Cerro Prieto and the Eden Project

They say if you answer the phone or doorbell often enough, you are bound to meet some mighty interesting people. For whatever reason, we have been blessed with not only charming but fascinating people, particularly of late. Ten days ago, Michael and Catherine Cutler, two of the 5o horticulturists(that is no typo) from the Eden Project in southwestern England came by for a vineyard visit. They had emailed us some 8 or 9 months ago, and mentioned they would be interested in visiting our vineyard. Well, last week they stopped by, on their tour of California vineyards. Eden Project? "What is that?" you may say.

Well, in a very brief nutshell, it is a massive strip mine, referred to as a "clay pit" near Cornwall, which was a millenium project of British environmentalists, but grew to include people from dozens of different professions...everything from architects to engineers, botanists to contractors, and a host of multiple other disciplines in between. It started between 1996 and 1998 as a group of people gathered to discuss and build a place that no one had seen before: literally, it was "a place that explored human dependence on plants and the natural world; a place that just might make a difference."

In a 180 foot deep, steep sided pit, which was as large as 35 football fields and 45 feet below the water table, they decided and planned to resurrect the clay pit into a "little Eden". Some highlights were:

---bringing in thousands of tons of soil from recycled waste

---colonizing with a huge diversity of plants, many used daily

---capturing water draining into pit for use in irrigation and grey water systems

---creation of architectural structures that drew inspiration from nature

---building of biospheres to grow plants from all different continents

---season with people from all walks of life

---open in spring 2000, for public preview

---do all the above with no money; ie, all work was donated as were funds to make the project go and grow

Still doesn't sound that exciting? Well, I cannot do justice to the spectacular Eden Project Guide, available thru www.edenproject.com/community . This is a remarkable, fascinating project which anyone visiting England should not miss. Eden Project has over a million visitors yearly, who see biodiversity and its applications, implications, and learn about ecology, new uses for crops, self sufficiency, beauty, and countless other ecologically related themes and issues. I highly recommend that anyone reading this blog take some serious time and learn about this historic , incredible project.

Anyway, when Michael and Catherine arrived, I had planned to do some wine tasting with them and discuss the "greening" of our vineyard. They had read our website and had been interested in how we approached "going green", in the hopes of one day being completely organic. Actually, we were the only vineyard they visited in northern San Luis Obispo County, and I was curious as to why. Essentially I believe they were curious how a very small boutique vineyard handled many of the same problems they themselves have had to deal with over the past 10 years.

In no particular order we discussed Cerro Prieto's "going green" to better serve and save the environment. Major points were:

---Use of perennial cover crops to control erosion on our steeply inclined hills/mountainsides, some in excess of 70 degrees. Also we have to manually add hay after each harvest to Bloc 2, or else we actually can lose entire rows in heavy rains.

---Changing from burning prunings to chopping them up with a flail mower, and then using the biomass as a mulch

---Using computerized bird distress calls plus netting to keep away grape eating birds, instead of using noise polluters like Zon guns (sound like shotguns), as well as Roman candle whistlers, bottle rockets, etc.

---Switching from watering to virtual dry farming of vines, leading to thousands of gallons less use of water, and also providing one of the stresses used to produce premium quality grapes

---Vastly decreasing the use of herbicides(a known cause of prostate cancer which I have already had), by virtue of decreasing herbicide concentrations where use is necessary, and switching to manual hoeing and weedeating where feasible. We have cut our % concentration of herbicide by 75% and have decreased by 90% the areas we spray

---Essentially cutting our pesticide spray by 90% by virtue of cutting our grape yields to 1 to 2.5 Tons/acre. This allows more space between clusters, and maximal airflow and sunlight around all grape clusters, thus greatly decreasing the likelihood of mildew formation

---Using organic acid fertilizers where indicated, but doing testing to be certain we absolutely need supplemental soil nutrients.

---Removing 3 acres of vines in our valley vineyard rather than using a fossil fuel burning wind machine to keep vines from freezing

---Switching from strychinne tablets to control gophers to hand set MacAbee gopher traps, thus eliminating poisoning the ground as well as hawks and owls which would be killed by eating a poisoned gopher(secondary killers)

---Use of Barn Owl boxes as homes for gopher eating owls, again decreasing need for ground poisons

There were several other topics, but these are the high points. We were delighted that horticulturists from a colossal ecologic project such as the Eden would be interested in coming to our small 20 acre boutique vineyard. But come they did, and after they left I had this satisfying feeling that

someone, somewhere, took an interest in what we were doing, altho we get no award for it, no recognition. We do it because it is the right thing to do. In the final analysis, we don't own this land; we are just its current custodians, and it would be nice to leave this land in better shape ecologically, than when we arrived. The reward? Well, it's an inside job...and visits by those such as the Eden folks truly is gratifying and makes the effort worthwhile.

Again, if you happen to find yourself in England, take a trip to the SW and visit the Eden Project. You won't be disappointed. I sure plan to visit.

End of Harvest, Part 2

A quick look around,

The work is all done.

Oops, on second thought,

It has just begun.

Just about the time the vineyard starts looking to be in tip top shape for winter, the gophers go to town and Cazadora and Cartucho hunt virtually all day long; and until each day has hard frosts lasting til mid morning, the gophers are a burdensome problem. Actually poisoning with strychnine is easy, but we at Cerro Prieto are doing our darndest to go green(we are 90% of the way there), and poisons don't cut it. Hence, the time consuming digging out of gopher holes, finding the tunnels, and lastly settting MacAbee traps in each tunnel arm...is the theme for every day until we trap those miserable grapevine-root-eating curs. Unfortunately, gophers breed like rabbits, and if you kill one, two take its place. During the dead of winter, December 15-February 15, gophers go mostly deep underground and altho not dormant, they cease being pests. Come mid February, however, they are right back at it.

Of course, by that time, it is almost time to start pruning again, so in essence, there really is very little down time. And that is just the vineyard side of things...the winemaking still needs to be done. The work would indeed be tedious were it not for the splendor of the leaves changing color, and the beautiful back lit scenes from the low winter sun.

Watching the muted vineyard color changes can be mesmerizing, and it is truly a photographer's delight. Once the vines go bare, the starkness of the naked vines is sad...almost heartbreaking. But we know that by mid February, most of the severe frosts are over in the mountain vineyard, and we anxiously await the first signs of bud break. Although not impressive at first,once 18,000 vines and

360,000 tiny green buds appear, the vineyard takes on another entirely different look, and the new growing year is upon us. In the meantime it is Thanksgiving, a time to give thanks and get together with family and friends...to eat, sit by the fire, and slowly sip and enjoy the product of our labors: Cerro Prieto's International Gold Medal 2006 Merlot Reserve, and our 92 point Wine Enthusiast signature blend, Paso Bordo.

Drinking wine on a frigid winter day around the fireplace is one thing. Drinking your own wine, from a vineyard you planted and pruned by hand...in which you worked, sweated, fumed, cussed, and finally overcame oabstacles, and yes, then finally made into wine...well, at times like these, it IS worth it.

Cerro Prieto's End of Harvest, 2009? Part 1

The days are short,
The sun rides low,
Yet still out into
The vineyard I go.

Just because the harvest is in, most folks think the vineyard work is done. A nice thought, but far from fact. In truth, once the final grape is picked, a frenetic 3-4 weeks ensues. Cerro Prieto Vineyard is, as many of you know, a straight up/ straight down vineyard. Everything that could be done easily and quickly on a flatter, more level vineyard takes two to three times the work and effort to complete here. The spectacular death-defying 45 degree hillsides which give the vineyard its beauty and charm, also make for double and triple the work at season's end.

The tasks? Well, in no particular order, the $1000 computer/speaker/battery
units that produce bird distress and hawk calls (used to scare away grape eating birds) need to be taken down, speakers unhooked & wire retrieved, then boxed and stored. And we have 15 of them, many placed on the steep hillsides. The hawk kites and windmills, also used to scare away birds, need to be disassembled, carted to the barn, and stored delicately. Windmills and kites usually are used one/acre, but due to the multiple blocs we have, many require 2-3 kites and windmills per bloc, in that line of sight is limited on steep hillsides nestled in between the oak trees that frame the vineyard. For the record, it has been estimated that we have over 5,000 oak trees surrounding our vineyard.

The last item of bird protection measures is the approximate 18 miles of bird netting that we use to protect against bird damage. Much of it just stays rolled up beneath vines tied to the drip hose, but during harvest, if distress calls, kites, and windmills fail, we have to immediately put up the netting to protect the crop. This year we probably had no more than 9 miles of netting in use, but it is absolutely essential if flocks of hungry birds decide to "eat at Cerro Prieto". If we have a varietal that ripens a few days before our neighbors' grapes, or conversely somewhat later, then the grape stealers appear in massive clouds. There is an old dictum: "once birds start eating in YOUR vineyard, there is no keeping them away." Hence the tremendous effort to get "anti-bird" devices up and running well before grapes go thru verasion.

Once grape protection devices are stored, the next most critical job is getting erosion prone areas re-seeded with cover crop(fescue, clovers, bromes, barley, filaree), AND hand spreading hay over the seed. With some hillsides approaching 45 degrees inclination, failure to seed and cover with hay can cause severe erosion in case of high rainfall storms. Currently, there is an El Nino current offshore, and some meterologists are calling for a wet winter. Should anti-erosion measures be left undone, on the steepest hillsides loss of an entire row is likely...and cost to rebuild an eroded row with RR ties, cinder blocks, stakes, baling wire, and lastly 3" gravel, comes to around $1000 per 200 feet of lost row.

In the big, dark, wet of 2005, even with erosion control measures, we lost over 1000 feet of rows. Some of the vines between rows, while still standing, had 8-10 inches of their roots laid bare by the multiple 5" rains we had, each occuring in 5 hours or less. ( Continued in Part 2).

Autumn: Changing of the leaves/ Emergence of a new nationally recognized Boutique Winery

Much as the autumnal changing of the leaves portends one month of indescribable beauty, there is also a continual changing of the best wineries in California; in some cases, formerly famous wineries have faltered, and no longer can be depended upon to produce that mouth watering wine they had previously been famous for. In fact, many former wineries have changed ownership, and their quality has declined. Some wineries have just shuttered their doors. In other cases, some new wineries have stepped up and replaced former favorite wineries of wine enthusiasts. The picture above reminds us that as the leaves change, and that odd cluster of unpicked grapes still holds onto the vine, so it is with many formerly "favorite" wineries...who, much like the cluster of grapes above, are still holding on, or clinging for dear life to the vine...in fervent hope that their fortunes will change.

Not so Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars. Now, nearing the end of our first year selling our initial bottling, 2006, we can look back and be proud, not to mention humbled. Our reception from clients and especially wine critics, national wine magazine ratings, and the overall recognition of what Cerro Prieto has accomplished this year is indeed gratifying. Cerro's 2006 Merlot took International Gold Medals at the San Diego International Wine Competition AND another International Gold Medal at the Critics Challenge International Wine Competition. Not only that, but our 2006 Paso Bordo (85% Cab/ 15% Syrah) earned 92 points from Wine Enthusiast Magazine, and was mentioned as one of the top "Bold Red Blends" in the October, 2009 Wine Enthusiast magazine. In other words, while many established and well known wineries have struggled, seen quality drop, gone out of business, or sold out, Cerro Prieto has quietly gone about its business of making exceptional national award winning wines, and now, at year's end, is being recognized by retailers, wine critics and especially customers, as one of the truly high caliber California wineries, and a "must" on every true wine aficionado's list.

Yes, this is an exceptional beginning for virtually any vineyard & cellars, but painstaking attention to our vineyard for 7 years finally got us to our goal...growing the "perfect" grape. There are so many variables that have to be considered in growing the perfect grape(see initial blog from early spring), that it is remarkable we were able to do that in such a short time span. Our mountain vineyard has the perfect terroir to which we made all the improvements, adjustments, and changes necessary to produce the perfect grape. It was but a short step from there to attempt to produce the perfect wine. For my tastes, and hundreds of others who have sampled our wines, we believe we have accomplished our goal.

Did we produce a "perfect" wine? Nope, but we did produce two exceptional wines and have been generously honored by critics, sommeliers, and clients alike. Interestingly, Cerro Prieto sits in the heart of Paso wine country...in the proposed Willow Creek sub-appellation, together with L'Aventure, Booker, Linne Calodo, Jack Creek Cellars, and Saxum. All the above share the attributes of vineyards composed of limestone, all have 50+ degree day/nite temperature swings, and all are under the influence of not only Paso AVA's heat, but also the Templeton Gap's cooling effect virtually every nite. All the winemakers subscribe to low yield production of grapes, somewhere between 2 -4 pounds of grapes/vine. In Bordeaux, incidentally, the growers shoot for 1-2 kilograms/vine, which is 2.2-4.4 lbs of grapes/vine. Is that coincidental? No, it is just an acknowledgement that truly great wines must come from truly great terroir, and they must be not only farmed correctly, they must be pruned to low yields/vine. All the wineries mentioned above subscribe to low or very low yields.

Fanatical attention to the vineyard details, immaculately clean winery conditions, extensive and superb attention to detail in winemaking, use of all the best equipment, superb palates...all go into making world class wines. Winemakers at the wineries noted above are in that group, and all have the passion for winemaking. It is the marriage of the perfect vineyard and superb winemaking ablities that have made the proposed Willow Creek sub-app the heart of Paso's best wines. Saxum, 2 hills to the NW of us, just was awarded 100 points for one of its wines. Only four such wineries were awarded this honor worldwide, and being in the same sub-appellation as Saxum means that we are definitely blessed with world class terroir.

So, as in the picture above, there are some wineries(like the grape cluster) clinging to the vine to survive, and others (like the multicolored leaves), emerging to take their places with the best of California's wineries. We think of ourselves as the multicolored leaves...a tiny boutique vineyard & cellars emerging to produce the best grapes that can be made into the perfect wines that California has become famous for. One bottling does not a career make, but with the same attention to detail, the same perfect locale for a vineyard, odds are definitely on our side that we can reproduce year after year what we began this year...perfection.

92 Points...and what it means...Part 2

As for the winemaking itself, absolute, rigid, unrelenting cleanliness is the sine qua non of a 92 point wine. "The secret to pollution is dilution", is another way of saying, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." When cleaning barrels, clamps, hoses, pumps, ferment bins, picking bins, siphons, bungs...heck, everything in the winery... cleaning is not "a lick and a promise". Cleaning is being exquisitely careful about cleaning everything thoroughly, completely, and every time it is used. Bisulfite and dilute acids in washings help kill bugs or fungi in the low pH or high pH range. Basically what you want is a winery floor that if you dropped your sandwich on it, you could pick it up and eat it without worrying about it. That is the definition of clean.

As an aside, some years ago a commercial winemaker was helping me with some homemade wine, and due to fruit flies, he had covered the half ton bins with mosquito netting. Well, the bins were in his garage, and I noted his cat balancing on the rim of one of the micro bins. Sure enough, the cat fell in the fermenting wine, and the winemaker said, " Ah, no worries, it won't make any difference." I later had some of his commercial wine, and frankly, it tasted like wet cat fur. Well, this is an extreme example of how not to do it, but I have also seen in a large custom crush facility, one winery's grapes dumped into the destemmer right after another's, with no cleaning of the destemmer, or any of its allied equipment. Thank goodness that wasn't around here, but nonetheless, if the first load of grapes thru that destemmer had Botyritis, so then, did every other load of grapes that got processed. Hence, "The secret to pollution is dilution", ie, wash and clean everything with each use, and do so vigorously.

A complete and thorough knowledge of winemaking is essential, and also so are all the whistles and bells which include:

---high quality destemmers that cause minimal injury to grapes,

---Mistral sorting tables(moving or vibrating conveyor that removes bitter, tannic, green shot-berries, and manual removal of any remaining stems or otherwise imperfect grapes),

---d'le stage equipment for removing a reductive taste in a barrel wine

---low pressure, variable speed pumps that don't beat wines up

---rigid selection of barrels, and an impeccable system of insuring neutral barrels remain free of disease (boytritis, mildew, bacteria)

---minimal time between harvesting and crushing

---cold, slow, fermentations

---frequent, expensive chemistries done on wines to be certain pH, TA, and Brix are where they should be

---variable pressure wine press to separate juice from skins, without pressing at too high a pressure to prevent juice from crushed seeds(tannic) becoming part of the wine, and also to keep the wine from being "beaten up"

"The less trauma to a wine, particularly a good wine, the better it will be", is a mantra that is spot on.

Returning to the 100 point scale, 100 point wines are rare and are truly nectar of the Gods. 99 to 95 point wines are still in rarefied air, and 94-91 pointers are spectacular wines; 90 points is a wine to be extremely proud of. For that matter, wines from 89 to 86 points priced under $15 bucks is probably a heck of a good buy. As noted previously, problems arise when an $85 bottle of wine garners only 83 points. At that point it is safe to say that the winery was way too proud of that wine. Competition being what it is...well, in the midst of a ghastly recession, that $85 bottle will probably be selling for $20-$25 sometime in the next 6-12 months.

The last and most important part of 92 points, however, is reproducing it next year...and the next... and the next...and so on. 92 points one year and 83 the next is generally not ideal for building the brand. To establish a name for the winery, scores need to be consistently in the 90s. High 80s are fine, but some, if not most of the winery's wines need to be in the 90+ category. And when that rare 94 or 95 does come around, it is a cause for major celebration.

One final thought about Steve Heimoff, who actually was the one who rated our Paso Bordo...He feels his top score is 94-95. Only that rarest of wines gets his 100 point rating ,and he remembers just the small handfull of wines and wineries so honored. Thinking again of Heimoff's 92 rating, it is even more impressive when one realizes his top rating is going to be just 2 points higher than the 92 points awarded Paso Bordo. With that in mind we are once again re-dedicating ourselves to continue producing the perfect grape, and thence...the perfect wine.

92 points...and what it means... Part 1

Cerro Prieto 2006 Paso Bordo...92 points, from Wine Enthusiast magazine. But what exactly does that mean? Well, generally, if you follow wine much at all, 90+ points are awarded to very, very, good wines. After that, it gets somewhat confusing. As one of my beer drinking friends said, "Hrumph, that's 8 points away from being 100, so I guess it's not THAT good." A more common response is, "Wow, you got 92 points! I can't wait to try it because it must be a great wine."

Honestly, the truth lies somewhere in between, because 100 points is a perfect wine. Just recently, a neighbor 2 hills over, Justin Smith of Saxum, garnered a
100 pointer...a perfect wine. Not only that, it was only 1 of 4 perfect wines awarded by Wine Spectator, and the first ever perfect score for a Paso Robles vineyard/winery. I might add that in the October, 2009, issue of Wine Enthusiast, Cerro Prieto was mentioned as one of the vineyard/wineries in the proposed Willow Creek sub-appellation (still part of Paso Robles AVA), along with Saxum, Jack Creek Cellars, Linne Calodo, L'Aventure, and Booker.
92 points or not, just being mentioned in the same rarefied air of those spectacular wineries was high praise, indeed.

But I digress...what does it all mean...the 92 points and all? I will quote liberally and frequently from Steve Heimoff 's blog of October 8, 2009 (http://www.steveheimoff.com/), to help put this point business into perspective. His blog title, pretty well says it all. "How can we get distributors and other wine buyers to get beyond their '90 point plus' obsession?" Basically Steve writes that "87,86, 84, and even 83 points are not 'low 80s, but mid to high 80s' wines."

Heimoff continues, "The problem is that distributors and many wine buyers look at anything below an 86 as a 'low score'. 87 and 86 are not low scores, and neither is an 85 or 84. All are considered "very good" or "good" scores by Wine Enthusiast's definition. "Of course, if a wine scores 85 points and retails for $50 or more, then there is a problem, but it's not my problem...it's the problem of people at the winery who establish the price," writes Heimoff.

Again quoting, "It's a cliche to say that anything below 90 is dead on arrival. At Wine Enthusiast we don't turn up our noses at an 86 point wine. Wines that score in the 90s tend to be bigger, riper, and probably oakier than those in the 80s...and what I don't understand is how to get the word out that the 90 point threshold is not some magical, absolute event horizon, the dividing line between Heaven and Hell. It's just a number. If you have any ideas how to decriminalize scores in the 80s, let me know." For those of you who enjoy not only drinking, but reading about wine, and wish to stay current on any political, financial, agricultural, technical, or tasting information related to wine, I would highly recommend Steve Heimoff's blog. A real benefit is that his blogs and print articles are not only interesting, they are entertaining...plus he has a keen sense of humor. Personally, he is my favorite wine writer/blogger, and I would encourage anyone reading this blog to check out Heimoff's.

Again, back to 92 points...for Cerro Prieto it is a monumental honor and achievement that a low volume winery (250-350 cases/yr) can compete with much older, much better financed, and much more experienced wineries. The saying goes, "Great wines start in the vineyard", and it is truer than one might imagine. It took 7 years before I felt our vineyard was fine tuned enough to make our own wine. We sell 90% of our grapes to up scale, high end wineries, and make our wine from the other 10%. Amazingly, our 2006 Paso Bordo was our first bottling, but we started with a vineyard in perfect shape to make a near perfect wine. Low yield of 3-5 lbs/vine, painstaking care of each and every vine, and no hesitation in dropping any fruit deemed "less than perfect"...those principles all go into making a 92 point wine. To be continued in Part 2.

Interlude...the unexpected...and fame

When writing a blog, one never thinks about the last blog actually being the last. So it appeared last June 30, when I left the vines and wines for a 7th back surgery in San Diego. Three surgeries and 3 1/2 months later I am back home after 12, 4, and then 49 consecutive days in the hospital. Follow that up with a one month stay in a step-down care facility next to the hospital, and the last
3 1/2 months have literally disappeared. Gone. Finished. Worse, I was deprived of caring for my vines, watching them mature, fine tuning them, watering, adding nutrients, thinning, pruning, waiting, watching. Fortunately, our vineyard manager, Dewight Jones, and good friend, Doug Kruse, of Jack Creek Cellars, were here to oversee the vineyard, and they did yeomans' jobs under some downright frightful conditions.

The unseasonable heat of May revisited the Paso area again in late September for almost 2 weeks with temps above 105 degrees on a number of days. Our recently grafted lower vineyard of Pinot Noir and Sauv Blanc got hammered, but our signature Cab Sauv and Syrah did famously. Yes, we have a smaller crop than planned, but the quality is once again non-pareil. Tough as this year was, our Cab and Syrah from our mountain vineyard will once again be something special.

The death knell of a good blog is irregular or infrequent writings or postings. If that is the case, then Pasodocwine blog should be on life support. Instead, however, we returned home to find our Paso Bordo prominently displayed in the October issue of Wine Enthusiast, with a 92 point rating and a very nice write- up on Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars...with our Cab/Syrah blend featured as one of the top half dozen of California's Big Bold Blends.

Additionally, the Paso Robles AVA was recognized for what it now is...a very legitimate player/producer of fine wines in California, and Cerro Prieto is smack dab in the heart of the Big Bold Blend area. Altho we are influenced by the high temps of Paso AVA, we additionally have the low-lows from the Templeton Gap influence. Five wineries/vineyards received special recognition in Wine Enthusiast: L'Aventure, Linne Calodo, Cerro Prieto, Jack Creek Cellars, and Saxum.(Booker should have been in there, too). All are within the "Willow Creek"area(which one day will be a sub-appellation of Paso AVA). As Justin Smith of Saxum said, "When you are getting a wine from the Willow Creek area, you know what you are getting."

So things could have worked out better healthwise, but the end result of our labor of love, work, time, expense, and devotion were all well rewarded...albeit in our absence. The only sad thing is our Paso Bordo inventory is now down to less than 80 cases, so if you wish to try some, sooner is probably better than later.

Paso's May heat? Man, it's tough to beat

Wow, a month ago I wrote about all the blooms we had, some 40-60/vine in mid May, which meant that we would have something like 20-40 clusters to thin by mid June. Well, glad we held our horses(actually got behind in vineyard chores is more like it), because by the time our fruit set was complete, we had lost virtually all those "extra" blooms we were going to be choosy and pick from. No need. Mother Nature stepped in and hammered our blooms with 5 days in the 110 to 116 degree category, which now effectively wiped out all but 16-20 clusters per vine...right exactly where we are supposed to be for a vineyard that makes 2.5-3.0 Ton/ acre grapes. Had we jumped the gun, and cluster thinned, I hate to think how many clusters we might now have hanging. Six maybe? Possibly eight? Or could we have gotten clobbered and had only 2-3 clusters/ vine remaining? No question, there is nothing wrong with waiting for a situation to develop, and then allowing it to straighten itself out on its own. Those poor growers who were out there thinning clusters just before bloom, have to be crying in their soup, because our May heat spike literally wiped out 2/3 of our blooms. If we started at 60, we are now at 2o (or less), which is right in our sweet spot.

Is there a lesson here? Yeah, one of which it is better to be lucky than good. I could have just as easily as the next grower gone out and gotten a head start on cluster thinning. I did, however, have this nagging reminder about last yr's mid to late May heat spike. Ooops, make that last 3 yr's heat spike in mid to later May. Each time the 115 degree heat crunched our clusters, many of which were just about to set fruit. Watchful waiting, or rather being just a touch behind in vineyard chores, was a Godsend for us. We now have just about exactly what we need on the vine, clusterwise, and literally had the incredible May heat to thank for it.

Other goodies of note, were the massive amount of Live Oak trees that got so hot, they literally just burst apart. We had something like 5 Live Oaks all down where they had burst apart due to massively excessive heat. It also got that hot in the vineyard, where I encountered one tough 11 yr old vine that had literally burst apart, leaving a split down the center of the vine that literally killed it. I missed it at first, thinking maybe a tractor tread may have been the culprit, but no, it was completely a result of Mother Nature applying the heat. We have to accept it tho, for as they say, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen". There are many diseases and pestilences vines can succumb to...but bursting apart due to heat just isn't one of them...usually.

Other concerns included the massive wipeout of our 6 acre valley vineyard, which continued to freeze at nites, up to the first week in May. Think that was a problem? Well no, but the heat spike did fry up at least half our vines, literally cutting them off about 10 inches above the cordon, and then having them try and regrow, with 2 or sometimes as many as three new canes emanating from whence the heat spike sawed the vine in half. All those Pinot vines had beautiful, full, perfectly formed clusters on them, but with no real cane above the "fry" line, there will never be enough leaves to allow this fruit to ripen. Result? Well, the Pinot we planned on this yr, all 8-10 Tons of it, now looks more like 1-2 Tons, and that is guessing on the high side. The fruit was still there, mind you, it just means we had to go and drop all those beautiful clusters. That is a heartbreaker, let me tell you.

Vineyardwise, we now have but a few more chores, which means tying last yr's Pinot grafts onto the wire...training, it is called...and checking to see if any other vine/vines have succumbed to the intense heat and superimposed drought. After the heat spike ended, we did cut back our last remaining acre of Cab Sauv in the valley vineyard, and grafted on some Sauv Blanc. Close to 98% is doing well, and it looks like we may have a little bit of whites for our guests next yr.

In the mountain vineyard, besides the one vine virtually rupturing from heat, we also developed some major league dessication of much of the vineyard growing out of pure limestone. These vines need more water than others, which is being applied as I write this. Fertilizer will go on next, but first we have to bring our vines up to par with moisture, which will be in the neighborhood of 6-7 gallons of water per vine. We are starting to see a bit of yellowing, which can be from too little water(true), to not enough Nitrogen, also true. When you have a mountain vineyard literally planted into limestone, it is very difficult to manufacture good soil for it. Hence the fertilizer, organic acid based.

Well, that's a wrap for today, but will get the next one out much sooner, due to no more pourings in the near future. This is the colorless time of yr, when everything is green if on the vine, and dried out dead if not. The many colors of spring are long since gone, as I should be, since there is irrigating to do. Just no more heat spikes...please?

San Diego International Wine Competition: Pouring for Gold Medal Winners

Last Sunday was a beautiful day in downtown San Diego, with a concordance of beautiful sunlight, back lit wispy clouds, and shiny bright black, bronze, and all glass buildings surrounding the annual SDWIC gold medal pouring, located on the roof of the 5 star Westgate Hotel. The food offered at the event was non-pareil...one of my favorites was the escargot risotto prepared by the Farmhouse Cafe from nearby University Heights. There were braised ribs with gravy on mashed potatoes that literally melted in one's mouth. Someone else prepared a pheasant, sausage, and fried sweet potato on a toothpick. Outstanding! Just hands down, outstanding. It was in the true sense a gourmet's delight, and the effort put forth by the food vendors was Herculean. Congratulations to all, and my hat is off to all those wonderful food folks.

As for the wines, there were hundreds poured, and I can honestly say we were told by dozens upon dozens of people that we had the best wine there...our Paso Bordo. In actuality, the pouring was for the Gold Medal winning wineries, but if you won, you were entitled to pour any of your wines. Altho our 2006 Cerro Prieto Merlot Reserve took a gold medal in this event plus another gold in the Critics Challenge International wine competition, it was our 2006 Paso Bordo that turned heads. We started off by offering our Paso Bordo to several of the food vendors nearby, which resulted in their seeing the terrific enhancement that our wine created for their truly spectacular dishes. Conversely, their foods returned the favor for our Cab/Syrah (as well as our Merlot). Some of the pairings were like marriages made in heaven. I wasn't counting, but of approximately 1000 attendees, literally dozens upon dozens who came by our booth to sample our wines, then returned later, and said flat out, our Paso Bordo was the best wine they had tasted at the pouring.

I cannot personally say one way or the other if that were true, in that all my time was taken up pouring...unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to try other wineries. I will say that Gloria Ferrer put on quite a show just across from us, and I loved their Blanc d' Blanc, their champagne made from Pinot Noir, and half a dozen others. To me, they stole the show, but folks who were truly tasting

(and not swilling) wine, insisted that our Paso Bordo was the show stopper. There was no voting, so this is a very subjective thing, but there was no doubt, Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars comported itself well. We could not have asked for a better venue, a better wine educated crowd, nor could we have asked for a more gracious and grateful group of wine aficionados. If every event were like this, pouring wines would be a dream job. As it was, there was a lot of work and preparation that went into this, but my boss, Ms Teresa, and I had a terrific time with our best audience ever.

As an aside, weather makes a huge difference at an affair such as this. The monster Paso Robles Wine Festival held in late May was 116 degrees under our canopy, and I can assure you that is not conducive to pouring nor tasting red wines. This event was a balmy 72 degrees, and was a perfect showcase for our extraordinary blend, Paso Bordo (85% Cab/ 15% Syrah). I believe that we learned a valuable lesson here in San Diego: "If it's too hot, pour not; if it's a balmy day, pour away"...at least for reds, that is. Truly, we will never pour at another event if it is even remotely hot. Red wines hold up poorly in the extreme heat, and some even cook and taste burnt (it happened to us at Paso Wine Fest).

Lastly, the temperament of the attendees was a whole lot more cordial when it wasn't 115 degrees outside. Also, our hosts, Robert Whitley and the Westgate Hotel (plus a zillion volunteers) made the day a special one which Teresa and I will both remember a long time. Anyone who has not attended the SDWIC gold medal pour in mid June each year, has really missed a superb function if you love great wine and outstanding food. My hat is off to all involved, and I thank you for your incredible hospitality.

Another thing both Teresa and I noted was that this pouring, unlike others we had done, was actually attended by wine tasters, not swillers. Oh sure, a couple folks got lit up, but that was really uncommon. More importantly, spit buckets overflowed, because these folks actually tasted, rather than drank most wines....unhhh, not many tossed our wines, I noticed. Nonetheless, it is real privilege and thrill to pour for people who are ardently searching out new wines, but overall, are judiciously trying to find spectacular wines instead of going to just try wines they are already familiar with. The Paso fest is a huge venue, but the vast majority of folks there overwhelmingly went to the wineries they were already familiar with. Not so in San Diego. We encountered literally hundreds of wine aficionados who were interested in one thing: finding new wines they hadn't had before, for the sole purpose of increasing their wine experience. It was nice to be appreciated, as opposed to being ignored by folks only attending a function to socialize with already known wineries. Someone said that the Paso fest was just a popularity contest, and I wouldn't dispute that at all. When I go to a wine tasting, it is solely for the purpose of finding new wines, and increasing my knowledge of wines I like (and those I don't). SDIWC was attended by those of similar persuasion, and hence we will make this an annual trip for Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars.

At the end of the day, it was great to be a part of a superbly run, incredibly yummy, and great tasting event. If you have never done this event, I strongly recommend you put it on your calendar. Cerro Prieto had a truly great day and so did all the attendees. If you like food...and you like wine...this is one event you need to try out. There aren't many events I would highly recommend, but this one is a sure fire winner.

End of Bloom, and significance for 2012 vintage

Well, we aren't completely thru with bloom, but for all intents and purposes, it is over. This yr, for the first time, we did not prune our pre-bloom buds back to 2.5 T/ acre, choosing instead to wait until after bloom to do so. Result has been 30, 40, even 60 clusters on some vines. Considering we prune to 16-20 clusters/vine (based on cluster weights---if clusters are heavier, .31 lbs/cluster, we prune to 16 clusters. If lighter, eg, .25 lbs/cluster, then we prune to 20 clusters). So much for technical stuff: what does it all mean?

First off, we will do nothing until our clusters fill out. The stems(eurachus) are very large compared to other yrs, but at present we don't know if there will be a lot of grapes/ cluster or not. We are at fruit set right now, and will see how many grapes we put on a cluster. Last yr, our stem clusters were small, and the number of grapes/ cluster were few. Result? Paso Robles AVA had a heartbreaking 30-50% decrease in yields from previous yrs. Statewide, yields were slightly up, so we were an AVA that really got pounded.

If each cluster is covered up with grapes, then we will wait a few more weeks to be sure, and then will thin to 16-20 clusters/vine. In yrs past we have thinned early on to ensure maximum energy went into all clusters that remained. The massive temp spikes last yr wiped out half of our flower buds, hence the low yields. Looks totally different this yr, so I would say we are in for a big yr(cropwise) if no other natural disasters befall us. Funny thing is, we at Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars always drop fruit to 2.5-3.0 Tons/ acre, so when someone says, "Good crop, no?" We just smile and say our crop is always the same...2.5-3.0 T/acre....except for the disastrous 1T/acre last yr. Looks like we will be in terrific shape this yr, but that is locally, only. State statistics are nice, but what happens locally is the only thing that matters.

This yr we have huge crops not just on Cab and Syrah, but also our Merlot and Pinot. Which reminds me, the 2006 Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars Merlot just took another Gold medal at the Critics Challenge International Wine Competition. This is truly the first Merlot I have ever liked, and it looks like some other folks think the same. Better news is I like our Paso Bordo is even better than our Merlot.

As for 2012, we can expect a standard yield for the AVA, based on early data. As for quality, well, we still have to wait and see what the "sun-heat" numbers have to say. So far, this yr is seeming to be more like 2005, which was foggy and cold all summer long. Unlike this yr, it was extremely damp, too. It was a really tough yr for us to ripen grapes, and our neighbors had similar experiences. In any event, the fog keeps things cool, but June is frequently a cool month. Last several yrs we have had inordinately long , warm summers...great for ripening grapes. With low yields, if summer is cool, then our grapes will have a much easier time ripening than those of people hanging 5-6 T/ acre. If it is warm and sunny, then our grapes will have that long hang time, with ideal ripening conditions. Remember that here at nite, it is 55 degrees cooler than during the day. Ergo, if we get to 86 degrees today, it very likely will be in the mid 30s at 4 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Speaking of that, our cold valley vineyard is doing well, but is still behind other yrs, due to the low lows that have been a presence since early March. Sadly, we grafted over the one remaining acre of Cab Sauv we had down below, and now have an acre of Sauvignon Blanc for a white treat. Many areas of Paso struggle with whites, but our valley vineyard is tailor made for them, being 18-20 degrees cooler than our mountain vineyard. So, come 2011, we will have a white wine to offer, also.

Only other thing of note vineyard-wise, is that this is a record breaking yr for gophers. We are spending more and more time on them, and seem to barely be holding them off. Our Barn Owls are working overtime, the coyotes dine on gophers nitely, the Red-tailed hawks pick them off during the day, and we trap as many as possible. Checking under our 7 owl boxes, we note mounds of gopher carcasses, owl scat, and bone parts daily. Just a random observation: weather is noticeably colder than for past several yrs at this time, but it is way too early to make an prognostications re: upcoming growing season climate. One thing we know for sure...this was really a dry yr here, our 3rd consecutive yr. Will that make for a better vintage? We shall see.

Wall Street, Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars, and Graft

Okay, so what do Wall Street and Cerro Prieto have to do with graft? Well, Wall Street graft is best defined by Bernie Maddoff, and those cut from the same cloth. Cerro Prieto and grafts...yes, in the plural...is happening as of this writing. We had one last acre of Cabernet Sauvignon that just couldn't ripen due to our cold valley climate, so after 9 yrs of dropping most, if not all of the fruit, we finally grafted over to cold weather Sauvignon Blanc. Actually, we have had 5 vines of Sauv Blanc growing amidst our Cab Sauv, and they have done famously, so the decision was not that difficult. All our mountain Cab is going gangbusters at present, now into its second or third day of bloom. That pretty well fits the bud break(March 21st) + 60 days for bloom. Due to the 200 ft elevation differences in our mountain and valley vineyards, bloom will mostly start now but some will string along for the next several weeks.

This yr we are not thinning the Cab nor Merlot until after fruit set, which should be about 3 weeks from now. It was exactly on this day last yr that the temps went to 115 degrees, right in the heart of bloom, and all unopened flowers literally "cooked off", or more accurately, just exploded off the shoots. This yr we had a hot Paso Robles Wine Fest, followed by cool days, ideal for fruit set. Nonetheless, this yr we waited to thin based upon whether that one day of massive heat comes thru and wipes out all unopened flowers. If we are okay, and don't get that incredible heat, then it just makes thinning more difficult, with all the very long shoots. Better this way than thinning early, however, as last yr's early thinning cut our yield by 50% due to excessive heat spikes.

So grafting here is unrelated to Wall Street graft, yet they somehow have the same root word. Strange, no? In any event, we are looking forward to a successful Sauv Blanc harvest in 2 yrs, and will no longer be dropping Cab Sauv that just requires more heat. The mountain vineyard Cab is doing famously , thank you, as is the Syrah. Both look like they are headed for a good yr, and Lord knows, we need it. Other than that, we continue to replace hard rubber riser hoses, eaten thru and thru by gophers. No question this is a banner yr for gophers, and we certainly have them. Trapping has been necessary on a daily basis, which just takes us away from other vineyard chores that need to be done. Here's to a great 2009... may our clusters not get fried, nor our new grafts frozen, may our grapes all set, and may our wines be superb. That would make it good for grower, vintner, and consumer, all. May the vagaries of farming pass us by this yr...last yr was punishment enough, tho the wines produced will be marvelous. Salud!

Hammer Down

That's right, hammer down, and get ready for the rocket ride, because that is what is going on down below me as I write. The mountain Rhone/ Bordeaux vineyard is cooking with growth. This is by far my favorite time of yr, when individual shoots put on 4" to 6-7" per week. I have actually measured some daily growth and was completely astounded at how fast this goes. At long last we have stopped bouncing off our valley vineyard lows in the low 30's and have bottomed in the mid 40's. Match that with days like the last 3 days of 95 degrees, and you have the "hammer down" rocket ride that occurs once the low lows disappear. Literally, it seems that a marked shoot can grow in the time it takes to walk to the end of the row and back.

The Cerro Prieto Vineyard cold valley has come alive, putting growth on the Pinot Noir, but nowhere near what our mountain vineyard has done. (The two vineyards are contiguous, however). One thing we sweat is the next 3 weeks in which we need to get thru bloom. If that happens with no gale force winds, no torrential rain and no severe frost, we are in good shape. After the growth explosion going on now, the worst part of the yr is waiting to get thru bloom. Funny how the two follow on the heels of one another, but after elation comes "the wait". Usually there are other things to keep one's mind occupied, eg, the Paso Robles Wine Festival, at which we pour our Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars '06 wines(Gold medal Merlot, San Diego Intl Wine Competion/ and our signature wine, Paso Bordo, a Cab/Syrah blend).

That alone eats up a couple weeks in preparation, so it is a welcome diversion at just the right time. Then raise wires, thin, raise more wires, check petioles, and before long, green grapes are going thru verasion. Next thing you know harvest is upon us and the yr slips away. One of the hardest things to do if living at/on the vineyard is to enjoy what is here, and focus on the big picture, not just the day to day vineyard chores. It is so unbelievably beautiful here that sometimes I forget how fortunate we are to observe nature in her element, and live amongst the vines. That's a good thot to close on. Cheers!

April showers bring May flowers...

Well, not exactly...at least not this year, our 3rd year of drought which brought us a measly 12 inches of rain vs. our 26 inch average. We did have a fabulous wildflower display in early March, but most were gone by end of April. Our 1/2 inch rain in April did nothing for May flowers, but it is interesting to see the red "bull" clover flowering through the dying perennial grasses, most of which have already gone to seed.

Implication? Well, we have to factor in a brutally cold April (early a.m. only) which has delayed growth noticeably in the much cooler Pinot Noir valley vineyard blocs. Higher vineyard blocs of mountain Cab and Merlot are just a bit behind normal, and Syrah seems to be on its usual development path. The cold valley Pinot, however, is well...cold.

Our new Pinot vines have taken multiple hits below 30 degrees on consecutive days in April. In truth, there were only a few days that didn't freeze for a brief period in the valley floor. Good news is that all freezes were short, most between 4-6 a.m., and temps broke above freezing once touched by the sun. Yes, we did lose some Pinot grafts plus a few transplants. All mature Pinot appears to be healthy, but the cold did keep the vines from budding out until

2-3 weeks past its usual time. Mountain Cab, Syrah and Merlot budded out around March 21st, which means that bloom(usually 60 days after budding out)

is on track and is but a brief 17 days away.

Pinot is either going to bloom late this year, or who knows, maybe not at all. Such are the vagaries of farming, and grape farming is world's apart from most other types of farming. Weather, temperatures especially, are way more important in grape farming than for example, grain farming. The days here have been absolutely beautiful, but we just hate to see nightfall come. Good news is that freezes were short, most no more than 2 hours max, and our days warm up quickly. They say stress is good for making high quality wines...if we make Pinot this year, it ought to be sensational.

Global Warming at Cerro Prieto Vineyard?

Between carbon caps, "Cap and Trade", melting of both polar ice caps...need I go on...the matter of "Is it warmer now than before or not?" is really quite interesting when looking at it from the vine level in the vineyard. Take for example 10 days ago when we hit an April 16th high of 100 degrees...a new record for Paso Robles. Boy, it felt like summer was here and we were in for an exceptionally long growing season. Hurray! Problem is that 1 week prior, we had set a new low for April 9th of 24 degrees, which toasted any tender new grafts or just budded out leaves. It wasn't a quick freeze either; matter of fact, the entire cover crop of red bull clover and pasture mix was all frozen solid. That again was a record for April 9th, but as a new cold record, not a hot one.

Towards end of spring last year, we had some warm and cold days---not unusual for our springtime---and then in the midst of bloom, May 15th to 20th---we had 5 days with highs between 105-110 degrees. The killer blow came next day, May 21st, when Cerro Prieto Vineyard registered 115 degrees in both the mountain and valley vineyards. It got so hot that any flower bud that was still unopened ended up literally "popping off", much like popcorn. Walking thru the vineyard one could hear the tiny "pop-pop-pop" of unopened flower buds exploding. Our crop last year was 50% of normal, and any buds that had flowered already did fine. The unopened ones succumbed to the excruciating heat. Jeez, Global Warming , right?

Well, not so fast, because 12 days later we hit 24 degrees in our valley vineyard, which just added insult to injury. Now, when I hear about global warming and all the reasons to believe it, from the vines viewpoint, we not only are having record highs, but we are also having record lows. Already this month we have had both record highs as well as lows. So what exactly do the vines see? In a nutshell, we are seeing virtually unheard of extremes, which, incidentally, coincide with the third year of a predicted local 10 year drought(in some articles). So from a vine's viewpoint, what in the heck is going on?

If vines could speak they would say that it is the temperature extremes that they notice, not global warming... nor cooling. How or why is this important in the vineyard? Well, last year Paso vineyards were hit with a 30-50% crop loss, directly attributable to the climatic extremes; in 2008, it was the extreme heat, not the later freeze, that clonked us. This year the wildly swinging extremes are starting out in APRIL with new daily lows AND highs. So, for global warming proponents, yes, we see the effects of climate change not only in our vineyard, but also in our pocketbook. But it is not just the warming that is to blame here. The record freezes are every bit as damaging as the heat waves we have experienced the last 3 years.

Is this global warming...or global cooling...or both? For every iceberg that is melting I can show you a vine that has been hammered by the cold. When you put these two extremes back to back, and do it more than once, there is a terribly negative effect on all local vineyards. Here at Cerro Prieto Vineyard and Cellars, we are as beaten up by the record highs as we are the lows. And for the vines, it isn't global warming...it is global temperature extremism, which is a bad omen for vineyards...and a worse omen for the wine aficionado.

So please, before making a case for global warming, you might consider how the vines see this...and if they could talk they would say "It is the record breaking temperature extremes bothering them...not global warming".

Getting Along

In his January 21st blog, Eric Asimov referred to "Culture Wars over wine issues such as power vs. finesse, terroir vs. what's in the glass, traditional and modern," to name but a few. My response to his blog was published under his comment section on January 27, 2009. It read:

We at Cerro Prieto Vineyard and Cellars have just released our first commercial bottling, and were overwhelmed with just how delightful our low yield vineyard(1-2 Tons/acre) produced Cab, Merlot, and Syrah, that is the essence of terroir AND finesse in a glass. We can't wait to be ignored, ridiculed(Westside Paso Robles area), nor looked down upon by someone from the likes of WS. Our answer is very simple. We make people's wine experience enjoyable and rewarding...one client (wine aficionado) at a time.

The folks at Wine Enthusiast have been very generous to our vineyard (Sept., '07 issue by rating the 2004 Byington Cabernet Sauvignon, Cerro Prieto Vineyard) with 91 points. People who have drunk our wine have been equally gracious. But being ridiculed for not being Napa has grown old and frankly boring, because in WS anything other than Napa or France is inferior from the gitgo (Generalization, I realize). In the end it doesn't matter what the sage of Napa says...or not. What matters is what's in the vineyard, what is the vineyard like, and most importantly, what's in the glass. Snubs, guys like the snooty professor alluded to in a few articles above...those all just come with the territory, and have to roll like water off a duck's back.

The Paso Robles area is capable of making Napa cult-like Cab wines...and frequently does, tho one has to be selective. One just needs the terroir, the minute attention to detail, the low vineyard yields, and the love of the vine/wine to make truly remarkable Cabs and Bordeaux like blends. The main difference is that we do that at prices that are affordable for the majority of wine aficionados. Napa doesn't.(Again a generalization, but you get the idea). Those not familiar with our AVA are missing a bet...and to heck with snobbery, petulance, and dare I say it...ignorance.

Survival of the Fittest

On one of our Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars vineyard tours this week, I was noticing how things have changed just in the last 4 weeks since we have been conducting tours. First off a note about the visitors we have had. All have been not only interested, they have been interesting. All have succeeded in their endeavors in one way or another, all are open to learning new things, and all have been treated to the many fascinating things Cerro Prieto Vineyard has to offer.

Take the Barn owls for example. They are our best friends as far as keeping the gopher population in check. Of our 7 owl houses, 3 are currently in use with a pair of young owlets inside. Parents patrol the vineyard at night when gophers are working, and usually nab half a dozen or more gophers per nite. How do I know this? Well simply by counting the gopher skulls, ribs, and pelvic bones under each roost in the morning. This has been an excellent adjunct to gopher control but does have one glitch: we have 3 families of Great Horned Owls above the vineyard, and their favorite food? Barn owls. Oh well.

Going thru the vineyard rows, it is interesting to note that the magnificent floral displays of orange and yellow calendulas, orange and yellow poppies,the red Marinum variety of the California poppy, the bluish purple stinging nettle, and 4 different kinds of clover---bull red, yellow, white, and a pink--- have now crowded out the other flowers, so they can produce and flower, then re-seed. In hotter more elevated areas, where drought accelerates a changing of the guard, the clover has given way to the wild radish of all hues, (pink, yellow, purple, white), and the omnipresent mustard weed, soon to flower out in its yellow glory. Not present but coming, is the pesky and aggressive yellow star, with spikes so tough they can puncture a tire. Also seen in the lower cooler valley areas are masses of filaree, with its purple flower, now going to seed. For cattle this little plant is said to have the maximum nutrition on a weight basis of all cattle feed. We like it for its abiltity to reseed, especially on steep inclines, or terraces between rows, thus becoming soil holders in our incredibly steep vineyard.

In the sky, there are circling "sapolotes", or turkey vultures, which keep the vineyard clean of carrion. Coyotes, ever present inside and out of the vineyard's deer fence, kill wood rats, mice, gophers, the hapless jackrabbit, an occasional cat, ground squirrels, rarely a wild turkey, and the dozens of grape eating Valley Quail. Coyotes then become food for the aggressive badger with his long claws and file-like teeth. Our occasional lynx lunches on all the above plus will take a coyote, if the coyote gets careless. King of the heap is a mountain lion, rarely present, but sure to be here if a deer somehow squeezes thru a coyote hole dug under our deer fence. All in all, it is truly survival of the fittest in the vineyard, which is replayed dozens of times a day, week in and week out. We can show visitors some or many of the "survivors", but it is the perpetual repeat of this scenario that fascinates me.

Everyday, hundreds of people visit wineries to sample different wines. Pity they don't take the time while here to see what the really interesting goings on actually are. Those folks who have taken our tour and later bought our low yield premium wines have not just a knowledge of the wines they now drink, but also a bit of understanding on how eco systems in the vineyard work, how all are inter-related, and how virtually most, if not all, contribute to the terroir of this dynamic, constantly changing vineyard. Currently we are starting bud break in our higher mountainside/hillside areas, while the colder pinot valleys are still dormant( thank goodness). We have continued to have below freezing nites in our valleys, and somehow, someway, those dog-goned Pinot vines know not to be tricked into budding out by the heat of the day. Somehow they just know not to bud out which would then cause the new buds to freeze off.

Anyone who doubts survival of the fittest needs spend no more than a couple of hours here when the Red tailed hawks screech, then swoop down, talons extended, and scoop up a gopher. The rest of the story is equally majestic. How lucky for some wine lovers to first see what a breathing, living, complicated, intricate dance of life this vineyard is. There are some very lucky people to have seen it. We know they now enjoy our wines so much more for having seen and observed "Survival of the Fittest. You should try it sometime; it is captivating.

Paying the Piper for summer in January, 2009

December was cold here, as were the first two weeks in January. Kazaam! Summer arrived in mid Jan, and we averaged 85 degrees off our back deck into the first week of February. Those 2 weeks were without doubt the nicest, mildest 2 weeks we have ever had in any new year's first month. Then, Kazaam! Winter returned with a vengeance, days were cold, but nites were frigid. For the next 6 weeks we had ice in the bottom valley vineyard until the sun's rays melted it, usually about 9 a.m. Yes, the warm summer weather was a nice respite to the bone chilling cold, but as the saying goes, " A good deed never goes unpunished".

We had to wait awhile until the freeze stopped, but then when we finally got around to pruning in late March, the first signs of the "summer in winter" became evident. Young vines, particularly those planted last year, or grafted vines from last year, came up "lame". Specifically, the small, delicate vines were evidentally influenced by January's warmth to begin the motions of preparing for budding out. With the 6 weeks of frost and ice that followed, all those young, susceptible vines got hammered by the night time freezes. Most of those vines grafted died back to the rootstock. The one year old new transplants just froze thru and thru. The warm spell in winter was lovely, but when one owns a vineyard, that kind of climatic behaviour never comes without consequences.

I had actually guessed we would have either a delayed bud break or a delayed harvest. Apparently it is neither, but rather just a rampant killing of young, tender vines and grafts. Our hillside/mountainside vineyard was spared the insult, due to an 18 degree temperature differential from hilltop to valley. We have replanted where vines died and regrafted where grafts died. In some cases, only half or more of the grafts were freeze killed. Those we salvaged by just pruning back to green wood. All in all, the spectacular late January weather was welcomed by most everyone in the Paso Robles area. The resultant damage to low lying vineyards, however, was not. Established vines did fine in our valley areas, but the younger ones...they will just have to try again.

The 2008 Crush...a paradox for Paso Robles AVA

In the Steve Heimoff blog from one week ago, "Observations of the 2008 final grape crush," several interesting statistics were discussed. First was that the 2008 crop in tons, essentially equaled the 2007 crop, and second, that in terms of tons crushed/ variety, Cabernet Sauvignon was only ranked 4th, behind Chardonnay, Thompson's seedless(yes, that's right), and Zinfandel. As an aside, Napa Cab grapes price increased only 5%.

These are statewide stats which afford an overview of the 2008 crush. If one were to ask any of my Paso Robles neighbors, however, one would get an entirely different picture than the statewide results. Quite frankly, I was stunned by them; the following is a response to the Steve Heimoff Blog:

Altho I tend to be a lumper rather than a splitter, "lumping" is a bit difficult when looking at grape reports. Just as individual vineyards may have totally different microclimates from a vineyard two hills over, price of grapes/Ton really should be split up between high end (low yield Tons/acre) and lower end (high yield Tons/acre). There is a grower 50 miles east of Paso Robles who several years ago sold his grapes exclusively into the Japanese market, and got only $300/Ton for his Cab. However, he machine pre-prunes, machine harvests, AND hangs 12(yes, twelve) Tons/acre. He was happy as a clam with that in that his per acre costs ran about only $150/Ton. We, and many folks around us in the Templeton Gap area of southern Paso Robles AVA, hang Cab between 1-2.5 Tons/acre, and garner $31oo/Ton for Cab and up. Pinot Noir in the cool to cold valleys of the Templeton Gap last year sold from between $3000 to $3500/Ton, and in the south county of SLO, I heard of $4000 to $4500/Ton( tho this is NOT first hand knowledge).

So not only location, but also grower mentality(ie, high yield vs low) plays a big part in this. That is what makes the crush totals so tough to interpret. Frankly, it would be very helpful if the crush totals broke down the yields into under 3T/acre and over 3T/acre. Some of us nutty people hang 1-2.5 Tons/acre, but that is where great wines come from. Real terroir, incidentally, generally tends to be found in the lower yielding vineyards. Obviously this is a generality, but it holds pretty much true. As for our Paso Robles AVA, our average yields were 50% of normal last year, in large part due to a week in mid May of 105 -110 degrees, followed by May 21st with a 115 degree day...unfortunately, this occurred in the middle of bloom, which literally "cooked off" the unopened flower buds.

Also factored into the crush stats would have to be the high density plantings, eg.,

2300 vines/acre vs. 870 vines/acre on a traditional 5' X 10' planting. Here, lbs of fruit/vine would make a lot more sense to quantify, in that some vines may only have a handful of clusters/ vine. Crush stats do have their value, but one does have to know what exactly all the parameters are...which in some cases may skew the information so that it doesn't make sense.

The Pouring Trip: A micro look at wine sales

Before the Storm, Cerro Prieto Vineyard, Spring 2008

We are just back from our first pouring trip, and it was an eye opener. Following our first bottling several months ago, we were anxious to get our new, 1Ton/acre wines "out there", convinced that once someone tries them, the wines will sell themselves. Starting a new venture into the teeth of the worst recession since the 1930's, we pressed ahead, anxious, but nonetheless, optimistic. "Always room at the top", as the saying goes. We had an excellent product, and priced it fairly, taking 25% off the top just because of the financially chaotic times. People want...people demand and deserve true quality at an affordable price. That is our niche and we believe we have filled it.

We concentrated on the upper end wine market in North County area of San Diego, meshing a post-op check up at UCSD med center with some wine pouring. What we saw was a bit surprising: In the area we visited, there is still a bunch of money being spent at large, up-scale shopping centers, but we were wine-centric and found interesting tidbits of info.

First of all the wine industry is not dead, nor is it on life support. It has, however, shut down at the upper price end, even in extremely wealthy areas. The most common comment in some very nice wine shops, wine bars, and restaurants was that there is a cap on what consumers will pay. Wine bars for the 20-30 yr old crowd are selling lots of wine, but it just doesn't sell much over 20 to 30 bucks. Yes, many have the higher end wines in stock, but as several sellers mentioned:

"Over a hundred bucks, and nobody is buying".

It seems retailers have seen a $100 cap on bottles, and their really high-end Napa stuff had just been sitting on the shelf for some 9-12 months. While waiting to chat with one wine shop owner, I watched a customer fill 3 cases with Spanish and Argentine wines, all in the $7-$10 range. He was putting on a party and obviously was shopping for value, with Tempranillos, Malbecs, and the like. His comment was, "This Spanish and Argentine stuff is a great deal".

We were waiting in line to show our wares, a $39 Cerro Prieto Merlot and our signature blend,

$49 Cerro Prieto Paso Bordo(85% Cab/ 15% Syrah), when we overheard part of a conversation between two Napa reps and the store owner. Gist of the conversation was that the fellow from Napa was putting the hard sell on the owner for some pretty pricey wines(Cabs, Syrah, blends) and the owner wasn't too happy about it. My wife commented that we would be facing a tough sell. The owner had a mask-like countenance and said nary a word to the reps.

When our turn came, the owners came over to us, we had a nice conversation, and they truly seemed to enjoy our wines. We don't know if we made a sale, but we did make good contacts, and witnessed first hand that even in tony high end neighborhoods, $100 is the max that wine drinkers will pay. However, the average customer is counting his nickels, and is buying quality, much of it from the Argentine and Espana. At true wine bars, clientele seemed to be younger, and again, drank with passion...at $5 to $7 / glass, and happy hour was full...but later was nowhere near as busy.

Fine restaurants in the area were also hurting, with traffic down by 20-30% or more (their own words), and wines at dinner were mainly based on value, not brand. If folks were drinking, it was not only yummy, but it was good value. $30 to $50 bottles were sold, but more often a glass at

$7 to $12 was sold rather than a bottle over $40. Mind you, this area had a jam-packed parking lot full of BMWs, Mercedes, and Lexus' but even the well-to-do were watching their wine spending.

Less exclusive wine bars did land office happy hour business, but with wine at 4 to 5 bucks/glass.

So people out of the Napa area are buying...just not their stuff. Also, no question some eateries have closed down. One wine shop was now serving high-end wine/food dinners to try and attract back their clientele. There were lots of long faces on this trip, and a lot of folks really struggled to sell wine. High-end places were selling low cost value wines to try and capture the market.

Here at home, in the Paso Robles area, the situation mimics the pricey areas in SD: good but lower cost Spanish and Argentine wines mixed with inexpensive local wines, but high end just isn't happening. Restaurants serving food comparable to San Francisco cuisine are moving higher end wines; still, there seems to be an aversion to wines much over $100. Gourmet dinners may have an $80 or $90 bottle sitting on the table, but $40 to $70 bottles are more likely.

At the end of the day, our trip was a start, not a success. We are waiting on some retailers, but are hopeful only. This is a tough market, no matter how you slice it. Right now, the demand is for great quality at an affordable price. Sound familiar?

(The above article appeared as a guest piece yesterday in the Wine Sooth, an excellent blog by Art Przebinda.)

Vineyard Tours at Cerro Prieto Vineyard & Cellars

(Eco) Vineyard Tours at Cerro Prieto
By Appt: 805-226-8448/ cell: 674-0826
email: pasodocwine@yahoo.com
Fee: $25/ person for 30-45 minute tours. (longer tours available by special request)
Includes Eco measures discussion and demonstration, PLUS:
Identification of different varietals by leaves and their grape clusters
Pruning and thinning: everything you ever wanted to know and more, with demonstration (seasonal)
Walk, ride thru vineyard and several miles of trails in 6 X 6(when available---this is a working vineyard)
Walk thru rows with cover crop, flora, and fauna identification, wildflower tour(spring), fern grotto
Demonstration of irrigation and fertigation
Learn about erosion control in a straight up/ down vineyard setting; learn about terracing
Demonstration of bud break, bloom, and fruit set(March, April, May)
Verasion demonstration(in season), and significance
Brix demonstration with grape tasting(Sept/Oct)
Harvest tours(Sept/ Oct)
Fossils/ geography/ topography tour and discussion of soil types and significance
Bird identification: these birds have all been identified in our vineyard
Hawks: Redtail, Peregrine, Red Shouldered, Cooper’s, Kestrel, Sharp shinned hawk
Owls: Barn owl, Great Horned owl, and Western Screech owl(night-time only)
Birds: Blue Jays, (Western and Stellar’s) Black-headed Grosbeak, Dark-eyed Junco, Bullock’s Oriole,
Flycatchers (Ash-throated, Olive-sided), Anna and Allen’s Hummingbirds, Quail, Dove,
Towhees(California and Spotted), Western Meadowlark, Band-tailed Pigeon, Titmouse,
Swallows( Barn, Cliff, and Violet Green), Woodpeckers(Downy and Nuttall’s),
Finches, (Purple and House), Sparrows( White-crowned and Song), Red-breasted Sapsucker,
Merriam’s and Rio Grande turkeys(early morning first light only)
Demonstration of grape protection from varmints and birds( netting, bird distress calls, hawk calls)

Whether/ Weather, part 2

Vineyardists know this, but for those of you not viticulturally inclined: the significance of two weeks of summer in the middle of winter is twofold:

Should that January warm spell cause bud break to advance two weeks, that is not good news for inland valleys or low lying areas. The reason is that late spring frosts are not uncommon in these lower lying areas, and if bud break is moved up two weeks, those buds/ blooms are more susceptible to a late spring freeze.

Contrarily, if the warm January followed by warm spring days (but standard cold nites) causes bud break to be retarded for several weeks, that could conceivably delay ripening by two weeks, which could then cause hanging grapes to be subject to early fall frosts. Which way the bizarre January weather is going to affect things, I don't have a clue. But it will affect either an early bloom with potential for late spring frost damage, or it will affect a late harvest with early fall frost damage to grapes. The optimist in me says neither of these will happen. The realist says it probably will, one way or the other.

Whether the Weather

"Spring is sprung, fall is fell, March is here and it's hotter than ...usual." You all have heard that old one before, but as a matter of fact, the weather is, well, puzzling. From second week in January to first in February, we had temps off my back deck in the high 80's, average about 85. In January, for cripes sakes. What in the world is going on? We had 2 inches of rain post harvest, two more in December, then two inches twice in January. February we had another two, and now in March, another two. That is a grand total of 12, and we are getting near the "no more rain period" around these Paso Robles parts. At the 25 mile long Lake Nacimiento, just to the west of Paso, the lake is down below 25% of capacity, with many areas looking like mud bowls.

Okay, what does this mean? Well, the summertime temps in January were a bit scary for encouraging vines to swell their buds, just prior to budding out. Then came a cold snap in Feb, and now nites here remain in the mid to low 30's. It looks like a usual bud break time will occur, but inland valleys will be very prone to late spring freezes...again. As for the third year of drought, any dry farmed fruit on westside, or eastside, can count on being 50% or less. If we have another 12 inches of rain, then all bets are off. Obviously for drip irrigated vineyards, we can make up for the insufficient rain, but that means starting to water now. For us, not a huge expense, but for 400 acres, or 2000 acres, we are talking serious bucks. Generally it seems, most folks are keeping their powder dry and are hoping for more rain. Problem is if you wait too long, it may not do you that much good. Some neighbors have watered, but to date, most have not.

Last year we ended up 50% light in our Cab, Syrah, and Merlot blocs. The 5 incredible days of 105 to 110 degrees around May 15th were highlighted by 115 degrees on May 21st in our vineyard. That is no typo. At that point we were half way thru bloom, and half the tiny buds that give way to blooms were still closed up. At 115 degrees, unopened buds just literally popped, like popcorn, and blazooey, there goes the crop, Martha. The icing on the cake...literally...came June 2nd when we hit 24 degrees in our valley vineyard. By then, tho, the damage was done. I think the late frost down low was just someone sticking a stick in our eye, just to rub it in.

What does all that mean for this year? OnlyLord almighty knows. But weird weather like summer in January usually portends some other freakish weather happenings, and most end up not being favorable. One thing we will do for certain is to not prune our valley vineyard until the last moment before bud break. When the buds are really swollen we will prune then. Just guessing , but I have a feeling that the 2 week summer in mid winter will push everything back two weeks, and that includes bud break, bloom, and verasion. Sure, things may just proceed as usual, but the last several years we have seen weather nobody has found in their vineyard journal logs before. Somehow, that's what this year feels like, but, of course, it is not certain.

One thing I do believe in and that is the pendulum theory. We have had bizarre weather starting with the big, dark, wet in 2005, followed by strange runs of unseasonably hot weather in cold weather times for 2006, 2007, and 2008. Maybe the pendulum is going to swing back and bring us more of the routine most of us are used to. But if it hits 115 in May during bloom again, look for me to take up raising peanuts in Georgia. My bet, tho, is that the pendulum will swing back and bless us with normal bud and bloom weather...I hope.

Wine Storage 101 or, how to store your wine

Steve Heimoff (Steve Heimoff Wine Blog) wrote an interesting and entertaining blog on Shipping and Harmful Temperatures, yesterday, which was delightfully well timed. This morning I dropped off our newly released 2006 Cerro Prieto Merlot & 2006 Paso Blend(Paso Bordo/ 85% Cab & 15% Syrah) to favorite physician colleagues at the local hospital/ medical suites. One of my favorite people and physicians here, loves gourmet food as well as great wine. Just for completeness I mentioned that these wines were best when stored at 56-64 degrees, served at 70-72 , and decanted 10-15 minutes before drinking. This is a knowledgeable physician, enjoys good wines, but I think she was a bit surprised by the advice.

Same happened when I delivered a pair of bottles to a colleague at a nearby medical suite. "Really", was his response. These are both smart people who enjoy a fine meal and great wine. Yet, I really wonder if they ever actually were told exactly how to enjoy their wine to the max.

If you are a non-believer, who enjoys good wine, but do not care for it appropriately, you are going to get maybe as little as half (or less) enjoyment out of your wine as you would if it were handled with care and in a proper fashion. Some years back, I wondered if one of my favorite wineries had taken a leap off a high cliff, in that their product had fallen severely from my favor. Now, I wonder if maybe that had to do with shipping in hot weather,(which it is here, frequently, in summer), did they get a new winemaker?(no), or could it possibly have been heat damaged in shipment or perhaps in storage. My personal experience and that of others, is that whereas you may lose an occasional bottle to being "corked", I bet a person loses a heckuva lot more wine to improper storage during shipping or improper storage at home.

The business about serving at room temperature? Well, our wines at 64 degrees are flat. Really, flat. Get them up to 70-72, and they literally come alive, right up your proboscis(nose)... proboscitory delight, if you will. Both our wines have huge, beautiful boquets, but if not decanted for 10 minutes, or if served cool, one will miss half of what our wines have to offer. I do have a few friends who prefer their red wines cool. Nothing wrong with that...it is a matter of taste. But I would go a step further and say they are enjoying half, (or less) of what they could have enjoyed had they decanted and served at room temp.

My grandmother Berry, from Bordeaux, was a marvellous cook and served wine with all meals, usually a tad on the cool side. To this day it was my favorite wine ever, and it was just poured from a barrel into 4 decanters and placed in the center of the table with standard French fare. I will relate more of this story, an entire blog in itself, at at later time. Point is that the wine was spectaculo-fabuloso, but it was served a bit cool. I have wondered at times, if it could possibly have been even more impressive had it been served at room temp. Ah, that was a long ago time, so I'll never know. But this I do know: serving reds at room temp with adequate decanting, after proper storage at 56-64, gives the wine drinker the maximum pleasure that he/she will get from drinking wine. Anyone who doesn't know this or rather doesn't believe it, will be in for a pleasant surprise if they change their ways to the recommendations mentioned above.