Today we walked the Don Miguel Vineyard -- the growth is just as astounding as in the Doña Margarita! The crew is working non-stop to keep the canopy in check. We also saw some powdery mildew (oidium) but it is practically gone and not a concern anymore.

Fortunately, this is the only cluster we could find in the vineyard with powdery mildew!

Leafing and hedging has been a non-stop job in the vineyard

Many vines, however, are showing good balanced clusters and excellent set

The young tempranillo vines look healthy and great!

A good example of 'coulure' or shatter: sparse berries in a cluster, due to poor weather at the time of pollinization and set.

Many vines show normal-size and tiny berries in the same cluster, another result of weather, commonly referred to as 'peas & pumpkins'.

Mom is back from Spain!

Other than the organic sprays, aggressive leafing has been necessary as well as immediate removal of each berry that shows the first sign of mildew, even cluster thinning of any bunches that are lumped together, despite the low yields, to ensure the aeration of the canopy.
July 14, 2011 

Mom and Cristina are back from Spain! Not that we missed them that much, really — we had a grand time while they were gone, with Cooper and his Mom, Susan. She took us to the beach (which of course gave Chico an ear infection) and we also swam in the pool and lounged on her patio. Truly, a dog’s life!

Swimming in the ocean at Stinson Beach was so much fun! The water was coooold and great

That’s only three of us, not six! Bonita and Cooper are definitely going steady…

 Today we went in the Doña Margarita Vineyard and saw the incredibly wild growth that has taken place with all the rains last month. Can you imagine 4 inches in one day?? And that was not all, of course. So it has been impossible to keep up with the shoot growth – the vineyard crew is scrambling. But they’ll soon have it all under control, hopefully it won’t rain anymore, and we’ll have beautiful Goldilocks weather to ensure a perfect harvest!

The shoot growth has been wild — look at them going in all directions!

A very organic way to get rid of gophers: a gopher snake is the perfect predator!