Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Cerro Prieto and the Red Moon.

All are aware that California is literally burning down. Just 4 days ago we had fires burning North, South, East, and NW of us. Granted none were nearer us than 4 miles, but the air here has been foul since the start of the Sobreanes fire up N of Big Sur, (and now moving closer to it). That fire is now entering his 5th or 6th week, can't remember. But even tho it was 90 miles north of us, with prevailing winds pushing the ash and smoke out over the ocean, it then goes south 120 miles or so, and then comes back up at us, from the SW. That fire alone has made the air here totally unsafe for asthmatics, COPDers, and so on.

Then 13 days ago, the areas around Lake Nacimiento ,especially the NE portion went up in flames, and now 2 weeks later, has gone from 750 acres and firemen from San Diego and Fresno in addition to ours....we now have 40,000 acres burned or burning, and 4000 firemen on the line. Four thousand....Oh, boy, this was not what anyone wanted. Many of you have read about the fire burning dangerously close to the treasured Hearst Castle, with flames easily seen from the Castle proper. Only a Herculean effort has kept the Castle from burning down.

Anyway, back to the Red Moon...the fire at and around Lake Nacimiento has come close to the Adelaide area of vines and wines. Still no damage to my knowledge, but 40,000 acres is a massive fire. Along with that, we got massive clouds of soot, smoke, ashes...and it has continued to date. Yesterday, Teresa and I were inside and suddenly we smelled smoke. We hurriedly checked all electrical appliances, then checked each room, every square inch of it. No fire we could find. Soon it became difficult to breathe and a glimpse outside showed visibility to the south no more than to our pool....twenty feet. And I mean clouds and masses of smoke. I thot maybe we had some of our forest on fire, but after calling Cal Fire Hotline, they said, no, that was just the Chimney fire near the lake...plus the Sobreanes Fire, plus the fire that destroyed some medical complexes just near the hospital...plus several grass fires in Atascadero, Templeton, and Paso. I said we were surrounded by fires, but did not count the complete number. What was impressive tho, was that Teresa and I had to pack up Sombra, and head for the coast.  A quick phone call told us that the air was fine there.

Teresa has asthma so she notices bad air way before I do. The drive W on hiway 46 W was smoky the first 12 miles, but the last 5 got progressively clearer the further W we went. Talk about sunsets...wow did we ever have them. Bright red orange sunsets, more red than not, and not the type we see around here. More impressive at nite, tho, was 3 nties back, when the moon, now full, came up very late, around 10 p.m. or so. A harvest moon if ever there was one. The color? Blood red. Really. No reason the moonrise can't do what the sunset does, but never have I seen it. Also, never have I been in such a thick massive smoke environment.

The accumulation of Sobreanes and Chimney fires (Chimney Rock Rd is the extension of 24th St going W out of Paso, and then Hiway G14 cuts off and goes N to the Lake. "Chimney" fire came from the junction of those two roads)...plus the dozen of so other fires around us, have made living here uninhabitable at times during the days...sometimes all day. The Westerlies, or SWesterlies, have saved our bacon when they come up near sundown or sometimes sooner. But yesterday....our house filled with smoke, which I later realized was coming down our chimney. We skedaddled as noted above, and found Cayucos to be beautiful clear, clean, air. Just to get a lungful was refreshing.

Some winds came up, pretty substantial winds, and we headed home around 4ish. On the way back, when we came to Hiway 46, we were stunned to look NE and see the mountain tops on fire...and they are well south of Hearst Castle. So the Castle now has fires on 3 sides of it, but the firemen seem to have it protected. Those of you planning a trip up this way, certainly ought to check first as to conditions here, as most of the time, it has been unlivable. This a.m. Chimney fire is now at 40% containment, but also another 3500 acres burned last nite. I hadn't thot about it much, but one thing the 2016 harvest will not need is a lot of new French oak barrels...to get that smokey taste. The grape's skins have to be coated with cinder flavor right now....Just kidding, but you get the implication.

As for Cerro Prieto vineyard, never have I seen it so beautiful...perhaps because I didn't have to do it myself. Anyway, it is a pleasure to view what we planted some 17 yrs ago. It is lovely beyond description, and even tho we have sold off 3/4 of our acreage of vines, still we get great pride and satisfaction from driving by and viewing them. Also Sombra loves to run amongst the vines.

No pictures this blog in that the red moon didn't turn out with the camera nor lens I used. And the smoke pics taken during the day just show nothing. Hence no photos. We are on tap to have a superb harvest, quality wise, and it should be in the 2.5-3.0 tons/acre. Have to say I miss it, but yet at the same time, when I could no longer do any of the work myself, it actually isn't so bad. Same goes for winemaking. I do miss selling the wine and meeting new people, however, as we have met and made new friends with so many interesting and "interested" winetasters...in the wine club, for example.

Speaking of that, we have only a very few cases of wine left and those are the 2012 Paso Bordo(Cab/Syrah), and the 2013 Merlot(with a touch of Syrah in it). I am way behind getting back to folks re: orders, so I will just add that anyone who wishes the last cases of Cerro Prieto wines, to send me an email or call. Both wines are currently being consumed by wine club members, but for my taste, I prefer to not drink these until the 5th or 6th yr. There are 3 cases of the 2012 Paso Bordo and 6 of the 2013 Merlot we have remaining to sell. (Had to keep some for ourselves).

That is it from here, where once again I am sure we will see the "Red Moon" late this evening,  but sure will be happy when it is gone forever. Once was enough..."once in a red moon"... Trust me, as striking as it is....it just means this beautiful place is darn close to unlivable. And that is something I never thot I would see or say.

Monday, May 30, 2016

Cerro Prieto and the Long Spring.

Figures...last 4 years we had virtually 12 months of summer, with a slight cooling spell,  usually for a week or so before Christmas. The remainder of the time...it was just mild, delightful, and not the ideal conditions for grape growing. No question summers were good and hot, but it cooled off nicely at nites.  Enter Spring 2016: a beautiful, cool, crisp, spring, beginning in early Feb to even a bit of late Jan. Then the traditional springs here began. Cold, sometimes really cold at nites, and very pleasant during the daytime. Then March hit and we got the big splits, freezing in valley vineyard and 60s-70s in daytime. The usual time for bud break, late Feb to early March went off without a hitch in the high reaches of the Syrah. But down in the valley vineyard, it remained in the high 20s most mornings. As usual, that coldness warmed right up after sunrise, so no damage to low valley vines. But the winter dormancy continued and kept the Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot well behind where they should have been. Below are examples of Pinot and Syrah, just 5 -6 weeks ago.


Here is Syrah, already 12"-18" on average.


And here, skimpy and puny is the Pinot on the same day. Granted, it was 27 degrees at 4:30 a.m. and this was representative of most of the valley vineyard. Typically, the mountain vineyard is ahead, but this was ridiculous.

Fast forward to today, and we have canes on Syrah reaching 7' and Pinot is maxed out at it's typical 36". The Syrah has already bloomed and had fruit set now, and the Pinot is still thinking about it. The few warmer spots in Pinot have a few blooms, but are substantially behind the Syrah. The Merlot vineyard, not mountain top, and not valley vineyard, has yet to even remotely consider blooming. There is a very nice set of buds in the Merlot, but no blooms as of yet. This is just another demonstration of the multiple microclimates we have here, and some, like one of the Cab blocs, has three definable microclimates in one bloc. Significance? Well, only that if you are planning on harvesting all of bloc 5 at once, fuggedaboudit. It won't happen, and usually means we harvest it 3 times: once the top, once the mid, and once the bottom third. And yes, that is a real pain. Yet if you want all the grapes you harvest to be ripened thru and thru, this is what you do. During the drought, however, we usually harvested bloc 5 in just two segments.


Grape set? Nope, these are Merlot flower buds which will open, with dainty yellow flowers and with luck get pollinated, and then set tiny little grapes, just about the size of the flower buds above.  This is exactly what the Merlot buds look like at present, putting them dead last in going into bloom. Somehow, they manage to "catch up" with the Cab, Syrah over the course of the summer, but will follow the Pinot harvest by about 2 weeks.


Brian Heath of Heath Vineyards who bought 15 of our 20 acres of vines, is currently planting the bloc we never got around to planting, one which faces due SW. Interestingly, there is no place you can stand to see the top of the bloc from the bottom. Likewise, there is no place you can stand to see the bottom of the bloc from the top. Sure you can see the valley below, but not the bottom of the bloc. It is steeply terraced, and has some areas that are 45 degrees of inclination...and some greater. Un-terraced, this bloc would not have been able to be planted. I am delighted to see the vines go in, as I always wondered if this limestone face was not the one best bloc we have. It is just adjacent to our current Syrah bloc, and is destined for greatness. Brian is planting Petit Verdot and a bit more Syrah. Both will go gangbusters...it is a blue eyed witch to put in however. Tough, really tough.

Follow up on several wines:

The 2012 Paso Bordo was still not ready 3 months ago, and a local friend had some this weekend and said, "Still not ready". It is behaving much like our 2006 Paso Bordo, which truly took all 48 months to return to barrel quality. That is the way this started, and I have a feeling we are looking at Jan 2017 til it gets back to where it started. It's drinkable, but nowhere near where it should be. So be patient, and continue to leave it on its side. The 2013 Merlot, which was my favorite ever in barrel, has turned out to be a terrific wine. It has not yet, but soon will surpass all our other Merlots...it is that good. And yes, you can definitely drink it now. Same goes for the 2013 Syrah. Drink anytime from now on.

That's it for now, and could have included several vineyard pics where the vines tower, some 7' in length already. 25" of rain can go a long way in the vineyard. This is the best the vineyard has looked since the wet years of 2010 and 2011, when we had 52" and 54". We right now are seeing what normal 24" rainfall does to the vines...and right now, vineyard is outrageously beautiful.

Oh, my apology for not getting back to the many who have written to ask if we have any wines left to buy. Answer is yes, a few. I have 4 cases of 2012 Paso Bordo and 4 cases of Merlot I will still sell. But those are the last. Now if you write and request some, I can answer you...before I was uncertain exactly what we had between winery and warehouse.

The drought is over and we are celebrating. Finally...and by the grace of God. It was getting dicey here, but rain has fixed all that.

 

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Cerro Prieto's Spectacular spring

A spectacular Spring hello to all Cerro Prieto club members. If you haven't seen it yet, it isn't too late. This spring has far surpassed anything I have seen to date. Green, green, everywhere green. Birds building nests, red tailed hawks flying and mating in flight, deer, quail, turkeys....all have suddenly returned. So, too, have a sometimes visitor, the band tailed pigeons. They roost in our tallest trees by night, fly all day, take a break for lunch of delicious Live Oak acorns, and then fly and soar some more. Oddly, they have started feeding on the birdseed we leave out for the finches, juncos, titmouses, grosbeaks, and Stellar's mountain jays. Nuthall woodpeckers are working every single oak tree we have and many oaks have hundreds of acorns neatly drilled into the bark.

Coyotes more common than ever before, same for turkey vultures, eating some of the predators I have shot. The place is more like a wildlife refuge than a vineyard. I love it. Just love it. Nature everywhere, and beauty galore. Wildflowers are an all time high, and nowhere near done yet. Yellow is predominant color, but plenty of purple lupine bushes, some 20 feet across. Oh, and wild radish is doing itself proud, as is wild mustard, brought here first by the monks in the early 1700s. If one cannot appreciate the abundant beauty seen everywhere, then one is insensate. This spring with these colors is one for the books.

Oh, yes, the vines are all leafed out, since 2-3 weeks ago. Everything is setting up for another classic yr. Speaking of classics, our 2013 Syrah went out along with our 2013 Merlot, the best Merlot and Syrah made since beginning the vineyard. All precursors have been Intl Gold Medal wines, but these two, my last wines, are better yet. We shipped virtually all merlot and syrah I was aware of, but after doing a personal inventory inspection, we have more than 5 cases of '13 Syrah I will sell and 17 cases of '13 Merlot. I have a lengthy list of members who want to buy "all we have left". It will be a first come first served basis, or more correctly, first to contact me gets the wine. Also I found 4 cases of the 2011 Pinot Noir, now in its fifth and best yr that I will sell. There's probably more but that is what I found that I didn't know we had. So all the above is available all at $39/btl and will sell til gone. I will send an email around to all those who wanted some wine and others who wanted to buy everything we had. Not too sure that is correct, yet we have a number of members that said that very thing. So let me hear from you and I will be around awhile, after back surgery #16. Oh, didn't mention that Pinot Noir got written up in Wine Enthusiast this yr and was a 92 pt wine with that national magazine. That's it for now and will try and stay in contact with all who wished to buy more wine. I said 2018 will be the time to drink the 2013, but already, have taken a yr off that. So drink those beginning in 2017 or mid 2017. I will let you know exactly when and will take questions for other yrs you may have. Phone# for orders is 805 226 8448. As you know you can always email me  pasodocwine@yahoo.com.

Best regards to all,
Larry