tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89105909978681875342024-03-21T15:36:03.783-07:00A Tale of Two Vineyard DogsChico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-57993201573234153012014-06-20T08:48:00.004-07:002014-06-20T08:49:57.249-07:00The Grapes are Looking Good!<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well, Mom is in Europe and we are at our beloved kennel, Tappen Hill -- but we asked Zach to send us some pictures and his impressions from the last visit, when he, Filiberto and Tony went to the Don Miguel Vineyard. He sent us these and we thought you would like to see them!<br />
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Good news is, the grapes are growing beautifully and we are most excited about how they are developing. So far the vines are very healthy, with no signs of powdery mildew (oidium) or bunch rot (botrytis), our natural arch-enemies!<br />
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The Pinot Noir clusters are loose and don't <br />
look like they will be tight this year!</div>
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The Chardonnay clusters are showing some 'peas and pumpkins' but look very healthy</div>
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The 'Earthquake Block' Pinot Noir (Pommard clone) looks even better than a few weeks ago<br />
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The shoots are still actively growing, for the most part, and fruit exposure is good, even though the vines have not been leafed yet. </div>
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Clusters are big in the Syrah, Tempranillo and Albarino; these are behind the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Here the clusters show some 'peas and pumpkins' -- smaller and normal-sized berries in the same cluster -- as a result of the brief rains during bloom, which will make for a smaller crop. </div>
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But at this point, all these are projections and a lot can still happen to change the outlook; so we keep our fingers crossed!</div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-28702416659358883132014-06-04T18:16:00.000-07:002014-06-10T08:41:15.536-07:00The Flowers Have Become Real Grapes!<div style="text-align: justify;">
The fruit set has been very good and we are very optimistic about the new harvest! The canopies look healthy and early yield estimates are higher than average, which would make this the third consecutive large crop - something almost unprecedented. Of course that's if everything stays perfect until harvest, as many factors can still affect the crop size and quality.<br />
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Filiberto, Mom and I walked by the new Albariño planting to check the 'take' of the new grafts<br />
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Only a week after field grafting, the first leaves are appearing already and they all look very healthy!</div>
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The new clusters are healthy and nicely sized<br />
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I learned a little viticulture lesson that I found really interesting! The vine has a perfect flower, in that it has both the female part (ovary) and male part (stigma) in it - therefore it is self-pollinating. The flower also has a cap over it, which it sheds after fruit set.</div>
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Our insectary, pictured in my last blog, attracts insects that will pollinate other flowers, but not the vine flowers. Still, it helps create diversity - one of the principles of Biodynamics.</div>
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In the picture to the left you can see a cluster after fruit set, with some brown caps still on, as well as some dead flowers (brown dots) that never were pollinated so they didn't become fruit. </div>
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If you shake the cluster or pass your hand over it, both the caps and the flowers that didn't make it fall off. Mom showed me and it's very neat!</div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-78845441039995348042014-05-30T17:22:00.000-07:002014-05-30T17:22:15.598-07:00Bonita's First Report from the Vineyard<div style="text-align: justify;">
This time it's just me, Bonita (Jr.), reporting on the Tales -- Chico has been unable to run in the vineyard, as much as he loves that, because his knees are giving him trouble (arthritis, I hear, ugh!). You see, he's getting old -- just turned 9! I, on the other hand, am only 4, in the prime of life as they say. And I LOOOVE running around the vineyard! In my former life I was with a family that not only didn't have a vineyard, I spent most of the time in a backyard. It's like I died and went to heaven!<br />
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You can see that I listened attentively while Filiberto and Zach discussed the next steps after a great set in the Chardonnay blocks<br />
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Zach looked on approvingly (and I watched very carefully) as Filiberto showed how he's planning to pull leaves in the Chardonnay vines<br />
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In fact I've been on vineyard walks a few times, as it's six weeks now that I've been part of the Torres family! So I think I can do this blog by myself, until Chico is better and can run for a couple of hours again without hurting the entire next day, as it did happen. And I am starting to know Zach and Filiberto quite well; I listen attentively when they discuss the vineyard, of course, and I've learned a lot! </div>
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With the good weather and bits of rain recently, the vines have had a growth spurt! Their tops have been hedged (trimmed) already, ahead of schedule </div>
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The Albariño is growing beautifully, too! It is behind the Chardonnay, as is normal; but it's also been hedged, as Filiberto is showing here</div>
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The good weather has caused a growth spurt in the vines, so we've hedged them (or trimmed their tops) already, about two weeks ahead of normal; we do that because cutting off their tops will stop the upward growth and thus the energy of the vine will concentrate on the fruit, not the canopy -- which is what we want right now.</div>
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Our insectary this year is looking fabulous!<br />
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All in all (while keeping our fingers crossed), this year is looking good! It would be awesome if we had another great vintage, after the last two outstanding harvests.</div>
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The recent light rainfall have produced some <i>coulure</i>, which means that the rain hampered the set and therefore some flowers never became grapes. But it's really minimal; we just won't have as large a harvest as last year, yet still can be very good!</div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-80445085348606157642014-05-22T16:58:00.001-07:002014-05-23T14:58:31.857-07:00The Vines are in Full Bloom!<div style="text-align: justify;">
The weather has been very nice in our region, and with the few hot days last week the growth spurt has accelerated. The vineyard crew is going through the rows non-stop tucking shoots and lifting wires! And the outlook is very good for this year - although as we hear Zach say a lot, "these are eggs, not chickens yet". We think he means that the eggs are like the <i>potential</i> of flowering vs. the <i>reality </i>of fruit set... Well, we'll see!<br />
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This is a very special time in the vineyards. The soft and fragrant smell of the vine flowers permeates the air and it is truly a pleasure to breathe it in while walking among the vines. Pretty soon the flowers will disappear and the caps will fall, giving way to the tiny berries. That's when we will do cluster counts and start to estimate the yields for every parcel.<br />
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Bloom is practically completed in the Don Miguel Vineyard and the clusters are very healthy, as<br />
shown in this Pinot Noir vine of the Swan clone<br />
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The Tempranillo is a bit behind, but<br />
perfectly head trained<br />
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The new planting of <span style="text-align: center;">Albariño is very exciting, and so much fun to run up and down on it because the vines are so tiny. We just field grafted the budwood from our own vines onto the American rootstock, which will make the vines resistant to the dreaded <i>phylloxera</i>; and very soon after, the new buds are beginning to sprout. Nature is so beautiful!</span></div>
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The Albariño vines planted in 2008 are</div>
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looking terrific, but the shoots are growing fast</div>
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After field grafting he Albariño budwood in the<br />
new planting, the teensy buds are just coming out! </div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-57866673598797080902014-04-11T19:04:00.001-07:002014-05-27T15:46:48.723-07:00Spring is definitely here!<div style="text-align: justify;">
The weather has been beautiful lately, the recent rains have given us enough water that we are not worried about the drought here anymore, and bud break is looking terrific - the overall mood is good! <br />
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But at home we are still so sad about the loss of my 'sister' and companion, Bonita - it's not the same to run in the vineyard without her. And I have nobody to give me a hard time, like she always did. I miss that so much!<br />
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At least I have Mom back now - she had to leave for Europe just three days after Boni passed away. I know that was very hard for her, as it is now for both of us at home. We hug a lot and feel very sad; but we have each other and are even closer than before.</div>
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While Mom was gone in March, Zach took this picture in the new Albariño block. I felt so sad and lonely running among the vines without Boni!</div>
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The Pinot Noir buds in the Swan clone, cane pruned, looked wonderful on April 3, very even<br />
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The new Albariño block is going to be grafted next week; we are all very excited. The rootstock started to push in mid March and with the rains, it has grown enough now to field graft already the Albariño budwood, from our own vines. We always prefer field grafting to dormant bench grafts and ideally we use our own budwood, which we know is healthy and virus free. It will take another three years to get the first good crop - as Mom says, to make wine from your own grapes you need to be very patient!</div>
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Yesterday we saw good growth in the Chardonnay: two bunches per shoot in most vines </div>
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And the Pinot Noir was even more fruitful, with three buds per shoot on average!<br />
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The growth throughout both of our vineyards is very healthy, with mostly two bunches per shoot in the Chardonnay, which is good, and three in the Pinot Noir, which is excellent. We keep our fingers crossed that this coming vintage may be similar to the fabulous 2013!</div>
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Here is a good example of a perfectly head pruned vine, the ideal way to train the Tempranillo.<br />
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I like this picture of me next to a nicely<br />
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The new planting of <span style="text-align: center;">Tempranillo, which gave us a first small crop last year, is looking really good. The vineyard crew has learned very well to train the vines in the 'gobelet' system: the shoots have to look like the spikes of a wheel, or a cup </span><span style="text-align: center;">('gobelet' means cup in French).</span></div>
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This machine has replaced hand weeding, one of the most expensive parts of organic farming. <br />
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After the pass, the weeds are gone from under the vines, leaving the cover crop intact.<br />
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We are very pleased with the Gramegna weeding machine we have now been using for two years. That's how long it takes for the results to show, as it is a process; but it's wonderful to have eliminated the weeding by hand, which was extremely costly. Of course, in organic farming we never use any herbicides because we want to preserve the nutrients and richness of the soil, which herbicides will kill at the same time as the weeds. And believe me, the results for the health of the vineyard are undoubtedly there!</div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-10101724737279963872014-02-27T15:26:00.000-08:002014-02-28T10:10:53.878-08:00Mourning the loss of Bonita...but celebrating her life<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today it's only me, Chico, writing this blog -- unfortunately, I have lost my beloved companion. As many of you already know, Bonita passed away last Monday, February 24, after a short but very brave fight for life. It started with an apparently upset stomach the prior Wednesday, but then a very delicate surgery the following Saturday revealed a twisting of her intestines -- something very rare that I didn't even understand.<br />
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She was 6, at the prime of her life, and the most fun-loving, vivacious, rambunctious, beautiful, affectionate and smart companion you can ever imagine. Those of you who met us knew that well!<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"> A collage of images from Bonita's life, from her young days to today. Her favorite place was the vineyard!</span></div>
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On her last walk of the vineyard, Tuesday 18 February, Bonita was admiring the swelling buds</div>
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This is how huge some of our redwoods<br />
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Life goes on in the vineyard, and the vines are starting to wake up. We saw some bud swelling last week at the <span style="text-align: center;">Doña Margarita Vineyard, and today as well at the </span><span style="text-align: center;">Don Miguel Vineyard. The team is almost finished tying the vines -- just in time. We expect bud break to happen perhaps in a couple of weeks, depending on the weather; which by the way, we're delighted it has been quite wet!</span></div>
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Today we walked the Don Miguel Vineyard<br />
and found some bud break already -- look<br />
at this young vine, it had 3 tiny clusters!</div>
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Mom was very proud of me for having caught this gopher -- but I wanted to eat it and she didn't let me. She held me by the collar so I would't jump!</div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-18273221932266967982014-01-25T16:26:00.000-08:002014-01-25T16:26:06.388-08:00Pruning is almost done - now let's have some rain!<div style="text-align: justify;">
This week we visited the Doña Margarita Vineyard, where the crew is now pruning the vines. With this weather we are way ahead of schedule, of course - but we'd rather get some rain, and in fact a lot would even be better. Besides, we LOVE to romp in the mud and the puddles!!</div>
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Jaime does a great job pruning!</div>
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The cover crop is growing well, despite the water shortage. In Sonoma Coast is has been cold at night so the soil has held the moisture much better than in other regions that are warmer </div>
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Gophers are a great attraction for Bonita - she loves to dig in the holes ...</div>
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... and make them way bigger, as you can see, emerging with a very muddy face!</div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-85741164889787225812014-01-16T17:58:00.000-08:002014-01-17T18:22:16.261-08:00Winter Pruning is on Its Way<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pruning is almost done in the Don Miguel Vineyard! We plan to start next week in the Sonoma Coast's Doña Margarita Vineyard, which takes about two weeks -- so that means we'd be done by early to mid February, a record! With this incredibly beautiful weather, we have been able to work in the vineyard just about every day. Today the vineyard team was complaining about how hot it was!!</div>
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And we love it too, as we can run in the vineyard and we don't get scolded for getting too messy... But nights have been very cold, most of them with freezing temperatures. some days it goes from mid-twenties at night to lower seventies in the day!</div>
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Of course the downside to this great weather is that we need the rain -- and there is none in the forecast. But hopefully we'll get some (a lot would be better) in February. Please pray for rain!</div>
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The crew is pruning non-stop, doing a<br />
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A fallen tree destroyed our<br />
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We loved running amid the canes in the <span style="text-align: start;">Doña Margarita Vineyard!</span></div>
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Bonita got stuck in a blackberry bush, as you<br />
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her head ...</div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-83442005474782156142013-11-14T10:29:00.001-08:002013-11-14T10:29:46.337-08:00Read our 2013 Harvest Report!<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #eed6a0; color: #660000; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">For the full report </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">we wrote i</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">n our <a href="http://marimarestate.com/sites/default/files/FINAL%202013%20US-Int%20All%20Harvest%20NL%20(PRINTABLE).pdf">2013 Harvest Newsletter</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">, follow the link. And for a one page summary [which Mom adapted from our newsletter, of course] see the <a href="http://marimarestate.com/sites/default/files/2013%20Harvest%20Report.pdf">Harvest Report</a>.</span></div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-56874205003320907662013-09-16T18:38:00.000-07:002013-09-17T14:55:31.492-07:00Getting ready for the Chardonnay harvest!<span style="color: #444444; text-align: justify;">We walked the Chardonnay rows this morning to check the fruit, which seems to be ripening nice and slowly; the flavors are excellent but the acidity is still too high, so we will wait a few more days to pick.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-style: normal;">The Spring Mountain clone is always the last one picked but this year it has much higher yields than usual, so the crew will do another pass to thin out the excess clusters. This will enable the fruit to ripen evenly and earlier, avoiding </span><i style="color: #444444;">botrytis or </i><span style="color: #444444;">bunch rot</span><span style="color: #444444;">.</span></div>
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A Spring Mountain vine with too much fruit on it that needs to be "de-clumped".</div>
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Zach's hand shows a cluster of Spring Mountain Chardonnay affected by S.A.D. These will never ripen and need to be removed.</div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">We don't like the taste of the Chardonnay grapes as much as the Pinot Noir -- but we certainly hate the clusters affected by <b>Sugar Accumulation Disorder, or S.A.D.</b>! We learned about it as we found quite a few such clusters in the Spring Mountain block. Zach explained that it used to be called Berry Shrivel but now we know that it has to do with altered nitrogen metabolism. The affected fruit has lower pH, berry weight and Brix; t<span style="text-align: center;">he shriveled berries have stopped developing and taste harsh and unripe. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; text-align: center;">So the crew did a pass through the Spring Mountain parcel today to remove any excess clusters (we call that "<b>de-clumping</b>" -- our very own word!) as well as any affected by S.A.D. And we'll probably be ready for harvesting them in a couple of weeks!</span><br />
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-90534376011662794782013-09-12T17:51:00.000-07:002013-09-12T17:51:38.365-07:00Harvest is Here -- Fast & Furious!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #444444;">Harvest arrived on September 3, right after Labor Day, and it has been non-stop since. We </span><span style="color: #444444;">started with the Dijon 115 and Swan clones below our house above the vineyard, which has always been the first picked ever since it became biodynamic in 2008. It's either a coincidence or maybe not, but it sure gives us outstanding fruit! </span></div>
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On the first day of harvest we picked Pinot Noir -- Mom let us have some and it was soooo good!</div>
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At sunrise, as is our tradition, we took coffee, pastries and fruit to the vineyard team </div>
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This is an example of our Pinot Noir harvest this year - both bountiful and with fabulous flavors!</div>
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We looked out for the crew while they were picking -- they are so fast, we love watching them!</div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On September 10 we went to the </span><span style="text-align: center;">Doña Margarita Vineyard in Sonoma Coast. The fruit there looked and tasted just fantastic and we have been picking there ever since! </span><br />
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We are now harvesting our Doña Margarita Vineyard in Sonoma Coast, right above our Equestrian Center, Marimar Estate Stables. </div>
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This is how good the Pinot Noir at Doña Margarita Vineyard looks -- and we love how it tastes, too. Mom thinks we will be making superb wine there!</div>
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The Chardonnay is also looking beautiful and we have picked some at lower sugars, so we don't exceed the alcohol levels we favor. As soon as we are done in Sonoma Coast, though, it will for sure be ready to harvest -- and also the Albariño, which looks and tastes great!<br />
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The Chardonnay in the Don Miguel Vineyard is almost ready to pick! </div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-38292906908311423482013-08-09T19:43:00.000-07:002013-09-09T09:44:05.654-07:00The fruit is looking soooo good at the Doña Margarita Vineyard!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #444444;">Yesterday we went to our Sonoma Coast vineyard and ran up and down just about every row (not in vain our barrel selection of this vineyard is named "Chico's Run"!) so we could see how wonderful the berries look. In fact, we have to thin out a lot of clusters. It is hard for the crew to do that because they know that then at picking time, it will take them longer to gather the same tonnage; but we explained to them that quality is what we are after, much more than quantity -- and rather reluctantly but understanding, they went back to the 1st row to start again and take off much more fruit.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Zach weighed a big cluster with his sophisticated gadget -- a scale that you hang the cluster from!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Then he showed the crew how much fruit to thin out -- look at all the clusters on the ground, how sad :-( </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">Véraison is now in full swing at the Doña Margarita Vineyard and the vines look just magnificent. Using his high-end scale, Zach weighed a big cluster at 150 grams or 5.3 ounces -- that's about 5 times the weight of a couple of years ago! We are delighted to see that the vines are in much better balance now and should give us some extraordinary wines. It's very exciting -- but hard to have the patience needed to wait for the results!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000;">Bonita was VERY tempted to eat the seemingly juicy berries, from</span><span style="color: #660000;"> their great looks</span><span style="color: #660000;"> </span><span style="color: #660000;">. . .</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;">. . . but after falling into the temptation, pretty soon she realized that was not such a good idea!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With the grapes looking so gorgeous, we were very tempted to eat them -- but soon enough we realized they are far from ripe. You should have seen Boni's face after she swallowed some!</span></div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-60976458846651485132013-08-05T19:01:00.000-07:002013-08-07T12:21:44.280-07:00Véraison in in full swing at the Don Miguel Vineyard!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Véraison usually starts a bit earlier in our Russian River/Green Valley vineyard, Don Miguel, than in the Sonoma Coast's Doña Margarita. That's because although this one is just five miles closer to the ocean than the former, that distance accounts for a 5-10º F </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">difference in temperature! So we were delighted to see that at the Don Miguel Vineyard around the winery, véraison is at about 85% in the Pinot and 60-70% in the Chardonnay -- and also that the fruit looks fantastic. We have high hopes for a superb harvest this year!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> These clusters have already </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">turned soft and translucent, a sign of v</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">éraison in the Chardonnay </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the Pinot Noir, </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">v</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">éraison is practically </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">completed</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">. </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And the fruit look gorgeous!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This would actually be quite extraordinary -- 2 years in a row of an excellent harvest! It would be nice, indeed, and make up for the very difficult 2011, when the yields were so poor that we are barely breaking even now that we are starting to sell the wines. We hear Mom complain about it a lot!! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The yields are so good that we will have to drop some fruit, as you can see here, to achieve perfect balance and ripeness </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Tempranillo is far behind</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">. Some clusters are starting to gain color, bu they're not nearly ripe enough to tempt Bonita to taste them!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Besides the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the other varieties are far behind. The Albariño berries are still hard as rocks, and so are the Syrah. The Tempranillo is ahead of these; in fact, its name means "the little early one" in Spanish because it ripens earlier than the other Spanish varieties.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Worth mentioning is the fact that, in a year when the powdery mildew (oidium) pressure has been extremely high, both vineyards are absolutely healthy and without signs of either that hideous fungus or botrytis. The vineyard crew has been doing a fabulous job!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The rootstock in our new planting of Albariño looks very healthy, as Bonita is showing you here</span></div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-60802729226348063992013-07-26T20:54:00.001-07:002013-07-26T20:59:37.728-07:00Veraison is just starting at the Dona Margarita Vineyard!<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 661px;"><tbody>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Berries are just starting to color in our Doña Margarita Vineyard - way behind the Don Miguel </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Today we visited our Doña Margarita Vineyard in Sonoma Coast - which we LOVE because there we can run up and downhill non-stop! (Except when we have to pose for pictures). That's why Mom named the barrel selection from this Vineyard "Chico's Run"! </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Harvest still seems about two weeks behind, but the current cool-ish weather may hasten it a bit. And we were all delighted to see that, in a year where powdery mildew has been a huge concern everywhere, our berries are clean and gorgeous. The vineyard team has been doing a fabulous job the entire season, in the cold as well as in the heat!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">This cute bee was enjoying the nectar from the beautiful Queen Anne's Lace flower in our natural 'insectary'</span></span></span></span></div>
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<br />Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-91929740691896358292013-05-16T18:22:00.000-07:002013-05-16T19:08:56.839-07:00The vines are in full bloom!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: black;">Walking down the vineyard rows right now is a fabulous treat -- the subtle but incredibly fragrant aromas are irresistible! Of course, not all vines flower at the same time; first comes the Chardonnay, then the Pinot Noir, the Albariño, and the last are Syrah and Tempranillo.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Many of the flowers have already finished bloom and are starting to lose their caps, becoming tiny grapes. Because vine flowers are self-pollinating, they don't need bees to become fruit. And this year they are doing their job very well!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The Albariño vines are trained with one shoot going right and the next one left, in order to provide some shading and avoid sunburn</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">This huge tractor is cultivating the soil down to 5 feet, to remove any old roots, in preparation for our new Albariño planting</span></span></div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-15029159564340200412013-04-30T16:59:00.001-07:002013-04-30T16:59:28.127-07:00The vines are growing very quickly with this beautiful weather!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The shoots are growing by leaps and bounds -- in fact we wish it was not so warm, since the quick growth will give us long internodes and thus more distant positions. But as farmers, we don't get to choose -- Mother Nature does!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Bloom is probably 2 or 3 weeks away -- hopefully just before Mom goes to Europe! She is leaving on May 19 -- and we know how sad she is to have to miss so much of the vineyard development at this time, when the vines change almost daily.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Some clusters at the 'pompom' phase -- you can see why they get this name!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Our 'Insectary' is starting to bloom -- in a few days it should be covered with lots of beautiful flowers!</span></div>
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Other than the vineyards, a few more things are going on -- like the new pizza oven we are building! It should be finished by next week, and then we will celebrate with a Team Party on May 9. Pizzas and BBQ!We are so looking forward to it, mostly because some treats are sure to come our way (and if not, Chico is great at stealing food, anyway).</div>
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Another exciting news item is that we already have a new bee hive. One of them did thrive this past season, but the second collapsed due to the insecticides that contain neonicotinoids. :-( So Mom and our friends Millie & Tom, who live across the road, helped Steve (The Bee Master of Sonoma County, remember him??) and Dan get the new hive in. We will be harvesting a ton of honey from the 1st one soon -- we can't wait! </div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-5008465859379735272013-04-17T16:08:00.000-07:002013-04-17T16:08:54.967-07:00The Buds are Breaking - it must be Spring!<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 661px;"><tbody>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">We love this weather, it's great for running in the vineyard -- and the new buds are sooo cute!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Finally, bud break arrived! Not that it's late, mind you -- this year everything is right on time. Bud break came in mid March, and fortunately we had finished pruning as scheduled, by late February. Then we had some heavy rains, as much as 3.5 inches, but they only lasted a week in early April. Ever since, the weather has been quite beautiful -- now we only want it to last until flowering, which should happen in early May. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The timely rains have added up to slightly more than last year's total rainfall to date, which is still below average for our region -- but not bad. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">We are intent on not letting gophers invade our vineyards this year; using traps, we have caught about 200 at the Doña Margarita Vineyard and more than 100 at the Don Miguel. Yaay! Our only regret is, WE haven't been able to catch a SINGLE one. But we keep trying!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">A young bud of Tempranillo, looking very healthy!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The Chardonnay shoots are fruitful, with two clusters. Many have wings, promising good sized bunches</span></div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-80351433938872089972013-02-12T09:36:00.007-08:002013-02-12T17:28:09.869-08:00Pruning is in the last stages!<br />
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<span style="color: #660000; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We are done with pruning in the Don Miguel Vineyard and the crew has moved on to Sonoma Coast and the Doña Margarita Vineyard. This year it has taken longer to prune because we had a late start with the December rains. Besides, we have been able to use a new organic product to paint the pruning wounds and prevent Eutypa, the feared wood fungus that can go inside the trunk and kill the vine. But it takes a long time to paint all the cuts!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The last parcel of Pinot Noir was pruned this week. While the rest of the crew prunes in the background, Alfredo goes after them and paints the cuts to prevent Eutypa.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This young vine in the Doña Margarita Vineyard thinks it's already spring and has budded out several leaves!</span></div>
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<img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNTAqvcYnTFv0Qb7OYlD07Wy32KM6Ia6vxjrMw15FArMzkAQJkac9ZG_nIUL2QZDC3LGFKuWFVf34DLaf2k_3SnqB3fAvKX_1T4iXiLKwO1LiaUQNuscRgSLI0EJnk3LXkTEWPqpy_SEM/s320/gopher-4-resized.jpg" width="320" /></td><td style="border-bottom: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-left: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-right: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-top: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; height: 172.75pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0in; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">We went for a walk in the Doña Margarita Vineyard, which we love because there are sooo many gophers there!! We ran up and down the rows and tried so hard to catch one -- but no way, we couldn't. Not a single one. Darn!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We are indeed a bit behind in pruning, as it will take almost a month to do the 20 acres of that vineyard. Fortunately we've been lucky with the weather so hopefully we'll finish before bud break ... we don't have a choice!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We both worked really hard here as we could <strong>smell </strong>the gopher -- but although we made a humongous hole, we couldn't get him </span><br />
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<br />Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-40728877510436649242013-01-25T14:34:00.002-08:002013-01-28T09:08:53.081-08:00Pruning is on the way big time!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not much happens during the winter, while the vines are dormant, except for pruning -- but that's no small feat. Pruning will very much affect the vine's development during the growing season, its balance and the canopy. And balanced vines produce balanced wines!</span></div>
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<img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzW4OKZL1ZNW1LFillc1-4k7fzhl8Dp4LNZhu9UjoXjnfL3PQKOqfJNIdfWSi4r824dRkK0FSImdu8lTSz73lmGR2hM_kIrLjJo2-D407PXhwHu4sRASfGC9cjEpXmSaYlMQA4jEm_LE/s320/Cane-good-resized.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is a cane-pruned vine, where</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> the two arms have become too distant from each other. To re-train it,</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">we leave a sucker that next year can be</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">trained </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">to form a perfect c</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ane.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And this is a cane-pruned vine that we have re-trained. Last year's sucker has become the new cane, so now the two arms are close to each other and will make for a </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">perfectly balanced canopy. </span></div>
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<img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWXJvKsPMZ65h_QAYdB_Mj0i5tob3A9YgsKh_xQdiEtulupEb0GmL7GwM0WXIrfF7Ih5dUqaaT6Pq-_IyIK83bg3KEukKXnnsao8Ot4xHSKAKlUQVa3f2masAZ8fH9emYpNA-K0T8mEY/s320/Cordon-Pruned-resized.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinv1ATNS7bYHzoYPhUHPEymdZYQk9OVVK1JN7bs0Gow6w3g00PUIiG9qDTZ6XA2OrYqufo57TA88qFT7mZZFK8aIeMes1n9toEMXn0iYe0XyNw8Z3inzY5cJ4iNfE9cGBvIf_vampAkwQ/s320/Snaggled-Teeth-resized.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We found a really well pruned cordon vine! Look at the perfect positions of each cordon arm: four on the </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">right and four on the left.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is the 'snaggletooth' pruning system that we have developed for Albariño. It forms a divided canopy</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">without </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a double arm that would make the vine much </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">bigger </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and negatively impact quality.</span></div>
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<img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLM6btolSdJ3tbyjs-AYoOZmhypAW73EdzkHaQdZ7IwWYCER7kie9iGrrkKocOdmpEhYSl3fqUhJxjdOsbKk15X2nkqGlihEJgqX9hyphenhyphenwOiBIhDqpCKnXwcV2hCeYwNQpwCNHLCBguflw/s320/4-Dogs-resized.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbKdrIPkqygSUQoBnzN9FYtlqlu2veJEbx_Agu8WociRwQ2moHCM9eFJA-LlepXuO9Pz-s7or1kKdLV0VaCWAb2sOzLqxyPkj4oyb6t1wu5yHYHMPPf5TA-7b6q1MmT_IKrcAQis7aYXQ/s320/Digging-for-gophers-resized.jpg" width="320" /></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We had a lot of good company yesterday! Besides our</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">friend Molly, Tony's cute and smart dog, this</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">little </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">puppy was so much fun -- </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">we </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ran </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and ran together!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Digging for gophers is a fabulous part of our vineyard walks! We took turns at getting in the hole -- but no,</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">we didn't catch a single gopher. Just ended up</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">really </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">messed up with mud!</span></div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-67483673740855368542012-10-09T18:13:00.000-07:002012-10-10T17:49:34.206-07:00Harvest is in full swing!<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">This is one fast and furious harvest! No complaints from anybody, though -- everyone is happy as can be, working as hard as they can. The vineyard crew loves to pick at night, starting at 3 am (brrrr.... we're still sleeping at that time) and as soon as dawn breaks, Mom takes us to wherever they are picking with fresh coffee and donuts; and for the health conscious, fruit and almonds! We love that -- and sometimes, after much begging (when Mom isn't looking), one of the guys gives us a piece of donut!</span><br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOpmfnbB1lVxoGf0WrNhh1nEr_-7-hRL2y5B0fLjS8QtLEJ9naYOZAN-5NIMJMNFngpPs7FwhHFAZoB_MMEf01QTazOpgEwatZ0iwO-3tCzS3rAlncJuLhWMN4iTqPLF3ZMFjFqdEhei8/s320/Coffee-at-break-of-dawn.jpg" /></td><td style="border: 1pt dashed rgb(219, 229, 241); height: 172.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpUnxsIKtvdoYYaR2WTlNmcS8bSu6qFpcsShlV64uHtx9mIzQE-5mHXDe2wsB1yPcghsAzWkWQQJ3qmQNbSmLEqfnXXSAkc-vEy7jdQE8_kwmmDLrE9cVYjt1eUV8mZ7AO2ORflp2HRs/s320/Coffee-on-Oct-6.jpg" /></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Coffee feels good on those misty, cool Green Valley mornings at break of dawn</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We won't get a treat while Mom is looking -- but when she turns her back, begging bears fruit!</span></div>
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2owxbezZrjoHlv-LgCGkMbJ_Omd8Iv7nzuzQQfnsB1qGM6rRVyYnci-aWMlIj_vO3hdjzX-pt26JUP4x674UWOn_gmp4KR7ksru6UgUOjgIhnXGRhiEYviCdWEruhlAx5mSO5RhHFH3k/s320/Picking-Oct-3---break-of-dawn%2521.jpg" /></td><td style="border: 1pt dashed rgb(219, 229, 241); height: 172.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Drg-qinKEUB6IQcHj6DG4I9Rv5IxYv8Q4ju0EtOcUijGC3naw0bKg6B3fCHIvFNIMI7NsyHdcT9uMQRWquz8Fga_wAxGteYb2LKuY5i1ES7-IHZ2CnVXpA7AvorByadQso5H3YTKhhU/s320/Picking-on-2-Oct---hot%2521.jpg" /></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On clear mornings, picking at sunrise can </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">paint a beautiful picture</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last week we had some HOT days! The crew suffered the sun bravely, but WE needed shade</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The clusters this year look more picture-perfect than any time in memory! The berries are good-sized but not too big, juicy and well formed. Judge for yourself from the pictures below -- taken by our viticulturist, Zach Berkowitz, who not only knows a lot about vines but also about photographs!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="text-align: center;">Albariño</span></span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p><o:p style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"> </o:p><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">Chardonnay</span></div>
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<o:p> <span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Tempranillo</span></o:p></div>
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGn4bqamutlOV1l-hziLOIv4G3CIfxyChOyDEsuYZEZ0duWSZfQvu7gkrIfe8BpxevJS-nASpDSH1KjvdS6FeAEr58UYl9KC7Iyu5VkDKjkRuSsvs3lfzBv3QJ58CTM8DeN_F7kvIio4/s320/Pinot-Noir-Photo-2.jpg" /><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We have picked by now all our Pinot Noir and Albariño, which have both given us outstanding fruit and very good yields. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some of the Chardonnay has been harvested, too; we're about mid way with that. Yields are mid-size, great fruit so far.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Tempranillo is always the last one to come in, but as you can see it looks gorgeous! We will probably pick that at the same time as the Syrah, which although not pictured, looks promising!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pinot Noir</span></div>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-60906404396104964342012-09-21T18:58:00.003-07:002012-09-28T15:35:27.278-07:00Images of Harvest<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">Harvest is
in full swing! And a good one it is, too -- so far at least. We LOVE going in
the vineyard at this time and munching on the grapes; they are the most
delicious we can ever remember! In fact, what's wonderful is to see everyone
looking so happy: the vineyard guys, Tony and his cellar team, even the office
staff -- and Mom, especially. Sooo different from last year,
when all were looking so stressed out and somber.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mom has been taking tons of pictures and asked us to post them in our blog, so
here are a few that we think will give you an idea of how things are looking!</span><br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWUBNPVZw1GrMnOBwuIYHY5U7CPdvkmiCbmoatm67nDEuR_ZVQoJH2TQB1hDslyPdZ6jF6rgVJTxv80WREuiaOC1qF0jF-y_oh969XAtYHc0rr79smkqEu6YpuVlripIuNY7uPZplnUpo/s1600/grapes-correct-size.jpg" /><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We've had classic Green Valley weather most days: foggy and cool until mid-morning, then sunny through the day. Perfect for picking!</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Can you believe how fantastic these grapes look? Best in Sonoma County, for sure, if not in California -- </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">wh</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ich means the entire USA!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The grapes looked yummy here, but Mom made us pose instead of letting us eat them :-(</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Can't tell you how tasty these were -- we ate soooo many of them, we got upset tummies!</span></div>
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLNa_2WpnIsaqnR0IJItpsyVee_HEufLyvNNTLs0_ywarU0SRFDlefpQSt7YenJ4Jc3AjEm17XwOX_I_fzo7hkA7D2FfetsuXQmsh16AangL5aiBntP83o0xvSTB1H2wigoI3nhOi4YI/s1600/dogs-looking-at-grape-bins.jpg" /></td><td style="border: 1pt dashed rgb(219, 229, 241); height: 172.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Once on the trays, the grapes are off-limits for us. But you can see from my look that I, Bonita, very much wanted to eat the whole thing</span>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Agustín and Filiberto are our friends! They let us jump on the bins so we can check the quality of the grapes -- which they are rightly proud of</span>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This little green friend on Filiberto's hand is a good bug! He was merrily walking on the fruit.</span></td><td style="border: 1pt dashed rgb(219, 229, 241); height: 172.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Can you see the blimp in the sky behind </span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Mom? We took this picture, hah! We </span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">know </span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">this is a sign of good luck so the </span><br />
<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">harvest </span></span><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">will be </span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">the best ever!!</span><br />
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-29431726209328016432012-09-06T21:47:00.004-07:002012-09-07T19:28:27.645-07:00Our Doña Margarita Vineyard in Sonoma Coast is always behind<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Today we went to our Doña Margarita Vineyard, which is always behind the Don Miguel Vyd because it is so much closer to the ocean -- only six miles from it. But is was only me, Bonita, since Chico was very sick yesterday and had to rest. You'd never guess from what: he ate something that, in the words of the vet, was "dead, rotten and fermenting"! She had to pump out his stomach and took out, in her words, "a liter of a very smelly liquid"... :-( Tony said that it probably was a dead raccoon -- </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yachhhh! </span><br />
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<tr style="height: 53.5pt;"><td style="border-bottom: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-left: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-right: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-top: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; height: 53.5pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0in; width: 3.2in;" valign="top" width="307"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p> </o:p>I had a taste of a few grapes, but they're </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">not near ripe yet. Good flavors, though!</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-left-style: none; border-right: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-top-style: none; height: 53.5pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0in; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Tony was checking the grapes but Molly, </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">his dog, was not interested -- unlike me!</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">This vineyard looked at least two weeks from harvest. But the flavors are wonderful; and we know from experience that if there is a heat wave, the sugars will jump up and we'll have to rush to pick! So we are following the grape maturities very closely and the vineyard crew is here every day checking things. </span><br />
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</div><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: justify; width: 619px;"><tbody>
<tr style="height: 172.75pt;"><td style="border-bottom: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-left: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-right: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-top: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; height: 172.75pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0in; width: 3.2in;" valign="top" width="307"><br />
<img border="0" src="http://marimarestate.com/sites/default/files/images/3.jpg" /></td><td style="border-bottom: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-left: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-right: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-top: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; height: 172.75pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0in; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><br />
<img border="0" src="http://marimarestate.com/sites/default/files/images/4.jpg" /></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 53.5pt;"><td style="border-bottom: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-left: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-right: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-top: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; height: 53.5pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0in; width: 3.2in;" valign="top" width="307"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><o:p><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> You can see how beautiful the grapes look -- this </span></o:p><o:p><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">year we have perfectly formed bunches! They are not too big and </span></o:p><o:p><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">not </span></o:p><o:p><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">too small, same as</span></o:p><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> the </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">berries. Just Goldilock's size!!</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-left-style: none; border-right: rgb(219,229,241) 1pt dashed; border-top-style: none; height: 53.5pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0in; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p> </o:p> Can you believe this? We found a few Chardonnay vines in the new Pinot Noir block. Obviously </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">they were mixed up with the </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pinot budwood, </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">so we'll t-bud them next spring.</span></div></td></tr>
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-76527894870547621082012-08-30T18:01:00.003-07:002012-09-06T20:45:26.317-07:00Getting closer to harvest!<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The weather has been beautiful and it looks like harvest could be just a week away! That means we get to eat the grapes during our vineyard walks -- yumm! Actually, they're not as sweet as we like them but we can't help ourselves to munch on them already. We've soooo much been looking forward to it!</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Gearing for harvest means a lot of activity in the vineyard and also in the cellar -- getting new equipment like tanks, tractors, lights for night harvesting, an additional forklift, and also healthy drinks & lunches for our team! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
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<tr style="height: 172.75pt;"><td style="border: 1pt dashed rgb(219, 229, 241); height: 172.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.2in;" valign="top" width="307"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAfn-P68zLG5RMmQFwwDbgclQNeGifQpqnoFu3TcLfS8z1_t1p6Mj1f6E6vkvo1O05z9KI9q8LA8lDDmHO383d71E5o2qF_cnYRWiAe66-55qC2VRH29XWpf4GsBaTeKa2aCUlAcpxFU/s1600/dogs-grapes.jpg" /></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span> </td><td style="border: 1pt dashed rgb(219, 229, 241); height: 172.75pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RZ2D5eJebkTKetELEYx_2VXcIvmyvoOpkZptwEBuXeKAWprLqRnN0ukneS4410RKgHYtMXtZAY6MkCBWFNvBymquEU9S1YyOfxZ5DLAcoy1ghLttM2xHqTJq35gyBBymUrxglK654AM/s1600/Dogs-on-Gator.jpg" /></span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 53.5pt;"><td style="border: 1pt dashed rgb(219, 229, 241); height: 53.5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.2in;" valign="top" width="307"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p> </o:p>In our 'Stony Block' the grapes are almost ready -- Chico devoured quite a few! Bonita is more picky & thought they were not ripe enough</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(219, 229, 241); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(219, 229, 241); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none dashed dashed none; height: 53.5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We loved driving our new UTV, this fancy John Deere Gator! Tony taught us how to drive it so we can help him at harvest ... </span></div></div></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">On the sad side, we have been having quite a problem with gophers this season. Being organic, we cannot use poison (and we wouldn't use poison anyhow, as we feel it's not the right thing to do for the land) </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">but only traps</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">, which take a lot longer to place and collect the pesky animals that devour our vines -- and the workload has been so high that the vineyard team couldn't take the time to put the traps in the Doña Margarita Vineyard -- and we lost 12 vines in a week!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbJQ8LWmFz6ptcT9ERlbk2aEwJaD7u6R66M7An8dhyrrxE8IeNtMTVCeEmaAr8nRqipb0KVg3PFPtZdv5wgDJOh2yE_KXHw4QmttNplGaZ26t9DW0yrU63wVnMAnXWzHjcKUK59Nt4xkM/s1600/dead-vine-8-24-resized.jpg" /></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq1I6uiq8NvNs8_pssPHL-VORdBuY99DtBqHbFwAJpGDQhu-EFglmtl80cfq8ua-YVNWFpFGFWeaLno1qZmasPvrMrvZVYrepNc8zrrZ8bl3cxutJlY7Kr_o1lURCAOSxnRaB9sC-XLdY/s1600/vine-eaten-8-24-resized.jpg" /></span><br />
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<tr style="height: 53.5pt;"><td style="border: 1pt dashed rgb(219, 229, 241); height: 53.5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.2in;" valign="top" width="307"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><o:p><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Here's one of the dead vines from the gophers. It's so sad! We saw the vineyard team feel really terrible to see their work destroyed like that</span></o:p></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(219, 229, 241); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(219, 229, 241); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none dashed dashed none; height: 53.5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.25in;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p> </o:p> You can see here, right, that the gophers ate the roots clean -- wish we could have gotten to those mean animals and killed them ourselves!</span></div></td></tr>
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Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-7789788955692901322012-08-10T15:11:00.007-07:002012-08-10T15:58:36.622-07:00Véraison is here!<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 661px;"><tbody>
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<div style="text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Some Pinot Noir vines of the Swan clone </span></div></div><div style="text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">are almost totally colored!</span></div></div></td></tr>
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</span> <span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finally, the long awaited véraison has arrived; that's when the red grapes turn dark and the white grapes become soft and translucent. The season is definitely behind, although not as much as last year. And the weather is beautiful right now, sunny and warm but not beyond the mid-90s. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We are anxiously awaiting the grapes to ripen, so we can munch on them while walking in the vineyard with Mom! On this vineyard walk we tried a few of the red grapes, but no way -- they are far from being ripe.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With the arrival of véraison, the powdery mildew risk disappears -- which makes us very happy. Now it is botrytis we have to fear, but as long as the weather stays nice and warm we should not have any problems. This could indeed be a great vintage!</span> <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://marimarestate.com/sites/default/files/images/Ch.jpg" /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div></td><td style="border-left: none; border: dashed #B8CCE4 1.0pt; height: 199.05pt; mso-border-alt: dash-small-gap #B8CCE4 .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: dash-small-gap #B8CCE4 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-themetint: 102; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-themetint: 102; mso-border-themetint: 102; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 247.5pt;" valign="top" width="330"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://marimarestate.com/sites/default/files/images/Albarino_2.jpg" /></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 60.45pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: dashed #B8CCE4 1.0pt; height: 60.45pt; mso-border-alt: dash-small-gap #B8CCE4 .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-themetint: 102; mso-border-themetint: 102; mso-border-top-alt: dash-small-gap #B8CCE4 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 102; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 3.45in;" valign="top" width="331"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I was not at all interested in the Chardonnay grapes -- they are just starting to soften up and turn translucent, which is the beginning of véraison for the whites.</span></div></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: dashed #B8CCE4 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: dashed #B8CCE4 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 60.45pt; mso-border-alt: dash-small-gap #B8CCE4 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 102; mso-border-left-alt: dash-small-gap #B8CCE4 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-themetint: 102; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themetint: 102; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-themetint: 102; mso-border-top-alt: dash-small-gap #B8CCE4 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 102; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 247.5pt;" valign="top" width="330"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And I was totally uninterested in the Albariño grapes -- I wouldn't even look at them! Those haven't yet begun véraison and are still hard as rocks.</span> </div></div></td></tr>
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</div>Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910590997868187534.post-5827371850656531002012-07-23T17:55:00.052-07:002012-07-30T09:56:19.079-07:00Waiting and waiting for véraison!<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">Finally!! Mom is back after her long tour of Europe -- Spain, France, Lithuania and Russia! It was hard to be away from the vineyard for over a month, but since her return July 10 we've made up for it by running up and down just about every vine row -- in both our Don Miguel and Doña Margarita V</span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">ineyards!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">This could be a really great harvest, it turns out! Albeit later than normal, the set was very good; the bunches are nicely sized and evenly balanced. Our only problem -- but a big one -- so far is powdery mildew; the weather has been </span><b style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">perfect </b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">for this vicious fungus! So our team has had to be constantly watching for any affected grapes in the vineyard and removing the clusters before any other become infected.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <br />
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<tr style="height: 36.4pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="border-top: none; border: dashed #95B3D7 1.0pt; height: 36.4pt; mso-border-alt: dash-small-gap #95B3D7 .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: dash-small-gap #95B3D7 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 231.9pt;" valign="top" width="309"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="color: #660000; text-align: center;">Look at our Albariño clusters! Our "V"</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">system of training the shoots, visible<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">here,</span> <span style="color: #660000;">is great for balanced vines</span></span></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: dashed #95B3D7 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: dashed #95B3D7 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 36.4pt; mso-border-alt: dash-small-gap #95B3D7 .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-bottom-themetint: 153; mso-border-left-alt: dash-small-gap #95B3D7 .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-left-themetint: 153; mso-border-right-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-right-themetint: 153; mso-border-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-themetint: 153; mso-border-top-alt: dash-small-gap #95B3D7 .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: accent1; mso-border-top-themetint: 153; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 228.3pt;" valign="top" width="304"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="color: #660000; text-align: center;">This bunch and any that looks like it,</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">affected by powdery mildew, needs to</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">come out right away</span></div></td> </tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">Fortunately, the powdery mildew (also called 'oidium') has only affected </span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;"> Chardonnay; the Pinot Noir vines are extremely healthy and we're counting the days until <i>véraison</i> starts -- that's when the red grapes turn color and the whites become translucent. At that time, the mildew is not a problem any longer.</span></div><br />
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</div><img border="0" src="http://marimarestate.com/sites/default/files/images/DMR-Lower-Block.jpg" /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"></div></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 36.4pt;"><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none dashed dashed; height: 36.4pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 231.9pt;" valign="top" width="309"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span lang="ES" style="color: #660000;">A good example of a nicely balanced vine in the Doña Margarita Vineyard, of the Dijon 115 clone. Just the way we love to see </span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pinot Noir clusters look!</span></div></td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(149, 179, 215); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none dashed dashed none; height: 36.4pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 228.3pt;" valign="top" width="304"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span lang="ES" style="color: #660000;">The Pommard clone in the Doña Margarita Vineyard also looks great, but we will need to do some leafing -- as Zach here </span></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">is demonstrating</span></div></td></tr>
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</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: left;">Last Thursday we went to the Sonoma Coast vineyard, Doña Margarita. We haven't seen that vineyard look so good for years! The vines are still growing so </span><i style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">véraison </i><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: justify;">is even further away here than in our Russian River's Don Miguel Vineyard. We have three clones planted here: Dijon 115, Dijon 667, and Pommard. They all grow beautifully in this microclimate and provide different layers of flavor that complement each other. We can't wait to taste the 2012 wines!!</span></div></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #660000; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</span></span></div></div>Chico & Bonitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17705538255009766628noreply@blogger.com0