Bistro Restaurant Garden at Lafond Vineyards Rose Moradian writes in the Bistro Restaurant & Wine Bar Blog about this unusual vegetable she is growing. More common in Europe than in the US she describes its many possibilities. Vegetables from this garden will be available to visitors to the Lafond Winery during the summer. We will select a basket of garden ripe vegetables which will, of course, vary during the season.
They like temperatures under 75. You could grow them year round here, just plant them under a larger plant for cooler temperatures in the heat of the summer. They aren’t picky about soil and are insect resistant, making them a champion in the garden! They don’t need a lot of fertilizer or attention. You can forget about them, tucked away under a canopy of zucchini and get a great surprise in the fall! Alien plants! They come in purple or white and some varieties can grow to 5 pounds!! I like mine small and firm.
The texture is crisp like an apple, and are delicious cold. The flavor in for the winter harvest is nutty and slightly sweet, the warmer months tend to give them a bit of a spicy bite. I like my Kohlrabi cold , raw,unpeeled and sliced into cubes or slivers with splash of rice vinegar and parsley…
To read her full article which includes preparation and a recipe click here.
April was not a very kind month for our vineyard. We had several days of frost which caused severe damage to every variety. We are not alone, Sonoma and Napa also experienced frost damage, which is almost certain to result in a light harvest for 2008. A light harvest this year following a light harvest in 2007 will make the present grape shortage even more severe.
Grapes, as in most crops, have cycles of scarcity and over-production. In the case of grapes the cycle usually lasts 3 to 5 years — the time to plant and harvest producing vines. There will be a lot of planting the next few years, despite economic hard times. We are not exempt from this, hopefully not misplaced, optimism. We are planting another 30 acres of Pinot Noir in 2009, from land leased from our neighbor. Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills, we think, will always be a rare commodity.
The slideshow shows the progress of a particular vine in one of our blocks. From the looks of it, it is hard to believe that the vine suffered frost damage. It is flourishing, there are quite a few clusters, mostly second growth. Second growth grapes ripen later and tend to ripen unevenly and be smaller. Time will tell. The photos start with the latest and go backwards to bud break.
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The nobel grape Riesling is enjoying a well earned resurgence of popularity in America as increasing numbers of writers and chefs become enamored with the wine’s flavors and suitability for pairing with a wide range of foods.
As we recall, Riesling was really one of the first grapes that showed the promise of the Santa Ynez Valley for fine wine growing back in the middle 1970’s. Pierre Lafond planted the first block of Riesling in our Lafond Vineyard in 1972 and winemaker Bruce McGuire has crafted several styles of this wine since his arrival to finish the 1981 harvest.
Recognizing that residual sugar (r.s.) marks the style of each Riesling we produce, either the word “dry” or a number representing the amount of r.s. in the wine appears on the label under the AVA designation. The amount of r.s. in each style may vary slightly from year to year as Bruce balances this sweetness with the natural acid level that a particlar vintage achieved.
The “7.3″ style can only be made when a section of our Lafond Vineyardmeets Bruce’s criteria for clean, flavorful fruit and firm acidity to balance a higher level of sugar. Good weather for a later harvest helps with the magical flavor intensity found in this wine. Flavors of stone fruits such as peach, apricot or nectarine appear in this Riesling style as well as pear and tropical flowers.
The balancing acid is key in tightening the flavors at the back of the mouth and is responsible for the long, satisfying finish. A very pleasant stand alone sipping wine, it would also be a nice match for a peach tart. This is another wine built for extended aging. Eight to twelve years should prove quite interesting. Suggested retail: 20.00 To Purchase:
Winemaker Bruce MaGuire periodically checks the red wines from the 2007 harvest for completion of malolactic fermentation. Some varieties will undergo this secondary fermentation, the conversion of malic acid to lactic acid , very quickly. Others especially those varieties harvested late are slower to undergo this process — one reason is that, because it is later in the season, it is colder and cold inhibits fermentation.
There was a time, and not so long ago, when malolactic fermentation was not as understood as it is today – it was discouraged – with the unfortunate result that it sometimes occurred within the bottle and spoilt the wine. The benefits today, of a carefully controlled malolactic fermentation, are well recognized. And aside from a more stable wine it enriches the wine with more complex flavor and balance.
Malic acid is most easily recognized in apples. Some white wines are also encouraged to go through malolactic fermentation especially those rich buttery Chardonnays. If fruit flavors, however, are essential such as in Riesling, Rosé, and Sauvignon Blanc, the wines are kept chilled, until bottling, to prevent this from occurring.
The photo below is of Bruce in the lab, at Lafond Winery, ’spotting’ the different barrels. He puts several drops on each ’spot’ on a special paper. Each spot represents a different barrel, and when he places the paper in a solution it will tell him if the fermentation has been completed, or how far it has gone. He uses a small capillary tube, that he rests on the board at his side, to deposit the ‘drops’ on the paper. Slow but effective.
April 19, 2008.
April has not been kind, the cold weather has caused some damage. In spite of the cold, the vine we selected for our growth cycle slideshow shows substantial growth in the last two weeks. The vines adjust, producing fewer clusters and delaying the harvest. For a Slideshow of the Growth Cycle.
Click image to enlarge:
Today was the last day of harvest for Santa Barbara Winery. The last load of Chardonnay grapes came in this morning. It was also a very busy day in the Tasting Room and while customers were being attended, just behind, in the barrel room, Tyler was struggling moving barrels in place.
And Cameron, who had assisted in the harvest, changed his clothes put on a red jacket and helped out in the Tasting Room. Cameron’s mother, who lives in Florida, when she saw him in the harvest slideshow on the web, reacted like all good mothers everywhere — “Cameron, you need a haircut!”.
We have finished with the Pinot Noir and now we are beginning to pick the Syrah. The Syrah harvest is going to be down this year but not as much as the Pinot Noir. The clusters are smaller and the berries are smaller — good news for quality. And the fact that we are picking later than normal — longer hang time — also good news for quality.
The second picture shows the vibrating table with screen over which the grapes pass. You can see what falls through. These small shot berries, seeds and other small particles are scooped up and discarded.
The third photo, working the line, is our inestimable public relations maven Koleen Hamblin who has taken under her wing a row of Syrah for which she is personally responsible — pruning, leafing, harvesting — time permitting.
them a champion in the garden! They don’t need a lot of fertilizer or attention. You can forget about them, tucked away under a canopy of zucchini and get a great surprise in the fall! Alien plants! They come in purple or white and some varieties can grow to 5 pounds!! I like mine small and firm.
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