Monday, June 27, 2011

Wine Alert!

I attended a classmate's birthday party this weekend, and the highlight of the event, for me, was being introduced to a new wine that is both delicious and affordable! This generic California red table wine - Cocobon (it even SOUNDS delicious!) - is mostly Zin (61%) with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot and Petite Sirah comprising the rest. It is rich, silky, V. smooth and easy to drink - aromas are ripe cherries, vanilla and plum, and on the first sip I detected oak, vanilla, cherries and mocha. Light tannins. It probably wouldn't pair well with a steak (or most dinners!) but it was perfect with chocolate cake. I would serve this with dessert - or AS dessert! Really yummy esp. if you're a chocolate lover, and at $5.99 a bottle (Trader Joe's) it makes a great every day or party wine.
p.s. when you open this wine, let it breathe for an hour before drinking - and make sure you swirl it in your glass too - will release the aromas and it will taste v. smooth indeed (does make a difference w/this one, I found)!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Summer Arrives at Chateau Montelena

Yesterday was officially the first day of Summer, and in the vineyard here it was appropriately HOT...97 degrees. It seemed fitting that we spent the morning tending to the irrigation needs of the vines. Irrigation involves more than simply keeping the plants alive. In viticulture, the strategies for watering depend on the desired style of wine that will ultimately be achieved – there are different effects of irrigation on berries from budbreak to bloom and fruit set and all the way through to maturity. One of my favorite lessons from vineyard management class is that vines are like cats – they don’t like wet feet! At Chateau Montelena they practice deficit irrigation, providing just enough water to keep the vines from becoming overly stressed. Heriberto, (Beto, as he is called by the staff here) who I spent the day shadowing, explained that when the vines are young they are irrigated more to grow a strong healthy vine and as they get older and start to produce fruit, the water is greatly reduced. I always think of what Jim Barrett, i.e. Bill Pullman, said in the movie Bottle Shock – making the vines “struggle” intensifies the flavor. Who would know better? And this is where I put in a shameless plug for the movie…if you have never seen, go get yourself a copy and share it with friends. You don’t have to be a wine lover to appreciate this wonderfully entertaining, feel-good movie. If you are lucky enough to live in the area, you can pick up a copy (autographed by Bo Barrett) in the Montelena tasting room if you take the “Bottle Shock Chardonnay Experience” tour. As with the movie, once is not enough!
Returning to the day’s events, I accompanied Beto as he turned on valves for several irrigation pump stations throughout the vineyard blocks. Just when I thought to myself, oh, this will be an easy task….there is actually much more to irrigation and fertilization (fertigation when both are applied simultaneously) than I imagined. As I said to Beto, learning about something in a classroom is never the same as doing it. Beto has been with Montelena for more than 20 years, and it’s easy to see that he loves what he does. We began in a hillside block, walking the rows to inspect the drip lines and replacing any failing, or plugged, emitters (the small, round cap-like spouts through which the water flows). Next, travel to the various pump stations where, in some cases, valves need to be turned on. At other stations, filters need to be removed and cleaned out. Valves are shut off at the end of the work day, then the whole process repeats again the next day. I also observed as organic fish fertilizer was applied through the irrigation system to one of the blocks of baby vines (this is done once or twice a year on young vines). The huge 300-gallon tank has to be transported to the application site with a forklift, and then a myriad of hoses connects the tank to the irrigation system with a portable pump. Quite a remarkable way to apply fertilizer, considering how painstaking it must have been in the days before all this wonderful machinery was developed!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

First Day at Chateau Montelena

I can't move....

Yesterday was my first day of work in the Chateau Montelena vineyard - my "dream job" - ? Wow, this old body isn't used to physical labor - for 8 hours! We started off suckering the vines - pulling unwanted green shoots off of the trunks below the drip lines. No problem. Then someone handed me a shovel - !? Oh yes, using a shovel to break up/dig out weeds in the berms. If you have ever pounded a metal shovel into hard, dry dirt, you know it's not a lot of fun! But I persevered. I couldn't keep up with the men, but at least I had their respect that I wanted to pull my weight and do my share. The heat did not help matters - yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far, 90. The good news is that I probably sweated off at least a pound! Also, the foreman told me there wouldn't be any more shoveling - they were pretty much done with this for the summer. (They spray RoundUp for the small stuff.) So now it should be the typical kinds of activities - pulling leaves around the fruit clusters, tucking the vines up into the wires, etc. Anyway, it was a good day - the workers are all very nice to me, several (at least the ones who speak English) took the time to explain different things to me, etc. Placido, Paulino, Jose, Carlos, Heriberto - those are the names I learned yesterday. I'm also hoping to learn some Spanish along the way - some of my high school Spanish is already starting to come back!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Summer in the Vineyard!

Well, Spring semester is over. And I finished with grades I was entirely happy with - as opposed to the previous semester when my 4.0 was ruined with one B! I will take one short class this summer, in canopy management, but I'm very excited to report that I have TWO vineyard gigs lined up! First, I applied and was selected for the American Vineyard Foundation 2011 Shone Farm Viticulture Scholarship/Internship. I will be working 6 hours a week in the Shone Farm vineyard doing cluster counts, pest monitoring, vine leaf stress monitoring, calculating degree days, etc. This is a full-on academic program, where I will have to compile information into a final report that will be submitted to the department head. In addition, I am particularly excited that I will be working two days a week in the Chateau Montelena estate vineyard in Calistoga! I had asked them to consider me for an unpaid summer internship, just to get the hands-on experience, but they ended up offering me a paid position which will include two days working in the vineyard AND writing about my experience on THEIR blog! What a nice surprise, and what a great opportunity for me. I hope to keep up on this blog through the summer, but also want to encourage my followers to look for my blogging on the Chateau Montelena website under "Blog"......it should be posted every Thursday or Friday. So I'm looking forward to a summer of hard work and valuable learning experiences. Also, losing some weight - I just hope my body doesn't go into shock but instead adjusts to my new lifestyle of manual labor!

Shone Farm 2011 Wine Release Event

On May 21, Shone Farm had its 2011 Wine Release event, introducing our 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, 2010 Syrah Rose, 2009 Chardonnay and 2009 Pinot noir. Shone Farm wines are made by SRJC students under the direction of winemaker Chris Wills. My favorite was the 2009 Chardonnay, bright with apple and citrus - very lovely. The wines were accompanied by a wonderful array of hot and cold appetizers, made by local culinary legend Anne Vercelli, who also teaches in the SRJC culinary arts department. This well-attended event was free to the public and wine sales topped last year's!

Korbel Field Trip

The month of May was BUSY at school! Between finishing up two major term projects and studying for final exams, I really neglected my blog! I did want to report on our WINE 42.2 (Spring Winery Operations) class field trip to Korbel Winery, though. This was our "last class" together and it was a very interesting and informative afternoon. Shone Farm's winemaker, Chris Wills, used to work for Korbel, so he was able to get us a special tour. Korbel produces sparkling wine (champagne) using the oldest and most traditional method - Methode Champenoise. Basically this means that the champagne is made in the same bottle as it is sold. Once the cuvee - blended still wine - is bottled, a dose of yeast and sugar, or liquer de tirage, is added, and the bottles are capped with a metal "soda cap" and laid horizontally for several weeks. A second fermentation takes place, and CO2 is trapped as bubbles as the yeast eat up the sugar and die. The bottles are then turned upside down so the dead yeast cells can collect in the neck of the bottle as sediment, which takes about a year. Then the bottles are ready for "disgorgement." The necks of the bottles are lowered into a cold solution that freezes the sediment "plug" and when the metal caps are popped off, the plug is forced out. A second dosage of sugar is then added, the bottle is topped off and the standard large champagne cork and wire "cage" are added. This second sugar addition determines how sweet (or not) the final product will be - whether it will be Brut, Extra Dry, Demi-Sec or Doux. We were able to see bottles at every stage of production, all the way through to labeling, and afterwards we were treated to a private tasting of their current releases. What a great way to end a fun class!