2011 Littorai Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

I spotted this wine at Tamura's in Kaimuki and picked it up with my husband's blessings. We went to Littorai in January, 2012 to learn how Ted Lemon implemented gravity flow in his newly built winery in Sebastopol. At the time we went to Littorai, Ted was not there but assistant winemaker John Wilson gave us an in depth tour including a wine tasting at the end. The various chardonnays that we tasted were to showcase the influence of terroir from the different vineyards even though the winemaking was the same. I don't know what we were thinking, but we didn't buy any wine at that time and have regretted it many times. We don't find Littorai on the East Coast so when I saw this at Tamura's I was delighted. Now, to keep it cool until I get back to Connecticut.

Marty Johnson and Ruby Magdalena Vineyards

I recently connected with Marty Johnson when we both posted on the U.C. Davis LinkedIn discussion board. The discussion board is open to U.C. Davis Viticulture and Enology Alumni and Friends and it reminds me of the forum discussions that we used to have when I took the U.C. Davis Online course. It would be really great if more people would post so we can continue the great discussions we had.
But, back to Marty and what he is up to. Marty wrote in his email that they just bottled their first vintage of Tempranillo! They bottled almost 48 cases from two barrels and are hoping for a spring release.
Marty has a website: Ruby Magdalena Vineyards
As well as a Facebook Page: Ruby Magdalena Vineyards.
In a further email, Marty wrote that his vineyard is named after his mother, who is of Spanish descent. His mother's family came to (then) "New Spain" in about 1640 and after 1 generation in Zaragoza Mexico, settled in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. The vineyard and eventually the winery is named after her: Ruben Magdalena Vigil de Trujillo Johnson. Marty's father's family is of Norwegian descent. Very cool!

Don't Touch Those Eggs: Spined Soldier Beetle

In early July, my husband and I came upon these beautiful eggs when we were doing our bug patrol in the vineyard. We know from previous experience that we should leave eggs alone unless we know what they turn into, but, unfortunately we didn't. When we looked on the Internet (okay, this problem wouldn't happen if we had a smart phone), we learned that these beauties were the eggs of the Spined Soldier Beetle, Latin name Podisus maculiventris (Say), a good guy that you want in your vineyard.
I found a really good site that has photos of the life cycle of the Spined Soldier Beetle from the University of Florida.¹
The Cornell University Biological Control site lists the pests that the spined soldier beetle attacks: Over 100 species in many families have been reported as prey. Prime targets are immature insects. Reported prey include the larvae of Mexican bean beetle, European corn borer, diamondback moth, corn earworm, beet armyworm, fall armyworm, cabbage looper, imported cabbageworm, Colorado potato beetle, velvetbean caterpillar, and flea beetles.² The spined soldier beetle also looks like the predatory stink bug, Latin Alcaeorrhynchus grandis (Dallas), but not to worry, they are both beneficial.

Additional look-alikes that are not good include the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) and the brown stink bug. The Stop BMSB site provides photos of the BMSB, the brown stink bug and compares these look-alikes with the predatory spined soldier bug.³
References:
1. University of Florida, Life Cycle of the Spined Soldier Beetle
2. Cornell University Biological Control Site
3. Stop BMSB

The Road to Burgundy by Ray Walker

I got my hands on Ray Walker's book, The Road to Burgundy and read it almost in one sitting. If there ever was a good guy who finishes first, Ray Walker's is the quintessential story. My husband belongs to a forum and he used to tell me about an American who went to Burgundy to make wine. So I was familiar with Ray Walker's name, but until I read this book, I did not know the details.
The subtitle of Ray Walker's book is, The Unlikely Story of an American Making Wine and A New Life in France. In reading this book, it is clear how unlikely Ray Walker's story is because his only qualification was that he spent one summer in California helping wash tanks and barrels. He had very little enological knowledge and what he learned was from books written in the 1800's. Is that enough? If passion, dedication and a desire to succeed is enough, certainly in Ray Walker's case, it was enough. Enough to be able to secure grapes from Morey-Saint-Denis, premier cru, Les Chaffots, Charmes-Chambertin and even more improbably, Le Chambertin. I loved reading this book, it gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, you don't have to have a fortune to make wine, you just have to have passion, dedication, a desire to succeed, and just a little bit of pixie dust!
Additional comment: My daughter and I were watching Jiro Dreams of Sushi, if you haven't seen it, it's a good movie. What does this movie have in common with Ray Walker? In the movie, the Food Critic, Yamamoto says this about Jiro's sushi, "Ultimate simplicity leads to purity". That reminded me of how Ray Walker made his first vintage 2009, hand picked, hand sorted, hand destemmed, and for the Le Chambertin, only one punch down. Almost at the end of the book, Ray wrote that he invited a local guy to taste his wines. After he tasted from the final barrel of 2009 Chambertin, this local person said, "Pure. All of them...pure."