Man... it should be easy for you to get a moving truck to go in that direction since there are about a zillion more headed from there... to YOU! I think you need to read one of those "where to live in retirement" magazines!!!
Chateau Michaelena Vineyard
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Man... it should be easy for you to get a moving truck to go in that direction since there are about a zillion more headed from there... to YOU! I think you need to read one of those "where to live in retirement" magazines!!!
I'm seriously considering putting a vine in a pot to travel in my RV! Like a Bonsai or something!
Like this?? (Note the bottle on the tongue for passers-by!)
Man summer is here ready or not. The whole week is supposed to be 90-95 here at the house. This doesn't help the forest fires burning in the Jemez or Pecos wilderness in any way. Vines are growing like weeds and we have grapes setting already on several vines. I am tying and pruning as needed on a daily basis it seems. The drip system is working overtime this week!
Haven't posted any update in awhile. Summer is moving at a lightening fast speed it seems. The Monsoons showed up early this year for a change. We started seeing some afternoon rains the week or so before the 4th of July and they have not really let up very much. Somedays we get 0.25 inch, somedays up to 1.00 inch, somedays nothing. I fertilized only twice in the Spring and have not fertilized since. I plan on sending some samples out for a Petiole analysis sometime this week just to see how the nutrition is looking. Vines look very healthy, growing like weeds this year. Crop is not huge. That late frost may have knocked down the numbers a tad. Some vines are loaded, some not so much. Looks like I lost a vine that grew like gang busters first two years and this year it budded out then all growth stopped. Very weird. It has sent up a shoot from the ground that is growing like a weed. I will train it up and see what it does I guess. One vine has started verasion! Crazy! Grapes look great as well. No spray program either. Will need to keep an eye out for the grape leaf skelatonizers that show up towards the end of the month or early August.
We have been away quite a bit the last few weeks. In mid to late June we went on a 10 day trip up to Seattle to visit family for a few days, then we spent 3 days in Walla Walla, then 4 days in OR Pinot Noir country. We had preplanned to purchase a new car in Seattle through Costco. That deal went really well so we had a vehicle to travel around in plus we could bring back as much wine as the back seat would hold!
Brought back 4 cases of "the good stuff"! We picked up a 2013 Honda Accord with all the bells and whistles. We got 37mpg on the highway. Amazing gas milage! Got the 4 cylinder. It has pretty much the same engine as my S2000 sports car so plenty of get up and go when you need it and great gas milage to boot.
Will post more pics as things progress but we are moving rapidly here with the great weather.
We have been away quite a bit the last few weeks. In mid to late June we went on a 10 day trip up to Seattle to visit family for a few days, then we spent 3 days in Walla Walla, then 4 days in OR Pinot Noir country. We had preplanned to purchase a new car in Seattle through Costco. That deal went really well so we had a vehicle to travel around in plus we could bring back as much wine as the back seat would hold!
Brought back 4 cases of "the good stuff"! We picked up a 2013 Honda Accord with all the bells and whistles. We got 37mpg on the highway. Amazing gas milage! Got the 4 cylinder. It has pretty much the same engine as my S2000 sports car so plenty of get up and go when you need it and great gas milage to boot.
Will post more pics as things progress but we are moving rapidly here with the great weather.
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Looking very nice there Mike.
I have been enjoying a little bit of that monsoonal flow myself here in the dessert state of Utah. Haven't needed to water for two weeks now! Your vines look great! Amazing what a little rain will do.
vinividivici
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Wowza! Picture perfect! Was in OR for two weeks recently while our area got rain every day. Got back to find all my 3rd year harvest clusters covered in fungus.
When you were in OR, did you get to Hawk's View? Private winery south of Portland, big Pinot Noir grower and superb wine.
PS: change your ID to IBGROWING
Bob
When you were in OR, did you get to Hawk's View? Private winery south of Portland, big Pinot Noir grower and superb wine.
PS: change your ID to IBGROWING
Bob
LOL, the vines be liking the extra humidity and lower pH rain water.
Found out why I wasn't a big fan of OR Pinot. Was not paying enough........ We stayed in McMinnville, OR just about an hour outside of Portland. Really neat little town with nice restaurants and quaint shops. We hit quite a few wineries in the area and the best were in the Dundee Hills AVA. Honestly, you have to pay $40 min for a good OR Pinot and they go up from there pretty darn fast. The 2011's were all really bad, horrible year, stay away. We bought some 09's and 10's back from Archery Summit, Ken Wright, Sokal Blosser, Beaux Freres, Erath and a few smaller wineries with pretty awesome wines like Angela (made by Ken Wright) and Biggio Hamina. Several of the places were by appointment only, private tastings. They be proud of their wines. In WA you could get out of almost any wine tasting with any bottle purchase. Some of these places in OR were minimum of $80 purchase to get out of your $20 tasting fee!
The best meals we had included grilled salmon which was paired with an OR Pinot. That was a KILLER combo!
Found out why I wasn't a big fan of OR Pinot. Was not paying enough........ We stayed in McMinnville, OR just about an hour outside of Portland. Really neat little town with nice restaurants and quaint shops. We hit quite a few wineries in the area and the best were in the Dundee Hills AVA. Honestly, you have to pay $40 min for a good OR Pinot and they go up from there pretty darn fast. The 2011's were all really bad, horrible year, stay away. We bought some 09's and 10's back from Archery Summit, Ken Wright, Sokal Blosser, Beaux Freres, Erath and a few smaller wineries with pretty awesome wines like Angela (made by Ken Wright) and Biggio Hamina. Several of the places were by appointment only, private tastings. They be proud of their wines. In WA you could get out of almost any wine tasting with any bottle purchase. Some of these places in OR were minimum of $80 purchase to get out of your $20 tasting fee!
The best meals we had included grilled salmon which was paired with an OR Pinot. That was a KILLER combo!
Thanks for the info. Yes, you are right, the best OR pinots are pricey. Our wine tasting group did a salmon and pinot noir tasting a couple years ago. It was spectacular. We had salmon done at least 5 different ways - fresh, cooked, cold smoked, hot smoked, etc.
blumentopferde
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$40 for a good Pinot Noir, from where? Oregon?! How much land do you get for that price? Oregon, I'm coming! ;P
At least you don't pay any sales tax on that wine or a nice meal out either. No sales tax in that state. Oh and you can't pump your own gas as that's too dangerous for us lay people.
blumentopferde
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what I wanted to say:
How much is an acre of land in Oregon? If you sell wine for 40$ per bottle the purchase of the land including costs for the setup of the vineyard will most probably pay off with the first yield!
How much is an acre of land in Oregon? If you sell wine for 40$ per bottle the purchase of the land including costs for the setup of the vineyard will most probably pay off with the first yield!
Take that you $@&#'ing Robin's!
vinividivici
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Looking Good!
Harvesting soon?
Can you please check out my problem batch on this thread:
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f5/fermentation-gusher-good-bad-31726/index2.html
Haven't had any replies yet.
Thanks,
Bob
Harvesting soon?
Can you please check out my problem batch on this thread:
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f5/fermentation-gusher-good-bad-31726/index2.html
Haven't had any replies yet.
Thanks,
Bob
Bud's are Busting Out All Over!
No stopping it now I suppose….. We were quite cool all last week with ridiculous winds, some snow up in the mountains. We had forecast for freezing on Wed and Thu and I brought all my tomato plants, house plants in and put some BIG beach towels on the grape vines that started to bud but no freeze. Friday I didn't cover anything up but at 2:30AM the freeze alarm in the bedroom window went off (set for 34 degrees) Had to get up and bring every thing in I could and cover the vines with the towels. It got down to 28 and the towels seemed to work. Saturday and Sunday were Chamber of Commerce type weather. We actually had our first Patio dinner of the Spring on Saturday. No wind, warm temps. perfect evening. Yesterday it got up to 80 degrees! Wind came back but it was so warm by the afternoon I had to turn on the AC unit in the Winery. It was up to 68 already. AC unit pulled it down to 63 degrees in short order. I stuck a digital thermometer in the unit to see how cold the air was coming out of it. 34 degrees!
No stopping it now I suppose….. We were quite cool all last week with ridiculous winds, some snow up in the mountains. We had forecast for freezing on Wed and Thu and I brought all my tomato plants, house plants in and put some BIG beach towels on the grape vines that started to bud but no freeze. Friday I didn't cover anything up but at 2:30AM the freeze alarm in the bedroom window went off (set for 34 degrees) Had to get up and bring every thing in I could and cover the vines with the towels. It got down to 28 and the towels seemed to work. Saturday and Sunday were Chamber of Commerce type weather. We actually had our first Patio dinner of the Spring on Saturday. No wind, warm temps. perfect evening. Yesterday it got up to 80 degrees! Wind came back but it was so warm by the afternoon I had to turn on the AC unit in the Winery. It was up to 68 already. AC unit pulled it down to 63 degrees in short order. I stuck a digital thermometer in the unit to see how cold the air was coming out of it. 34 degrees!
Yep. Same weather here. I lost a few shoots to the frost though. Next year I'm going to bring in another sprinkler.
Baco Noir and Seyval Blanc in Utah
Baco Noir and Seyval Blanc in Utah
Wow, Mike - I'm amazed at how far along you are at 7000 feet! Those look great - how did they winter?
-Dsve
-Dsve
Hey Dave,
We had a mild (and sadly) very dry Winter (again). I watered about once a month on average to give them some moisture. Everything is looking pretty good with some vines much further along than others. Some are just now starting to swell. It looks like I lost another of the first vines I planted on grafted rootstock. I have lost one each year now for the last 3 seasons. I also planted 6 new Marquette last year. They did not grow more than 2-3 feet tall but all of them are coming out now and looking like they know what to do this year. Another front coming through tonight/tomorrow........
We had a mild (and sadly) very dry Winter (again). I watered about once a month on average to give them some moisture. Everything is looking pretty good with some vines much further along than others. Some are just now starting to swell. It looks like I lost another of the first vines I planted on grafted rootstock. I have lost one each year now for the last 3 seasons. I also planted 6 new Marquette last year. They did not grow more than 2-3 feet tall but all of them are coming out now and looking like they know what to do this year. Another front coming through tonight/tomorrow........
