When we’re out of town, ask Mother Nature. She poured 6” of rain on Howell Mountain in May. It’s very unusual for Napa Valley to get any rain in May. It’s an unusual year. [gallery size="large" columns="2" link="none" ids="51569,51570"] This is bud break. The colorful buds are...
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Our 3 current release wines remain available on our website at a 15% discount, if you buy the 3 bottle tasting package or a case. On April 30, the 15% discount will end, the remaining bottles will be moved to our “library” to benefit from additional...
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Is Barb celebrating with White Zinfandel? Say it ain’t so! Has the menial farm labor forced her over the edge? What’s next? Hard apple cider? Actually she’s drinking our 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon on the day of harvest. Technically it’s only grape juice, but that’s as “red” as...
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We might be a bad influence on Tom. He’s drinking much more since he started hanging around us. Actually Tom is hot and thirsty. We all are. July was extremely hot with more than 14 days in the high 90s/low 100s. That pattern persisted through...
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Meet our recently engaged daughter Shannon and her fiancé Alex. They visited us shortly after the vineyard was pruned on March 27. Alex made the mistake of asking Gerry if we needed help in the vineyard. Within 30 minutes they were tying the cordons to the training wires...
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Relax Tom. It’s remarkable that a year ago, if we got within 50 yards of Tom, he’d run fast and far. Now he sits confidently on our garden bed, 20 feet from our back door, as if he owns the place. Tom is one prong of...
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We harvested our vineyard October 28. Harvesting the last week in October is normal for us although this was not a normal year. Our total yield was 25% less than last year. The unusual weather, especially the June hail storm during pollination, affected us more...
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You probably have seen numerous photos and videos of the widespread devastation in northern California caused by the recent wildfires. Four of our friends lost their homes. Thousands lost their homes and businesses. Many lost their lives. The photo shows the view from Howell Mountain...
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We had snow in March, wind so strong in April that it toppled a 40’ oak tree on the edge of our vineyard, and a hail storm on June 11. We’re bracing for a swarm of locusts. The hail arrived late afternoon, and during a...
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Or is it an art lab? Meet Bob Bolan, the winemaker that makes our Cabernet Sauvignon. Bob is conducting blending trials now for several wines he's making, including our 2014 vintage, that will be bottled in August. Bob usually blends very small percentages of at...
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