It's April....

It is April- the month for wierd weather. First it was cold and rainy, then dry, cold and windy, now it is sunny and 90F. Later in the week it is going to be cold and rainy again. The rain will be good, hopefully it will not be too cold.

The vineyards are growing like weeds- fast and furious. This time of the year it is amazing to watch- you can actually see them change and the shoots get longer throughout the day. So far the vineyards are looking great- nice even growth. Soon the flower buds will become more pronounced and bloom, it is just around the corner!

This is the time of the year that there are many events being planned. Friday I will be at the Google Complex in the South Bay and next month Cigar BQ in Santa Rosa.

Also next month I hope to be in a new tasting room in Healdsburg, though the ABC is saying that they will not have my paperwork done by then..........will keep you up to date on that. Gotta love the permit process.

Well gotta get back to the wines- more bottling tomorrow!

It's Raining.......finally!

There is more than a little anxiety about the water situation here in California. My weather station was showing us at below 50% from an average year and you can see that the reservoirs are dry. Last week the rain began-what a wonderful site. So far it hasn't been a lot, but the predictions are talking about some pretty good rainfall as well as snow coming our way. I monitor my weather station at my Tres Palmeras vineyard daily- this morning it was .10 inches away from 10 inches for the season- it would be nice to see this at about 15 inches. Only time and Mother Nature know how this will all shake out.

Late January brought very warm weather which has caused many plants and animals some confusion- trees and bushes are blooming about a month early. Now we are having some very, very cold weather- this won't be good for fruit trees. So far many of the vineyards are still appearing to be dormant. Since it is pruning time indication of dormancy is if an old shoot is cut off and there is no sap-good sign- still sleeping.

Aside from the weather, last weekend it was time to replace my old phone. Since I had been looking at pocket video cameras as well, I looked into what might be out there to avoid having too many portable contraptions in my pocket. So a new phone with camera and video capabilities was purchased. Just took a video of my office to see how the quality looks- hopefully will be good enough that I will have footage in my next post- I love technology!

I also was able to get a look at the pics I took at harvest, but couldn't seem to get them transferred out to share them. That has been resolved and I will be posting them on Flickr, Facebook, The Wine Space, ...............I will let you know where they land!

Well, it is time to get back to winemaking- barrel tasting is at hand!
Cheers from the Mustang Winemaker

Happy Holidays and the Vintage is Fine

I am now enjoying the end of harvest and Thanksgiving weekend! My first real days off, but still thinking about the wines that are residing in the cellar. So maybe not entirely days off, but at least not at the winery.

The wines this year have been a challenge, but no more so than any year. There are the usual suspects- Zinfandel that just never seems to want to finish, malolactic barrels that start then stop. This is going to be a landmark year in my mind. As one of my cork vendors put it- "the vintage of wrath- the frost, the heatwaves, and all that smoke!"

It is a landmark for me, not only because of the environmental challenges, but also making sure that the 20+ clients I work with at Rack and Riddle Custom Wine Services made it through all of this as well. Working with many different varieties, winemaking styles, vineyards I have no knowledge of, and some winemaking tools that are new to me- maybe not in theory, but definitely in real time.

One of these tools is Micro-Ox. Really a pretty cool tool that helps to soften tannins in wine at an expedited rate versus the long haul of cellar aging. So far the verdict is out for me on the real comparison between the two, but for those quicker turn around reds, this is certainly a very 'natural' tool.

Another challenge was working around the construction going on- the landmark part of this is that the major construction will be over in about one week. I and my co-workers will have real offices, a new cellar, and space to use the new equipment that we have and that we will be getting. This has been quite an experience as I know I have mentioned before- being a part of a new operation and where I can make my wines knowing that I have the 'right stuff' to make them.

Now that I can breath I am revamping my website. I am having a bit of a slow start, but hope to have it up in the next week. I will be posting it on my blog, as well as Open Wine Consortium. Facebook, VinoShipper, Wine Space, and..........

Back to the website building- Cheers and hoping you all had a great Thanksgiving Holiday!

Penny, The Mustang Winemaker