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.