Busy-ness in the Vineyard

Ever since budbreak occured in early May, it has been sunny and rainy so ideal conditions for growth in the vineyard. We had a few days of respite from the vineyard, after pruning and laying down the canes as we waited for the buds to grow, but from now until harvest, the vineyard calls.
The first to need our attention was the Auxerrois. The graft union of this variety produces a proliferation of buds that need to be removed leaving only a few shoots for next year. Here is a before and after photo of the process of shoot thinning in the Auxerrois.

This is the perfect time for the shoot thinning activity because the shoots can be removed by hand. The goal of shoot thinning in the vineyard is to provide adequate space for each of the shoots to grow without crowding so that there is air flow through the shoots. This year, we have been more aggressive about the shoots we remove. We are leaving approximately 4 to 5 shoots on each of the canes that we have laid down and hope that each shoot will carry two bunches of grapes.
The other thing that we are doing is removing all of the kicker canes that we have left on some vines as an insurance against frost. It is May 29th so hopefully the chance of frost has passed. Removing the kicker canes also diverts the energy into the remaining shoots. All of these activities will keep us very busy!

Action in the Winery

What do you do when you have a space that you call a "winery" but it doesn't have all the accoutrement of a functioning winery? You make the best of the situation that you have. The conversion into using our industrial space as a winery began in March with our Industrial Space Upgrade to include a wash down station, installed by Mark and Dan! (We appreciate you!) Another critical component in a functioning winery are floor drains. Here is how we solved that problem.
March was a busy month because we were also beginning our pruning duties in the vineyard. However, we did have in the back of our minds, the fact that we had to return Jonathan Edward's stainless steel barrels that we have been storing our wine in, so yesterday, we began using the industrial space as a winery.
The first thing that we did was to bring an IBC tank from the vineyard back to the winery. This IBC tank will hold the "waste water" that we generate, which is our solution to floor drains. My husband contracted for this waste water to be removed by R.E. White, who provides us with our portable potty.
We then unstacked our 1070L stainless steel tank which will hold the wine that we will be transferring. The next thing was to bring down the stainless steel barrels that contained our 2022 Chenin Blanc and arrange them for the transfer.

We set up the pump in order to clean the stainless steel tank. The first solution was a water rinse. This water went into the IBC tank. The second rinse was with a basic solution then the last rinse was with an acidic solution. All of these solutions went into the IBC tank.

We were finally at the point of being able to move the wine from the stainless steel barrels into the tank. My husband bought a racking wand with a site glass so that we were able to move only the clearest wine into the tank. The process was slow but methodical. The great thing is that we were able to fill the tank to the top. You always want to fill any container that has wine in it to the top so that it comes in contact with as little air as possible to prevent any oxidation from taking place. For that we are thankful that Jon and his crew (Zack) put our wine into the stainless steel barrels and filled it to the top.
The transfer of the wine from the stainless steel barrels to the tank took the entire day. We washed the stainless steel barrels with water but will wait until Tuesday to do the final rinse. We have a functioning winery!

Vintage 2024: Annual Cycle of Growth

It's time to update the Annual Cycle of Growth chart. We have been keeping a record of the major grape stages as a reference for the vintage. The first date to record is budbreak:

Keeping a record helps us to determine where things stand for that particular year. Last year, our vineyard was hit by a frost that happened on May 18. Looking back at the Annual Cycle of Growth shows that the vines were at budbreak much earlier than usual.
Yesterday, with the help of our friend, Barry, we were able to remove the last cuttings from the vineyard indicating the end of pruning and laying down of all of the canes.
The varieties are currently opening up and growing!

Variety	April 24	April 28	May 6	May 12
Auxerrois
Chenin Blanc
Chardonnay
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc
Barbera

It's a very nice time in the vineyard!

Andreas Larsson in Manchuela: The Bobal Wine

It's a rain day so we are continuing our wine education by watching another Wine Masters episode with Andreas Larsson in Manchuela, Spain. On this episode, Andreas had as his guest, Juan Antonio Ponce from Bodega Ponce. Ponce brought with him, a bottle of wine made from Bobal, a red grape variety. Andreas said that the Bobal had aromas black fruits, herbs, tobacco, and spice. Already, three things we learned: Manchuela, Bodega Ponce and Bobal.

During the episode, Andreas made a meal to pair with the Bobal. He made a schnitzel stuffed with manchengo and jamon. It was battered and fried in oil and butter. There was a nice side of grilled vegetables. It's Andreas's opinion that vegetables must always be cooked when paired with wine, especially a red wine. Juan Antonio said that the schitzel paired very well with his Bobal. He tends his vineyards biodynamically.
Bobal is the second most planted variety in Spain after Tempranillo.
We thought that we should buy a bottle of Bobal and try to reproduce the meal that Andreas made. We have done this once before when we watched an episode on Piedmonte where they featured the Arneis grape, 2022 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arnies "Bricco delle Ciliegie".
References:
1. Illustration from: Bobal, Spain’s next great grape variety?, May 9, 2022.

1999 Volnay Premier Cru Arnaud Ente

On Sunday, we gave ourselves the day off. Originally rain was in the forecast but then the forecast changed to rain in the evening, but we stuck to our original plan of a day off. We spent the day cooking instead. We invited our friends, Mary and Barry for dinner. We began our dinner with small bites of prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe with balsamic glaze and a Paul Bara Champange.
My husband made a marinated pork loin with potatoes and Vidalia onion for the main course. We paired it with this 1999 Arnaud Ente Volnay Premier Cru Santenots Du Milieu. The wine is 25 years old now and is still tasting youthful. It exhibited a beautiful floral aroma and tasted of red berry fruit. My husband noticed spice on the palate. It had a silky smooth finish. We were all remarking how this wine has withstood the test of time. We followed the main course with a delicious salad that Mary made in situ. Dessert was French Silk pie.

Is Chenin Blanc the Forgotten Grape?

I came across this article written by Matt Kramer: Is Chenin Blanc the Forgotten Grape? Chenin Blanc has long been one of our favorite wines to drink, mainly because we fell in love with the Domaine Huet Chenin Blanc. When we planted our vineyard, we heavily tilted the varieties that we planted to Chenin Blanc. Nearly half of our vineyard is planted with that variety. Yet, Matt Kramer is saying that Chenin Blanc is the forgotten grape.
I will have to concur with that opinion. Not many people have heard of Chenin Blanc. Kramer's article written in 2016 (so now 8 years ago) mentioned that he was being stalked by Chenin Blanc. He went to New Zealand and visited Millton Vineyards and Winery in Gisborne on the North Island and remarked of their single-vineyard Clos de Ste. Anne Chenin Blanc, as stunning in its density, purity, graceful and effortless power and sheer characterfulness.
In looking at my blogposts, I found that I had written a blog in 2015 about Millton Chenin Blanc in 2013 Millton Chenin Blanc being one of the 1001 Wines You Must Taste Before You Die.
Kramer continues his article saying that on a trip to South Africa, he felt that he was being even more stalked by Chenin Blanc. In South Africa, Chenin Blanc accounts for 18% of the wine grapes grown there. The following sentence perked me up: Producers such as Jordan (sold in the U.S. under the name Jardin), DeMorgenzon, Ken Forrester, Eben Sadie and Mullineux, among many others, are issuing Chenin Blancs of dazzling quality.
Another one of the Chenin Blancs which is engrained in our memory is the Petit Chenin made by Ken Forrester. In 2011, we had a 2009 Petit Chenin which we paired with oysters at Cheeky Monkey, a restaurant which sadly no longer exists. That was our eureka moment when we realized that Chenin Blanc is a perfect pairing with oysters!
Kramer's answer to his question about why Chenin Blanc is the forgotten grape is his theory that the grape's versatility is also it's undoing. Chenin Blanc is the white grape of the Loire Valley. Chenin Blanc rules absolutely in such districts as Savennières (mostly dry); Coteaux du Layon (mostly sweet); Quarts de Chaume and Bonnezeaux (fabulous sweet wines); Vouvray (both dry and sweet); and Jasnières (typically dry). It also appears as a sparkling wine, usually labeled as Crémant de Loire.
Yes, it is confusing, but the grape does give you a wide range of flavors that might appeal to your palate. If you are inclined, the Ken Forester Petit Chenin is a good place to begin your journey and a bottle sells for about $15.00!

Vintage 2024: Buds!

Happy May Day! April showers bring May flowers. In our vineyard, our buds are beginning to swell. I took photos of the various buds on April 24 and April 28 before the warm temperatures on Monday, April 29. Here is what they look like:

Variety	April 24	April 28
Auxerrois
Chenin Blanc
Chardonnay
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc
Barbera

At that time, most of the buds were in the wooly bud stage. The laggard is always the Cabernet Sauvignon which is at the dormant bud stage.
Sadly, we are still pruning! We have 5 more rows of vines to prune. The last to be pruned are the Chenin Blanc clone FPS-1 which I call the stepsisters because they are always the last to receive our attention. The buds there are at budburst. This picture shows the pretty pink tinge of the young leaves. The pink is actually a sunscreen for the developing leaves. There is also a tiny secondary bud below the primary bud. Off to the side is last year's summer lateral.
Our friend has come to give us some help in picking up the cuttings in the vineyard alley which now has grass growing through it, making it quite the task! If all goes well, we are hoping to wrap up our pruning by this weekend and our stretch goal is to pick up all of the cuttings!