Chianti, what do you know?

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

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

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

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

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

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

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

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

Brie And Chianti At Midnight

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

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

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

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

UPS Ground?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Whacky Weed?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Wine and white castle burgers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

Rootstock....is that even a question?

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

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

What the CSU website says is:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!

SeaBiscuit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy.

Pullin' Wahr

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remember Imbibe and Enjoy!