A beautiful spring day with ideal growing conditions – at this stage the vines grow very rapidly. As we did last year, we record the growth on an almost weekly basis. We show the sequence on our websites in two formats using high definition photos which can be zoomed for greater detail.
The images are of Pinot Noir and today we were giving them a little bit of water. We like drip irrigation — it reduces water consumption and it puts the water where the plant is.
New Release:
Rosé wines are finally finding their way to the table as folks discover a keen affinity to several foods. More wineries are now making very pleasing robust rosé wines and moving beyond the insipid wines that were formerly associated with this wine color.
The sunny climes of the Mediterrianean have long celebrated the off-dry to dry styles of this wine for its ability to make an antipasta plate of cheese, olives, cured meats and bread sing. Centuries of being the “go to” wine for afternoon meals with friends and family have established this wine style as a serious and apprecitated addition to our table.
Winemaker Bruce McGuire has identified a great Syrah block in our neighbor’s vineyard for making a fine, off-dry rose’. Syrah is a difficult wine to make into a rose’, but Bruce found that if he destemmed the hand sorted fruit and let the juice and skins cold soak overnight followed by a light pressing the next day, the resulting wine showed off a stunning rose’ color.
Cool, stainless steel fermentation retains the exotic, bright fruit flavors and aromas balanced with firm acidity courtesy of the cold climate Santa Rita Hills. This wine is a perfect match for a Mediterranean lunch, seafood, or salads featuring tangy and sweet flavors.
Suggested retail: 15.00
This year the Vintners Festival was held, for the first time, at River Park in Lompoc. Both Santa Barbara Winery and Lafond Winery participated. David Lafond has taken some photos that give a feeling of the event.
There were large crowds, the weather co-operated and, I think, everyone enjoyed themselves.
Photos taken this morning, Saturday the 21st, at the Lafond Winery Open House. The day before we had rain and Sunday also promises to be rainy, but today, it was glorious. Warm and sunny with gorgeous cumulus clouds gathering towards mid-day.
Today it rained 1/2 an inch to give us a rather feeble 6 inches for the year. Although unusually late even this small amount is beneficial — the vines are growing rapidly and need the water.
This year, for the first time we can remember, the Syrah (in the foreground on the left) is ahead of the Pinot Noir. If both varieties should mature at the same time this would put a definite strain on manpower and equipment. More likely, the Syrah will slow down and regain its normal pace, so that in the end, it will be harvested several weeks after the Pinot Noir, which is the norm.
Shoot thinning — the removal of excess shoots on the cane begins almost as soon as there is growth. The purpose is to balance the vine. Here workers are working on Pinot Noir in the Lafond Vineyards. The vine has two canes, one on each side tied to the wire at the time of pruning, and each cane should have 6 grape bearing shoots, or 12 per vine.
It gets more complicated — at the head of each vine we need two canes for next years crop and two more as spurs for the year after that. Workers go through the entire vineyard doing this and it requires some delicacy. The ladies who do this take great care.
At this point it is difficult to distinguish shoots, canes and spurs but as growth continues these will be more obvious.
Photos taken Saturday before Easter at our Santa Barbara Winery Tasting Room. The day started off overcast and depressing but by noon it was clearing and the afternnon was glorious. The fog never really went away standing just off-shore waiting for the opportunity to move in again. These are typical Spring days in Santa Barbara and we love them.
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