harvest

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Walking the Line

October 18, 2011 in Farm:Wine Connection, Farming the Vineyard | No comments

Such a late harvest has us, like many, walking the line: on the one side we’re hoping this new abundance of mid-October’s above average temperatures will give us just what we need; on the other side, it won’t. I have no idea how many times Scott may check the weather during the day, my guess is many. I don’t check, because sometimes, I can’t handle what I’m going to hear.

Like last night, before going to bed, we listened to old Portland weatherman Matt Zafino give us his interpretation of the weather. Chance of frost in The Dalles. Sh*t. “If it’s going to be that cold in town,” Scott said, “It’s going to be colder out on our hill.” Well, that was enough to worry me, and as much as I do know worry is a waste of time and energy, it made for some hard sleeping. Scott didn’t seem so worried, his snores moving me from bed to couch so I could toss and turn out there.

We’re supposed to start harvest this weekend. Checking Weather Underground this AM, it doesn’t appear we got the cold Matt Zafino told us about, but I’m sure Scott’ll check some of the surrounding orchard stations to verify. We’ve yet to have a crop where we look at each other and say, “What are we going to do with this?” Thankfully we’ve walked the line with success for all our vintages to date. The specificity of grape character intact, and sugars and acids in balance, we have what the year gave us, and we’ve been extremely pleased with the results. Sanity-wise, that’s a whole different story.

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Heading Off to Harvest

October 29, 2010 in Farming the Vineyard, Secret Office Video Files | No comments

This is from last week, when we officially began to harvest our Rock Flour Hill vineyard. We had to leave the sangiovese, just not ready.

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So You Want to Start A Vineyard and Make Wine? part 1

October 21, 2010 in The Nuts and Bolts of It, You Asked | No comments

A kind reader wrote in some time ago and asked,

“I’m really interested in the nuts, bolts and economics– how do you choose suitable land? How expensive is it to buy, plant and maintain? Do you use an agronomist and winemaker? etc., etc. Any information you’re willing to share would be greatly appreciated.”

As I sit here in my car office (!) while harvest takes place many miles away, Scott out there managing it all, hauling the grapes after he does the hand-picked on-site sorting, I think back over the years, and the decisions and the planning that has gone into this (ad)venture. The equation for its existence is simple enough:

man+dream= this

but the process has been at times overwhelming, probably not enough laughter, and feeling like an endurance event with constant sprints to really test one’s mettle and soul.

In the next couple weeks I’ll be assembling all this information (FINALLY – thanks for your patience, Joe), but for now I’ll leave you with this paragraph I had written for a Good Grape comment, on what to do if one was going to get into the wine business:

On 06/07, Stephanie L wrote:

this only applies if one might consider getting into the biz as a vineyard owner and wine-maker combo: we’re heading into the biz with our first vintage this year, so we’re really not in it yet, although our yearly tax returns since planting our vineyard some years ago would say otherwise. to me the most important thing to remember is to stay true to yourself. don’t follow the yahoos by trying to emulate, or become some score-hound. and ABSOLUTELY don’t buy your grapes. grow them—they are essentially the only proprietary thing you can have—everything else can be copied. and then rely on your decades (or hopefully years) of building up wine lust and knowledge, and the funds you scrimped and saved for years, and then go for it. find the best ground, don’t settle for mediocre, don’t settle for people saying “but this is how it’s done” if you have your own ideas, and don’t waste your energy on those afraid of you rocking the status quo. keep your head down and keep going. it goes without saying that one must focus on their core strength, but i’d fire that biz consultant if s/he tried to tell me that. for with the proliferation of labels and the quality of wine like it has never been, it’s equally important to focus on WHO you are, not simply what you can do. that’s called the brand, elwood, the brand! an ugly and misunderstood word to many, but that’s what you need to do.

I’ll leave you with that and get to work on the nuts and bolts.

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Back in the Car Office Again

October 19, 2010 in And Then Some, Farming the Vineyard, Life Creeps In | No comments

Hat? Check.

Coffee? Check.

Wool socks? Note to self, get some.

Laptop? Check.

Cell phone? Where IS that? Ok – check.

Lots of books to catch up on? Double check.

Toilet paper for public bathroom? Triple check.

Ladies and Gents, I’m back in the Car Office again.

After a fairly short break in real life but like an eternity in web life, I’m right back here at Columbia Park, in north Portland, Oregon, in the car. “Where have you and your Car Office been?” you ask? Well, why don’t I just tell you?

But FIRST, some BREAKING HARVEST NEWS:

The bird netting is being taken off as we speak! Yoohoooooo! That’s right everyone. We’re gearing up for harvest this week. Boy those grapes are taking their sweet time this year! Have had some recent frost scares, some rain scares, but looking at the forecast for the rest of the week

we’re good to go. Scott says the sangiovese still needs some time, but the riesling, cabernet sauvignon, and tempranillo will be snipped by Friday. I’ll try to wing Sam and myself out there for some live, on the spot reporting…

Now on to me. Ha! Seriously. I’ve enjoyed this time away from writing/blogging and here’s why: When we first planted our vineyard, all our freetime went there. All of it, and boy, did it piss me off when I no longer had the vineyard fever like Scott did. We were down to one car, my old Subaru, my autobahn and mountain baby I had with me when I lived in Germany and week-ended in Switzerland, and then my solace when I returned to the States as solo gal, that old suby my trusty trusty on all my Pacific Northwest adventures. Nope, it had been relegated to the farm car, and we had a vineyard to plant, dammit! Anyway, I didn’t want to feel pulled in two directions again, especially now with Sam in our lives.

Some months’ ago, Sam’s daycare ended, thankfully, not that he had a bad time there, but I didn’t like how the gal tweeted about green sale sweaters and a lot more when she was supposed to be engaging with the kids. Geez, louise! That experience solidified how precious our boy was, and somehow I felt guilty to have put him in that gal’s care. I also finally “heard” the lyrics, when Bert sings to Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins, “…childhood slips like sand through a sieve,” and boy didn’t that tug at my heart. Having just moved into a new house last month (yes, there are loan gods!), I essentially have just been hanging out with our very sweet boy in our new digs, and boy am I happy for it.

But now I’m ready to return to this (it’s time!), and thankfully have found a VERY COOL nanny who comes to our home twice a week, and then I escape. Back in the car office again. Look for more coming soon.

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A Toast to Those Who Leave the Herd

December 1, 2009 in Wine Culture | 7 comments

People who can’t wait for the table to be poured drive me nuts. You know, the ones who reach for their glass the minute the bottle is lifted away? I don’t know why, but outside of my buddies in Europe, I know a lot of people like this. People, who, like a nervous herd of gazelles gathered at a pond, lower their heads and quickly drink, as if this immediate gratification will save them from the lion about to pounce. Makes me wonder if this behavior IS vestige to our time on the savannah, when we had to dine and dash because we knew the lion was lurking close by? Today, 1.8 million years after the appearance of Homo erectus, what’s wrong with breaking from the herd and slowing down a bit?

I started thinking about this not only because ‘tis the season of celebrating and friends gathering, but because of our 16-month (partner and) son. He loves to have a “fancy drink”—something we believe he thinks is more special than the milk, water, or diluted juice he typically quaffs—especially when we celebrate occasions like the bank giving us more money to limp through another growing and wine making year on, or the end of harvest, and I want my little guy to join in and engage with those around him fully in the occasion. To break from the herd. Slow down. To know he is no longer on the savannah. Read the rest of this entry »

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