It is Wine Event time of the Year!

The vineyards are growing strong, the wines are resting in barrel, taxes are done, summer is nearly here- now it is time for wine tasting events. Next month there are a few that I will be attending:

TAPAS Grand Tasting - June 5 at the Herbst Pavilion in Ft Mason-The consumer tasting will run from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Consumer tickets are available at tapas2010.eventbrite.com . The most extensive annual tasting of domestically produced Spanish and Portuguese varietal wines in North America along with great food- can you say Paella?

The Monterey Wine Festival - a multi day event June 11-12 in Monterey. There is a great evening event in the Aquarium- giving you a great chance to see the Seahorse exhibit!

CigarBQ - June 19th at the SaraLee vineyard in Santa Rosa. This benefits the YWCA of Sonoma County- a fun event whether you are into cigars or just tasting wines along with some great food vendors from the area.

A busy month, but a fun break from the winery and a chance to share the fruits of our labors.

Back to wine talk- the vineyards are looking pretty good considering there have been below average day and night time temps, but above average rain. The real effects of the temperature and the rain will be better viewed next month when we can see the fruit coming on. We are also dealing with the Grape Moth quarantines taking place in Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa counties. It has not made its way to the Tres Palmeras Vineyard, but the line is not far away. Big debates on how best to deal with this critter, especially for the organic vineyards which are becoming more prevalent. This really brings home the effects of bringing in plants, animals, insects, etc. that are not indigenous to an area and how quickly they can take over when their natural inhibitors are not present.

I hope to see some of you next month- or if you are in Healdsburg, stop by the tasting room- In Vino Veritas- and taste some wine and if I am not at an event I will be there as well!

The Mustang Winemaker, Penelope

Packed Weekend

It is Sunday evening - Frank and I are finally sitting- on the deck Mojito in hand. Yesterday was CigarBQ and it was hot - damn hot! Even the red wines were in the cooler and it was hot enough to wonder if there was any wine worth drinking without an ice cube.........wish I would have brought my plastic cubes that I keep in the freezer just for days like that.

Thank you! to our friend Blaine for taking the photo- a fellow Tempranillo fan that is getting ready to plant some vines in the Russian River that could one day end up in our RRV appellation wines.

Today is another scorcher- >100F in some spots. I had a tasting room meeting earlier today and one of the winery owners vineyard sensors were lighting up his phone like fire alarms. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler-let's hope so. The Tempranillo vines in Tres Palmeras vineyard are days away from bloom-hopefully they are not getting fried! It did reach 98F here.......

Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend and I will be off with the family, though still near a computer! The following weekend my 30 day wait for my tasting room license will be done and a license issued-then let the tasting room fun begin. The weekend after that will be Taste of Alexander Valley- I will have some wine from my Tres Palmeras vineyard there-futures anyone? The following week is the TAPAS grand tasting- I am lining up volunteers-so far have about 12 - let me know if you would be interested and I will be getting the coordination of tasks going!

Cheers and I hope to see in the tasting room soon- the Mustang Winemaker

Tasting Room Opening this Month

This is an exciting time for me- something I really wasn't sure would become reality....my wine in a tasting room!

The New tasting Room is on 118 North Street in Healdsburg, California - Vino Veritas. For those of you that know Healdsburg it is across the street from the Raven theatre. There are six of us sharing this space with myself being the only Tempranillo and the only Tempranillo Rose' in the house. There is great artwork on the walls by the man, Ken Schilling, that started this venture by getting the investors needed, getting the permits, and working to make the space 'livable'.

The other wineries are Kelly-Young, Hook and Ladder, Milano, Marcucci, and Kenneth Schilling. Nice cross section of varietals and styles-something for everyone. Will have to start thinking about bringing in some bubbly-about the only thing we are lacking at the moment!

On the Coral Mustang front- this coming weekend Coral Mustang will be at CigarBQ. Then next month is the second annual TAPAS event- in between will be grand opening of the tasting room.

Hope I will see some of you at these great events!
The Mustang Winemaker