya. That'll be $300." "300$!!" I exclaim. He shrugs his shoulders and says, "You asked for the stuff." I reluctantly pay the cashier like a user in a drug deal where I think I've paying too much, but where else am I gonna get this stuff. I phone the spray guy to tell him I've got the stuff. He says "Put the stuff on your front porch. I'll come by tomorrow." The deal goes down. I still don't know what the stuff I actually got was, but it looks like stuff that would kill vineyard eating things.

That was last year, this year is different....better. I don't know if our neighbor took pity on us or if they thought, "We better help these losers out because if their grapes become a veritable paradise for leaf hoppers and powdery mildew denizens, those pests will hop right over to our nice, mature vineyard and feast on it as well. That would be bad. Our neighbor's are great. He is kind of a gadget guy and last year, at the end of growing season, he bought a turbine driven sprayer. It's orange and has this big ol fan on the back end. It has a 100 gallon tank on the skid before the fan. It works like a charm. You do NOT want to be behind it when it is spraying away.

Currently, we have a great arrangement. I gave them what was left of the chemicals from last season and then he goes and sprays. He sprays their vineyard first and then ours. He does it whenever they need their vineyard to be sprayed, which is normally when we need our vineyard to be sprayed, and when the weather is perfect for spraying. He's a stickler for detail, thank goodness.

The perfect weather for spraying is no wind, and the air temperature is less than 68 degF. Most times that is in the evening. Where we live in Colorado most nights, it is less than 68 degF so not a problem. When spraying is determined and the weather is just right, he will don the spraying ensemble. A white, tyvex plastic unisuit, a respirator, googles that seal around his face, leather gloves and a hat. The hat's just for the vineyard farmer look.

Then he jumps on the tractor, opens up the spray valves and the spray permeates the air. You can smell a sweet smell in the air. Kind of like the odor of ester. When he's spraying, we turn off the swamp cooler, close all the windows and doors, and breathe shallowly. This not stuff you want to have in any one of your orifices.

The neighbors that live to the south of us obviously have a different philosophy. I happen to catch them while I was staring out the window, on alert to help if he needed help. This family of four and their 20 closest relatives, are outside in the backyard in the pool, the side that faces the vineyards, and grilling burgers. Meanwhile I can see the chemicals spewing out, hitting the vines, and tumbling into the atmosphere. The neighbors have a multitude of children splashing away in the pool, and the grownups are gathered round the grill drinking sweetened tea. Do these people not know what is in this stuff that is currently spewing in the air? They've lived here their whole lives. Sometime I want to casually go up to the wife and ask "So how are your kids these days? And lingering colds or strange sores that just won't heal?" But I probably never will.

They must think "My granddaddy, my daddy and me have lived this long with everything being alright, why change now? Ah, the beauty of a small town. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of wearing a respirator in the house when he sprays again, just in case.

Poisonous Pesticides

2009-08-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

When we first started thinking about building a vineyard, we were super serious about keeping it as organic as possible. Maybe going totally organic. It made total sense. I mean I lived in Boulder and loved it, so this granola organic idea is right up my alley. Or at least I initially thought it was a good idea. We thought it'd be great to be certified as "organic" because........and that is the problem. There's no real incentive to go organic besides the feeling you have in your heart of hearts that tells you it is the right thing to do. Like recycling bags, putting rocks in your toilets to decrease water usage, and composting.

When we looked into the explicit benefits of going organic, there really didn't seem to be any big advantage. It was so disappointing. (anybody reading this who thinks I'm dead wrong and knows a multitude of benefits is SO welcomed to comment, please) So we thought, well, we should do it anyway, and we dug into the rules. One of the weird requirements for going organic was that you couldn't use treated wood posts....at all. Well, that means you must want to replace your untreated wood posts every five years.....I so not want to. I have enough work to do thank you very much. There was rules on the type of wire, the hangers, everything....whoo boy.

Then I was comparing yield rates of sprayed vines versus non-sprayed vines. The yield rate is about four times greater for the sprayed vines. Four times the amount of grapes at harvest. Makes sense. No competition with those buggies and fungi. There was that to think about.

Now let's think about the quality of the wine itself. I've done a blind taste test of organic versus non-organic wines, and I just can't tell any difference. The organic wine is not worse, I just couldn't say to you this is so much better. Have you ever had an organic chicken? Yummmmmm, you can really tell the difference between it and the Tyson chicken factory chicken that's for sure. I was expecting that type of quality difference and was sorely disappointed.

Thus, today K Squared Vineyards is a non-organic vineyard along side most of the other vineyards in our area, and in the US for that matter. I believe we responsibly do our part to keep the environmental impact of our use of herbicides and pesticides to a minimum. One can justify anything and it's the only reason I can sleep at night, so please let me have this fantasy.
I really have no solid evidence, but we spray when everybody else sprays and the neighbor kids have not come down with lukemia....yet.

We spray for two things - insects (too numerous to mention them all here except leaf hoppers seem to be the most abundant) and powdery mildew. We use nasty, death perfecting malithion for the bugs, and sulfur for the powdery mildew. The bugs are pretty self explantory, but you may be thinking "what the heck is powdery mildew?" Well I'm glad you asked.

"Powdery mildew is similar to mildew in that it is a cryptogamic illness (excuse me? this just sounds bad) which can cause severe damage to the vine. Powdery mildew is a gray fungus that forms on the leaves and grapes. The grapes eventually split and shrivel." On the canes, which is what is most effected at our vineyard, is basically purple, black blotches located at random spots on the trunks. The funny thing is, is that we live in the desert, so when is mildew ever around? Not very often, but whenever the vineyard gets even a bit of rain, the canes will sprout up some new blotches. My goodness, what do they do in Oregon? They must just have one black cane.

We don't spray every week or even every month, for that matter. Us and the neighbors spray together, we have vineyards that abutt, and we spray about three times a year. So that's not too much is it? See, I told you I can justify anything?

K Squared Vineyards is a non-organic vineyard eeking out big, fat grapes in the high desert. I still feel guilty about the non-organic part. Kind of like how I feel guilty about speeding. I could not do it, but then it's not that big of a deal is it?

Here's to you! Imbibe and enjoy.

History of Palisade Wine

2009-08-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

From Corn to Cabernet

A burgeoning wine industry takes Colorado agriculture uptown

From the August 17, 2009 issue of High Country News by Christie Aschwanden

Bruce Talbott built his reputation on apples and peaches. A congenial middle-aged farmer with a tidy moustache and a boyish grin, the VP of Talbott Farms manages more than 400 acres, most of them perched on a verdant bench overlooking the small Western Slope town of Palisade, Colo. To the north rise the towering Mancos shale formations for which this small farming community was named. To the south and east, the alpine forests of the Grand Mesa push skyward above the red desert. Even on this late May day, the mountain's upper flanks, which top out at nearly 11,000 feet, still harbor caches of snow. The Colorado River runs through Palisade, bringing irrigated life to the arid landscape. Outside Talbott's office, tiny green peaches hang in the manicured orchard.
This community of 3,000 looks like classic rural America with its ranch houses, lean-to fruit stands and sleepy streets. But just a few miles to the west, the city of Grand Junction is inching ever closer. Western Colorado's major metropolitan area, Grand Junction is home to about 54,000 people. And more are coming: Fueled by a flood of amenity migrants, retirees and oil and gas field workers, Mesa County has grown 5 percent faster than the rest of the state over the past decade. In the last eight years, Grand Junction -- often described as "a suburb without a city" -- has annexed nearly 4,600 acres. Surrounded by public land, the city has had little choice but to expand into its agrarian surroundings, gobbling up choice farmland in the process.
Just west of Palisade lies the growing community of Clifton-Fruitvale. True to its name, Clifton-Fruitvale was once covered in orchards, but today the names Delicious, Rome and Winesap refer to residential streets rather than the apple varietals that grew here. Even as the residents of Clifton-Fruitvale consider annexation by Grand Junction, Palisade's farmers fret about holding back the tide of subdivisions. Since 1980, Palisade's population has doubled, and with its striking beauty, ample water and open land, the town appears ripe for even more development.
Talbott envisions a different future for his community, one that is still agricultural but centered on a fruit crop whose varietals go by names like cabernet, syrah and riesling. Wine grapes yield vastly greater profits per acre than the apples that once provided Palisade's major cash crop, and vineyards hold a certain cachet that orchards and hay fields lack. Wine appeals to yuppies and retirees and well-heeled tourists -- people with money to spend. If vineyards become more valuable than housing developments, a burgeoning wine industry just might preserve western Colorado's rural heritage. "People are far more interested in wine vineyards than in fruit. The wine industry is approaching the number-one draw for tourists in the region," says Talbott. "Holding the land base in agriculture is the most important thing to us -- subdivisions are the enemy."
This new industry could also provide a reprieve from the boom-bust economy that has long dogged this region. Where other fruits (and the oil and gas industry) have gone through multiple up-and-down cycles, wine grapes promise a more reliable future. Colorado's wine industry has been growing steadily for the past decade, and even in today's poor economy, demand for the state's wine remains high.
It's an industry that appears well-positioned to excel over the long haul. Vineyards use a fraction of the water that other crops require. That makes them well-suited to the state's arid lands, especially as climate change reduces stream flows and thirsty urban areas grab for the water now used for irrigation. Even as global warming threatens to hamstring California's wine industry, Colorado seems better able to cope with the rising temperatures, at least so far. "Global warming is probably what enabled us to grow grapes in the first place," says Colorado state viticulturist Horst Caspari. "We've gained almost two weeks in our growing season over the last 45 years."

As recently as a decade ago, the mere notion of Colorado wine was enough to turn up the nose of a wine snob. Early on, Colorado wines often had a bouquet more reminiscent of Kool-Aid than Cabernet. But the Colorado wine industry has matured over the last decade, and its products have evolved from what one critic diplomatically dismissed as "uninteresting" to fine wines worthy of national awards.
In 1990, there were only five licensed wineries in Colorado. But that year, the state Legislature created the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board (CWIDB) and by 1995, the number of wineries had risen to 13. Today, the state claims 85 wineries, and with an average annual increase in production of 20 percent since 1996, the wine industry represents Colorado's fastest-growing agricultural sector. "We were the first state in the region to create a wine board to fund research and promotion. It was very forward-thinking," says Doug Caskey, the gregarious former actor who serves as the CWIDB's executive director.
With the support of the development board and Colorado State University, which employs state viticulturist Caspari as well as state enologist Steve Menke, Colorado is ready to make the next big leap, according to syndicated columnist, Dan Berger. "Colorado is making very good wine," says Berger, a former wine reporter for the Los Angeles Times who now publishes the weekly wine commentary Vintage Experiences. "Not every winery is great, and not every bottle is a great wine, but if you go from top to bottom you find infinitely more quality wine in Colorado now than even five years ago. If the Colorado industry continues to grow like it has in the last decade, it will be in the thick of it."
When wine succeeds, other types of agriculture also benefit. Wineries attract tourists and their dollars, which are helping to drive a vigorous local-foods movement. Today, foodies seeking local wines, fruit, cheese and pastured meats flock to places like Palisade and the North Fork and Surface Creek Valleys on the Grand Mesa's south flanks. A tourist destination best known for the West's finest powder skiing, the state is reinventing itself as Wine Country USA. Even Palisade's famously delectable peaches never mustered such allure.
If not for prohibition, western Colorado might have established itself as a wine region a long time ago. In the late 1880s, Grand Junction founder George Crawford planted 60 acres of wine grapes near Palisade. At the same time, Italian immigrants planted vineyards to produce their cherished vino. But prohibition wiped out Colorado's wine production, and the state went without a commercial vineyard until the 1970s, when the Four Corners Development Project, a cooperative effort by Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona to find crops that would thrive in the arid Southwest, got under way. Grapes were just one of the test crops planted, but the experiment had a lasting impact, proving once again that traditional vinifera wine grapes could grow in Colorado.
Still, the state's wine industry did not take off for nearly two more decades. In 1985, when Talbott joined with his father and two brothers to take over the land their grandfather had farmed since 1918, the 150-acre property was planted almost entirely in apples. "Apples were the number-one crop in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, and then everything just totally crashed," says Talbott. "In 1987, the apple industry got really beat up with over-production. There was just too much fruit on the market." To make matters worse, the consolidation of grocery store chains gave an edge to big producers who could promise a 12-month supply, and China flooded the world market with cheap apple juice concentrate. "Apples (became) a commodity item, rather than something to be celebrated," Talbott says. By the early 1990s, Colorado apple producers found themselves pushed out of the industry.
Like many Colorado growers, Talbott Farms moved into peaches, still its most profitable crop. Talbott never intended to get into the wine business, but in 1999 Palisade's Plum Creek Winery made him an offer he couldn't refuse. "They came to us and said that if we planted wine grapes they'd promise to buy them," Talbott says. "They told us when and how and where to grow them. It seemed like a low-risk deal."
Talbott planted those initial grapes in 2000 and has since expanded to 115 acres, growing more than a dozen varieties including merlot, syrah and riesling, which he sells to wineries throughout Colorado. Peaches fetch a slightly higher return per acre than grapes, but combining the two crops makes economic sense, says Caspari. "You prune the peaches, then it's time to prune the grapes. Harvest times for the two crops sync well so growers can use the seasonal workforce in a complementary way."

Wineries have popped up in nearly every corner of the state, but the vast majority of Colorado's nearly 1,000 acres of vineyards lie in the state's Grand Valley American Viticultural Area, or AVA, around Grand Junction and Palisade. Other prime locations include the North Fork Valley's West Elks AVA, the Surface Creek Valley near Cedaredge, Olathe's corn country and the Four Corners region. Some growers are even planting hybrids along the Front Range near Denver. Grapes thrive in Colorado's rocky soil and they develop the best flavors and sugar profiles when grown under water stress. Unlike other crops grown in this area, grapes need little fertilizer and few pesticides, and so far the arid region has not attracted any major grape pests.
Diversifying into grapes has made his business more resilient, says Talbott. "You spread your weather risk. A cold snap in midwinter won't hurt the peaches, and a spring frost won't usually hurt the grapes. You reduce the potential for a complete wipeout." Climate change could actually help the Colorado wine industry if it continues to extend the growing season, but it also poses some worrisome risks. "Our biggest concern with global warming is the increased amplitude of extreme weather events," says Caspari. "If the extremes become more extreme, that's a big problem." Even now, unpredictable weather poses the biggest challenge to Colorado grape growers.
Talbott hopes that the vineyards will help preserve the agricultural character of Palisade, where a recent oil and gas boom brought an infusion of money from land speculators and developers. "When wine catches the imagination of the average politician and you get people interested in marketing destination tourism, you get a push to keep the area desirable," says Talbott. "Once people are aware of what we have, it makes it much more difficult for someone to come put a subdivision in the middle of all that agriculture."
The troubled economy could also end up protecting farmers, says Talbott, since the value of agricultural land has gone down. Currently, Palisade's master plan shows housing developments growing to four or five times their current size, wiping out a lot of agricultural land, says Talbott. "Right now they don't plan to save fruit except on the periphery. But as time goes on and the wine industry grows, that master plan may change."
On the other side of the Grand Mesa, 40 miles southeast of Palisade, wine is helping to revitalize Delta County's agricultural roots. Grapes have a long history in this area, although few Coloradans are aware of it. Back in the 1970s, researchers from the Four Corners Development Project planted test vines on Garvin Mesa outside of Paonia. Now, the soil on this scenic mesa overlooking Mount Lamborn nurtures some of Colorado's oldest wine grapes.
When Joan Mathewson and her husband, John, bought land at the top of Garvin Mesa in 1987 for their Terror Creek Winery, they found some of those old gewurztraminer vines still thriving despite years of neglect. The previous owner didn't know the vines were there until a retired winegrower friend from California paid him a visit. As the two were setting off on a hunting trip, "the friend discovered these old vines growing along the ground in the field. Well, they never did go hunting that day," says Joan Mathewson, a soft-spoken redhead who's been making wine at Terror Creek since 1993.
Originally from New Jersey, Mathewson spent 26 years following her geophysicist husband around the world, from Nigeria to Egypt and Tanzania. When the couple found time to vacation, they often traveled to Europe. There, they fell in love with Alsatian white wines, and Joan made it her mission to learn how to make them. She studied the wine business in Switzerland, where she labored at several wineries near Lake Geneva and eventually earned a degree in enology from L'Ecole d'Ingenieurs de Changins outside Nyon. "I had to work in the wineries first -- they wouldn't even let you apply to the school without some experience," she says.
Mathewson's professional training has helped her navigate the challenges of high-altitude grape growing. At 6,500 feet, Terror Creek claims the title of North America's highest commercial vineyard. Garvin Mesa rises above the North Fork of the Gunnison River in a gentle southerly slope, a footnote to the Grand Mesa towering above it. The winery is tucked away at the end of a steep, unpaved road, and the tasting room resembles a Swiss chalet with its sharp rooflines and European-style window boxes.
The neatly mowed lawn around the tasting room looks out on symmetrical rows of gewurztraminer, pinot noir, riesling, chardonnay and gamay noir grape vines. "There's almost 10,000 vines in that little seven acres," says Mathewson. Although the higher altitude means a shorter growing season and less production than the vineyards in Palisade's hotter, low-lying areas, Mathewson consistently produces well-received wines.

Though she doesn't keep count, "Visitation has picked up every single year," she says. "The majority of visitors come from Colorado, but we get people from all across the country and from Europe, too."
Since Terror Creek opened, the number of wineries and tasting rooms in Delta County has grown to more than a dozen. In 2003, Brent Helleckson, a former aerospace engineer, and his wife, Karen, opened Stone Cottage Cellars just down the road, on a parcel previously planted by Plum Creek, the same winery that first roped Bruce Talbott into grape-growing. Mathewson considers the Hellecksons colleagues, not competitors, noting that the rising number of wineries in the area has increased visits to her tasting room. "It encourages people to come and stay here so they can visit everyone," she says.
On this June day, a chatty couple from Virginia stopped in to taste, and bought several bottles to share with their grown children back at home. On their way out, they crossed paths with a couple from the Denver area who drove up in a sporty European convertible and left with a case in their tiny trunk.
The latest figures from the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board show that wine-related tourism alone injects more than $21 million into the Colorado economy. Add to that another $21.1 million in wine sales and the industry's worth tops $42 million per year. Articles touting Colorado wine country have turned up in publications ranging from The New York Times to USA Today and Sunset magazine.
Delta County's sluggish economy could certainly use the dollars. The local free newspaper recently ran an ad with the headline, "Need bankruptcy? Don't despair. Most Delta County incomes qualify." Indeed, Delta County is among Colorado's poorest -- its average personal income clocks in at a mere 66 percent of the state average. The coal trains that rumble through Paonia a half-dozen or more times a day (and night), shuttling loads from the three mines just east of town, provide a constant reminder of the town's dependence on coal -- a commodity likely to face tough times in a carbon-constrained economy.
The recent loss of a couple hundred coal-mining and light-industry jobs has left Delta County's economy increasingly dependent on its agricultural roots. Supporters hope the wine industry can help boost the farming community as a whole. "The wine industry has attracted more people into ag, and that's great," says Ela Family Farms president Steve Ela, who grows organic fruit on 100 acres near Hotchkiss. "It's very synergistic." Tourists who come for the wineries near Ela's orchards sometimes leave with a box of his peaches or cherries, too.
"We moved to agritourism about four or five years ago," says Kelli Hepler of the Delta County Tourism Board, which helps promote the West Elks American Viticultural Area, including Paonia and Hotchkiss. Initially, many locals resisted efforts to promote tourism, fearing newcomers would drive up property values or make a nuisance of themselves complaining about backyard junk and manure piles. Then, a few years back, a regional Slow Food USA group organized a tour of the area's farms and wineries. The event's success opened eyes, says Hepler. "This is a type of tourism that's very gentle on the resources, and locals are realizing that a llama farm or vineyard is a lot nicer to look at than a subdivision."
Wine consultant and Bethlehem Cellars winemaker Bill Musgnung, who spent most of his career working in the Oregon wine industry before moving to Paonia several years ago, predicts that Delta County may follow the example of Carlton, Ore. "Fifteen years ago, Carlton was a dinky little town just like Paonia. Then the wineries came in and now it's the number-one wine destination on the West Coast."
Hepler's group promotes agritourism on "Our Side of the Divide" with maps outlining self-guided wine, farm and bike tours, and it also helps promote farm dinners and wine tastings. Those efforts have paid off, she says. "Last year there were 38 articles written about Delta County wine." Nearly every one of Delta County's 11 wineries now hosts some kind of food and wine event, and Fresh and Wyld, a bed and breakfast inn, has brought area residents into the fold with weekly farm dinners created from locally produced ingredients and paired with local wines. But agritourism has yet to make anyone rich. "Some people are making some money on it, but no one is cashing in big time yet," says Hepler.

In fact, few are getting rich in the Colorado wine business. Despite the industry's incredible growth, profits remain slim. "Most wineries over three or five years old are making a profit," Caskey says. "Making enough to support its owners? Then you're down to maybe five or six wineries."
"The early wine industry was a romance industry," says Talbott. "It's not sustainable until the business has a cash value." The industry's sparse profits stem in part from a lack of planning, says state enologist Menke. "A lot of people just don't understand the business model," he says. Winemaking requires more than an appreciation of wine, says Musgnung; you need farming and chemistry skills as well. "A lot of people come here and they think they can translate their business experience into a winery, but it really comes down to farming, and farming isn't normal business."
With some of the world's most famous wine-producing regions suffering from overproduction -- the French are considering paying vineyard owners to stop growing grapes -- many wonder about the future. Can the Colorado wine industry sustain its double-digit growth, or will grapes join apples on the list of agricultural money-losers?
Menke believes that grapes are less likely to be vulnerable to the commoditization that befell apples. "Wine is highly dependent on the quality of the grapes," he says. "It's not actually a commodity anymore, it's more of a quality-driven product, and it's much easier for a winery to make a quality product from local grapes than from grapes brought in." Like any other fruit, grapes taste best straight from the vine, and are easily bruised by shipping.
Although nearly all of the wine made in Colorado is also sold and drunk here, locally produced wine represents only a single-digit percentage of the total wine consumed in Colorado. "We haven't even come close to saturating the Colorado market," says winemaker Bret Neal of Stoney Mesa Winery in Cedaredge, Delta County's largest and most successful winery. "Most wineries are too small to even hit liquor stores. It's mostly tourism right now."
A lack of recognition remains one of the biggest challenges still facing the Colorado wine industry, says Caspari. "We're still overcoming a stigma. Colorado's reputation might be held in higher esteem outside the state than within it," he says, noting that Colorado wines have garnered awards in competitions throughout the country. In 2003, for example, Carlson Vineyards won the "Best in the World" title at the 28th International Eastern Wine Competition's World Riesling Cup.
Colorado wine is more akin to a handcrafted microbrew than a mass-produced Budweiser, says Talbott, and thus it holds a different place in the market than those $6 bottles with cute animals on the label. "On a per-gallon cost basis, we can't compete with the big boys in California, but we can put out a great boutique product. Will we oversupply the market? Well, craft breweries have done very well even though there are dozens of them in Colorado."
"It used to be, people bought wine to celebrate -- it was a snooty beverage," says Caskey. But research linking moderate wine consumption to good health has transformed vino into what Caskey calls a "beverage of the people." That's especially true for the millennial generation. "They drink more wine and spend more money on wine than other generations," says Caskey. "If we can capture that millennial generation, then, yes, this industry is sustainable."
Talbott hopes that the new generation of wine drinkers with their enthusiasm for the "buy local" movement will foster a greater appreciation for Colorado's agricultural heritage and help protect his corner of the state from the sprawl of subdivisions. So many of the West's rural communities have been buried under generic housing developments and look-alike strip malls. "Wine is a taste of the local community," says Talbott. "It's the local flavor; that's what gives us our flair."

Jilted? Shucks

2009-08-18T20:45:00.001-07:00

Last week we heard from our neighbors that the entire vineyard production of cabernet franc they were planning on supplying to an established winery in Palisade was no longer needed by the winery.

What?? No longer needed or wanted? How could anyone at the end of the growing season just all of a sudden realize "Oops, I don't need those grapes next week, ok?" The harvest is in September.

Jilted!!!! They have no contract (not unusual) so they are free lancing. What are our neighbors going to do with 4.5 tons of Cab Franc grapes that have no owner?

I would think that long before the start of the growing season, say February, the wineries and the vineyards have done their mating dance. "The vineyard grows 4.5 tons and winery buys 4.5 tons." The grape harvest should be a low stress process with regard to this issue.

I mean what reputable winery is going to plan for buying from the harvest only a month before. It's like "Oh my god, I forgot to pick a grape, what should I do?" (said in a valley girl voice) That shouldn't happen. And it did to our neighbors.

Our neighbors have the perfect vineyard. I mean they really do. They prune when they should. They spray when they should. They weed when they should. They have the most healthy vineyard in the Vinelands area, in my opinion.

So for them to be JILTed towards the end of growing season is unthinkable.

What are they gonna do with the 4.5 tons of lucious red grapes that they worked so hard to make beautiful? Maybe that's how wineries get started. "I got no buyers so I better harvest these suckers." the vineyard growers think.

Hopefully with Malbec grapes we won't be in that same position but you never know. We better put in a contract something about defaulting on the contract. Or something like that. Otherwise we'll be letting the grapes rot on the vine. And that is a REAL shame, that's for sure.

Anybody need 4.5 tons of Cab Franc?

Traffic Jam

2009-08-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

K Squared Vineyard is out in an area called the Vinelands, appropriately named, and our road is a little rough to say the least. It's a gravel road with potholes and constant puddles. The constant puddles, regardless rain or shine, are from the continuous overflowing of an irrigation pipe that needs to be replaced because it's too small and falling apart. But no government agency will take care of it, so no sane property owner is gonna replace it because it costs an arm and a leg.

Our road is not owned by us, even though we are the only people who live on it. Two years ago we had a horrible time with huge ass potholes and lots of dust and I wanted someone to come out and fix this road. Well, after some crazy digging around in the muckity muck of government agencies, I found someone who had an answer. I called the County and the guy I was talking to initially said, "The people that live on that road own the road." So I said with a smug voice, "So you mean I own the road and if I want to close it or charge people money to go through I can?" He quickly retracted his initial statement and said he'd get back to me. After a couple of days, I called him back and he said, "Well, you don't own it, the County owns it but it's not maintained." I'm thinking, "What the f#*$?" How can that be? I still don't get it to this day. But I bet if I tried to close it I'd find it all out.

So Kenny and I do whatever the hell we want with this road, which to tell you the truth is not too radical or crazy. We scrape it. We plow it down. We spread road base like stuff on it.

Because the road's unmaintained, I decided to put up speed limit signs that say, "Speed Limit 15 mph". Yes, we can do that, isn't that a hoot?

Except for a couple of farm boys with a lead foot, we have mostly ATVs and tractors coming through our road. You know you don't get much traffic when Elsie, our dog, has worn a spot in the middle of the road from laying there so much. By the sound of the ATV and how fast they're going (sound wise), we can figure out who's coming from a good distance off. From the sound of the tractors, we can tell if it's full of peaches and pickers or empty going back to pick more in the fields. You can always tell it's the neighbors' kids on the ATVs because they always sound like they're in a race. Going to the convenience store or to their friend's house across the street.

I can tell the sound of the UPS vs. FedEx guys, and sometimes the post office will deliver to the house if it's too big to put in the mailbox. I know their sound too. I always find myself looking out the window if it's someone going a little too slow for their own good.

Oh my gosh, I've become the little old nosey lady poking my head out the window!!

Well, I guess that's what happens when the biggest traffic jam we ever see is Art and John crossing paths on their ATVs.

It's nice having the quiet. And the noticeable sounds of life.

No Grapes?

2009-08-13T13:29:00.001-07:00

Last night we had beef fajitas with Mexican rice, so of course we did NOT drink any fermented grape elixir with our Mexican meal. We drank margaritas! Arriba, arriba, ondele, ondele!!!!! As Kenny can attest, margaritas, especially 3 or 4, can make me little loopey. So loopey I was, alas sans grape.

And as you can see from our vineyard, it also is sans grapes. You should be thinking right now,

"Well if the crazy bastards went through all this trouble to put in a vineyard to make wine, don't they know they need those purple round things to do it?" Yes, thank you very much for helping, we do know that.

However, we got rid of all the grapes this year for a very specific reason.

We didn't write this for"Winemaker Magazine" but it looks like we definitely could have wrote it. Here's what they say and we agree:

"The first year of vine growth is not meant to produce fruit for winemaking. During the first year, all clusters should be removed immediately from the vine to keep the vine from using nutrients to ripen grapes. Also, the first year is not meant to push the vine into making fruit or fruiting wood in the second year, when it might not yet be ready to produce clusters. Some vines may be ready to produce fruit in the second year; others may not. The key here is patience and knowing when a vine has established itself to the point at which it is ready to make fruit for wine. In general, a vine is allowed to establish itself and grow vegetatively — producing no fruit — for the first two years in the ground. After the second full year of growth, the vine is commonly pruned by leaving a few canes on the trellis wires. These canes grow fruit in the third year. "

That is EXACTLY what is happening with our vineyard. When we were out in the vineyard retraining all those vines that had died back down to the ground, they also produced little, cute grape clusters right next to the ground. We cut back the stray grape vines and cut off the cluster. Even the grape clusters that were at the first wire level. All of them had to go.

This cutting back the clusters will give the roots the direction they need. "Get down deep in that soil and get some ground water damn it!" If we left the purple (then green) beauties sitting on their laurels absorbing water, sun, and energy then there would be less activity left in the act of growing.

In fact, next year when we are finally ready to keep those clusters on the vine, we will have to perform a delicate balancing act between clusters and leaves. A lot of leaves on the vines is called vigor. If there is too much vigor on the vine, then the clusters will pull back and become puny. If you do not have enough leaves or vigor, then the grapes may either burn from the intensity of the summer sun or they will produce too much sugar (brix). This may result in a high alcohol content in the wine that will produce an inferior quality beverage.

Geez! I better get better a juggling! Have a great weekend! And remember.....

Imbibe and Enjoy!

Wine Tasting Lucious Reds

2009-08-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

One of my dear friends was concerned about my well being and inquired........."Hope the wine tasting 'practice' is going well!"

Why yes my friend it is, thanks so much for asking.

I thought I'd share just a couple of the wines we've imbibed in over the past couple of days.

We had an Italian Ruffian 2007 Chianti with dinner. And dinner was......what else? Lasagna. And it was good. During the summer I like the Chianti with Italian cuisine, but in the winter it's Valipolicella. It's so nice to have a choice. This Chianti was the definition of Chianti. It's nose was an aroma of cherries and chocolate. The flavor was perfect for the food with light tannins and berries. An undramatic finish that enticed us to take another bite of pasta so we could drink about gulp of Chianti. The perfect wine at only $8.99.

With the ribeye steak we had the next day, we popped open a bottle of 2006 Cline Zinfandel. When eating steak, I always prefer the Zin over the Cab Sav. The Cabernet Sauvignon can hold its own with the beef, but it lacks the complexity of the Zin when pairing it with the peppery, garlic flavors grilled into a good size slab of meat. This Cline Zin is tried and true. When in doubt of what to buy to go with steak, buy a Zin. (No, I am NOT getting a kick back from the Growers of American Zinfandel, but maybe I should, shoot) This Zin's nose was filled with cherry and tannins. When the elixir went down, it coated the tongue with flavors of licorice, more cherry, and pepper. Leaving me with a jammy, tannin aftertaste that left me feeling satisfied with my $9.99 purchase.

Imbibe and Enjoy!

Romantic Watering

2009-08-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, now where was I....oh yeah. So there's a fine balance between soaking the vines and flooding the neighbors, cool or not. All that water needs to go somewhere and we don't have a ditch for it to go anywhere but on somebody's land. Thus, that makes us pay attention to where all that water goes. For the entire 2 1/2 acres, it takes about 24 hours to water, that's with flooding....but not too much.

After the gates are open, I put on my muck boots and suddenly there's something romantic in my stride. Not the kind of romantic love, but the Victoria Barkley (played by Barbara Stanwyck) on Big Valley kind of romance. This is my land to till and nuture. It's up to me to make this vineyard grow and prosper. I love it! I saunter out to the field, readjust all those gates open, and feel the magic of water.

Without the water, the field would be a sandy plot of sage brush and junipers...maybe. The power of water brings life to where no life would be. The water changes everything. The area where we live is a different micro-climate due to the life the water brings.

I can hear the soil sucking in the luciousness of the cool water, and feel the vines bending towards me to caress my arms in thanks as I walk down the rows. Muck boots on, shovel in hand, a keen eye I, Victoria, am now one with mother nature.

Kenny and I use walkie talkies to communicate when a row is completely watered. We also have random hand gestures that can go from very useful to downright obscene after 12 hours in the vineyard. After the row is completely watered, I put a flag at the end and Kenny turns down the flow out of the gate to a trickle.

Then we wait and soak. I love to sit on the water pipe and hang out. The pipe is cool because of the cold Colorado water running through and it feels great in the heat. And after 10 in the morning and before 8 at night, there's always heat. The coolness of the pipe and the sound of the water like little babbling brooks out of each gate are really soothing to the senses. Kind of like a meditation work session, if that's even possible.

So after the vines have enjoyed their drink, we pop the end pipe cap. This is so all the silt of the river doesn't stick in pipes, making them weigh a ton, but instead it goes to the end of the field. There's not that much. It's not like we have another Mt. Garfield piling up, so it's no problem. We close all the gates so that bugs and varmits don't make a pipe their home. And then we move the pipe, section by section to the far side of the south vineyard so that we can mow, and weed and spray.....then we do it all again.

Here's a website where you can get information about where we live http://wikitravel.org/en/Colorado%27s_Wine_Country

Watering a small part

2009-08-11T18:15:00.001-07:00

Today we were watering the part of the vines I said last week needed some help. It is a bunch of work (what isn't) but it is my favorite activity with regard to vineyard life.

The vineyard is flood irrigated. What that means is that we flood (duh!) the field. But we do so methodically. There are two creases next to each row of vines. The water flows out of the pipes into those creases making its way down to the north end of the row. Our vineyard has a slight downward slope to the northwest so we don't need any pumping power. Thank goodness! That extra electricity cost and all the valves and piping that goes with the additional pumping is not something I want to tackle right now.

So what we do is, we take (Kenny on one side and me on the other) the 18' long, 6" aluminum pipes and push one end into the other end. I'm on the female end and he's on the male end. I make sure the pipe is guided into the other pipe just right and Kenny's takes a rubber mallet and pounds the pipe in. Boy, how's that for a sexual inuendo!?

When they are all connected, we put a cap on the end of the open pipe and hammer the clasp shut so it doesn't open. Now we're ready to water from a piping standpoint. We share water with 5 other people and the organization of who waters when is chaotic at best. I used to call Art and John and Tom and Brett and Trent to tell them we were going to water......whenever. But then I realized they never call us, so bleh! Actually, now I can tell what's getting water where, so I'm not nearly that courageous or callous.

Our watering system is very high tech. We have an open vault with water normally doing it's thing and flowing by, level varying for who knows what reason. We have a manual aluminum knife gate valve thingee that we open when we are ready to water. But first we have to go up to the death defying east valve that is the source of our water off the Colorado river. I say death defying because the "steps" going up to the canal where the valve is are covered with weeds, littered with loose rocks, and move randomly (depending on the alignment of the stars I think). Then once I'm up on the canal, I have to gingerly make my way down a small loose rock path to the valve on the left. If I would fall and slide down this path, I'd fall into this 20' wide canal. And that canal is roaring this time of year, so I don't know if I'd be able to get out. I think "geez I'm having a hard time, how does Art (age somewhere between 70 and 80) do it?" So I give the valve 4 turns open and make my way cautiously back to the vineyard.

After about 15 minutes, you can see the vault level rise. Filling the vault almost all the way to the top is the best way to water. Then you have the most pressure. Once the 3' by 3' vault is full, I can now open the knife gate valve knowing I've got the pressure and flow of water I need. If I don't have enough height in the vault, the pipe won't fill all the way up and some rows will not get watered. Let the watering begin.

Well, now these pipes have these little plastic gates on them about every 3' or so. As I'm going down the line, I can hear the cold water gurgling through the pipes struggling to get out and do what that water was meant to do. I love walking from gate to gate, making sure the gate is aligned with the crease, being able to adjust the gate to allow the right amount of water to flow.

When all the gates are open, we have to go back and adjust the gates so that each crease gets a "soaking" of water. If there is too much flow, the soil will not soak in as much water as it needs before flooding and the northwest end will get completely flooded. And flood our neighbors. Thank god they're cool.

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW!

Let's Drink Wine

2009-08-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

One of the bleaders asked a very pertinent question........"When do we actually get a bottle of wine at the table?" Well, as the once great Orson Wells said in that long ago commercial for Paul Masson wine....."We will sell no wine before it's time.".....damn it.

So when we will be able to first taste this Malbec beauty? Well, there's a lot of assuming going on here in what I'm going to say next so when you read each sentence down below, always put before it....."Assuming all goes well.....", ok?

Next year, we will see all the grapes' leaves shoot up from the first wire and we'll be training the vines up to the second wire. (More training, when does it end? Never by the way.) The grapes will be succulent and plentiful on the more mature vine leisurely hanging from the first wire. The nets will be up in time just as the variason of the grapes is starting to occur. There will be no early frost. Then in mid to late September of 2010, we'll have our first harvest of grapes.

Just in time, the buyers of our grapes from all over Colorado will deliver their 1 ton white, plastic grape containers to our vineyard. And right after the correct pH and brix is determined from our testing, they'll come to double check and the harvest will begin.

That harvest time will be one day of non-stop cutting of the clusters of grapes. The fruit dropping into our personal buckets hanging from our necks. After the bucket is full, we will walk to the big white bin, open the bottom of the bucket and gently dump the purple fruits into the bins. Repeat, as quickly as possible, all day.

The wineries will come right away with their semi-trucks and quickly load them on the trucks, taking them to their winery. Then the winery will do it's thing.......press, filter, filter some more, ferment, barrel and bottle. We will not have any direct input into their wine making art during this time.

So by the year 2011, we may have a bottle of wine to show for all this work. Hopefully, it's not really just one bottle, but there is a lot of assuming going on there in all those actions.

In the mean time, I continue to "practice" my wine tasting skills. Since we have none of our own wine to speak of, I thought I'd share what I thought of the bottles I drank this weekend.

We met with dear friends, Bob and Cindy, this weekend and one thing is for sure when we visit, we always drink some great wine. This time we brought the reserve 2005 Malbec we acquired when visiting the Familia de Tomaso winery in Mendoza, Argentina last January. It is quite special. The 146th bottle out of 310. This is the kind of wine that reflects the quote from the wine movie, Sideways, when Mia said, "Waiting for a special occasion? The day you open a '61 Chenin Blanc, that's the special occasion." And a special occasion it became, because it was good. The color was deep red and rolled around in the glass with ease. Bob summed up the wine's flavor perfectly....."this wine is complete." An unusual start with almost no nose to speak of, but the wine danced on your tongue with complex tannins, lots of smoke, smooth hints of berries and a bit of spice, and it left as quietly as it started. You can check out the winery and its wines at http://www.mendozaheights.com.ar/.

The next bottle we imbibed at our impromptu campsite on the Eagle river was an $8 bottle of 2007 Casillero del Diablo Carmenere from Chile. Chile does not claim to have a signature grape like Argentina's Malbec, but if it decided to market itself with one signature grape, the Carmenere would be the clear winner. This wine was definitely the wine to drink with the brook trout Kenny caught just hours before. The wine had a berry nose, and the tongue tasted of minor tannins with a hint of plum, finishing in berries. The finish stays with you as long as like which is a good thing. A keeper for sure.

I have a philosophy about what wine I choose to buy. I believe any wine maker can make a decent $50 bottle of wine, but it takes a real master to make a drinkable wine for less than $10. So my quest is to find the best wine for as cheap as possible. There was a $5.99 bottle of Romanian wine back in 2003 that I will never forget.

Imbibe and enjoy.

Phase 2 finished...for now

2009-08-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

Finally, today all the vines are up on the wire. But while training up the vines, we discover about 1/10th of the vineyard already needs to be watered again. Now the hard part is figure out how to water only that portion of the vineyard and not the rest. If we water the rest of the vineyard, then it will be more suspectible to powdery mildew. This mildew damages the canes and can permanently hinder the vine's grape production. Like I said, it's always something.

Yesterday, I talked about the process of wooding but I didn't say anything about why it's a good thing besides that that is what mature grape vines look like....and that must be good. A vine going to the wooding stage is a good thing for 3 reasons.

First, the solid wood trunk has a better chance of survival over the winter. That hard, solid layer acts as a good insulator through the Colorado January cold. Where we live, we get very little snow and there is no frost base. That means the ground does go into a permafrost condition. This is very good, but it's still cold.

Second, the hard layer acts as an insect barrier. It makes it a little harder for those bastards to gnaw their way into the grape vine. They can still make a buffet lunch out of the leaves, but at least not the trunk.

Third, and most importantly for my back, when the canes are hardened they are hardier and we can now spray for weeds. We still have to be really careful, but we can take care of those buggers. Shoot, there goes my free health club workout routine. We have a special spray for commercial vineyards and have to be very careful about the mixture of water to chemical.

When I was out in the vineyard today, I kept hearing these booming sounds. Somewhere in between a shotgun and a sonic boom. Initially, I couldn't figure out what it was, then it came to me. Some of the peach farmers in the area set off these times booms throughout the day. Right now most of the peach trees are lucious with ripe peaches almost ready for market. So the booms are supposed to scare off the birds that love to munch on such fruits. I would think the birds would just come right back after a few minutes and begin feasting, but those in the know tell me it works.

Whatever, all I know is that when we have grapes next year on those beautiful vines, they are going to be protected by a solid sheet of netting. Those birds are really going to have to work at it to be able to get a taste.

Training and Weeding

2009-08-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

Today is the 5th day of 5 hours per day of weeding and training. I have been manually removing the weeds close to the vines, and pruning and pulling the vines up to the first wire. I'm the one who gets to do this for two reasons. The first one is I like doing non-machinery type work, the other is I'm more anal about details than Kenny. So here I am on row 20 out of 29 digging my hands into the soil and pulling up all the morning glories, alfalfa, and ironweed. Kenny's out here with the 4-stroke weed wacker and a metal blade ripping up everything in between the vines.

My day normally begins around 6:15 am, by 6:30 I'm out in the vineyard. I really should be out there earlier, but I refuse to get up before 6, if I can help it, and I can help it. To get ready for the morning, I don my light colored, long sleeved shirt, and my full length light material pants. I put my hair back in a ponytail, and bury my head in a baseball cap with Palisade stitched on the front. And I dare to wear open Tevas. The reason I wear this hot clothing is not because I'm normally freezing in August, but because I'm burying myself in the vines with thousands of crawling, biting insects. Last year I didn't do that and I looked like I was continuously covered in chicken pox. This year I sweat, but don't itch.

This time in the morning is incredible. The sun is just starting to rise over the Grand Mesa in its pinks and golds, and there is always a breeze from the east. No one else is up, except the other foolish vinters, and the air is cool. This is my favorite time to be out here. I look around at all the growing things, take a deep breath, bury myself in a vine, and start pulling, pruning, tieing, and training.

It's really rewarding until about the 50th one, which is about the end of one row, then I'm over it. The thrill is gone. Although one great thing about this work is the free health spa workout. We should advertise this to all the fat ass ladies as "a great workout in a beautiful setting. Only 30 bucks a week." I basically do a million squats with weights everyday. Here's how it goes....I bend down, I pull (the weed doesn't come out), I pull harder (increased resistance), the weed gives...repeat. My ass is killing me and I can barely sit down, but it looks good for a woman my age...and did I mention it was free...sort of.

The vine training is the interesting part of the vineyard work. You basically become the god of the vine and you alone decide which vines (only 2 out of many) are chosen to be trained up to the wire. There is no scientific method to this, you just guess. I normally pick the biggest, the closest to the bamboo pole leading up to the wire, and the healthiest looking. Last year I did this same training and almost all the vines died down to the ground, so my method of choosing is obviously flawed. This year I hope it takes for next season because that initial training work is a bitch. I've mentally told myself that if they all die all over again that's fine, because if I didn't, and I had to train these all over again, I'd kill myself.

It's really cool to watch the vines after you've trained them because they start to go into the "wooding" stage. The trunks of the vines go from a flexible, light fluorescent green color, to a sickly pale yellow, to a pretty eggplant purple. From the eggplant purple, they morph with wood-like strings amid the purple and then the wood kinda oozes around until it is now a mature hard vine. Now they are ready to become those gnarled vines you see in the ancient vineyards of France. I hope.

Life in the Vines at the Vinelands in Colorado

2009-08-04T18:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, can you believe it? There's vineyards in Colorado. Everyone always thinks of Colorado as this idyllic place that is continuously buried in the snow or will be buried in the snow at any moment.

Which to those of us that live here think you outsiders thinking this is a really great thing. Those thoughts keep out all the riff raff and leave those big, open beautiful spaces to us. A selfish, but satifying thought.

Kenny and I bought our little 2 1/2 acre plot of paradise in the Vinelands 5 years ago and planted Malbec grapes last year. We figured it was either a field of weeds or a field of.......something. So grapes it is. We picked Malbec for two reasons. First, the Malbec grape loves our climate which our climate is very similar to Mendoza, Argentina. The mecca of Malbec. The same soil, sun, and about the same latitude. Second, nobody else in our region grows Malbec so there's no "hey,you're stepping into my turf" attitude. Which is key if your going "fit in". Which we already have a hard time fitting in since we got no kids, we're democrats, and we think organized religion is for the birds. I think most of our neighbors put up with us because we don't throw our empty wine bottles in the front yard when we're done with them.

So anyway, we, K2 Vineyards, have about 1500 Malbec vines in their second season of growing. There are vineyards all over our neck of the woods. Our neighbors have a vineyard too. About 3/4 the size of ours. They warned us. The first three years are the hardest, they said. That is an understatement. It better be the hardest, because more than 3 years of hard labor will be the death of me. I've seen better hands on an 80 year old grandmother from Tulsa. Yuck.

Right now the vines looks beautiful, so green and virile, so don't get me wrong. Ultimately, I think it was the right thing to do. It's just now everytime I look out there, I don't see what those who don't own the vineyard do. If you came over, you'd relax on our back porch with a glass of Malbec in hand, and bathe yourself in the views of the desert mountains contrasted to the deep green of the happy vines.

Unfortunately, I see something different. I don't enjoy the beauty and calm of the vineyard nearly as much as I think "Look at all those weeds! Geez, I gotta get those vines in the back up on the wire. When do we need to water again?" Oh well, what are you gonna do?