Plaid Tidings

Posted 12/08/2009 at 09:41 AM by Dirk

Plaid happens to be "in" around St. Helena right now. You don't have to be Scottish or read Alexander McCall-Smith books to like plaid and we aren't going to explore any of the kilt jokes here. Our own Tim Setzer - otherwise known as "Sparky" -- is one of The Plaids who is performing at the White Barn in St. Helena in "Plaid Tidings." We caught him last weekend, which leaves this weekend in their limited ...  
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Christmas Lights

Posted 12/04/2009 at 11:57 AM by Dirk

It's that time of year again... The cynical side of me can say that I heard the same Christmas CD playing in the grocery store, the bookstore, and the gas station. (Who organizes that sort of coordination and could we put them in charge of fixing the economy?) The (what is the opposite of cynical?) optimistic side of me can say how much I enjoy the Christmas lights. I am biased, but my favorite lights, after all ...  
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How many bottles of wine are in your future?

Posted 07/30/2009 at 11:28 AM by Dirk

Have you ever stopped to consider how many bottles of wine are in your future? You should. It may surprise you that it isn't as many as you might think and that you should be making good choices. Recently I was at lunch with fellow winemaker, Bruce Cakebread, who said that people are getting tired of this recession and of trying to find something drinkable in the world of 'Two-Buck-Truck Econo-wines.' He did a survey and...  
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Meet the "Futures"

Posted 04/21/2009 at 02:43 AM by Dirk

Yes, we know that there is more than one "Future." In fact, this year, we have 13 "Futures." (Multiple "Futures" sounds like some sort of vino-schizophrenia.) (Did you read "Popular Science" when you were a kid? It was always predicting how we would live in the future. I don't have a flying car...and I could use one! They never mentioned the internet...) You get the idea, they were wrong. (but it was fun to read and ...  
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Tractor Jam

Posted 04/03/2009 at 08:38 AM by Dirk

There was a tractor jam at Dragonfly Vineyard this week. There aren't any traffic lights and Aaron didn't have a traffic copter in the area but it might have been needed. Four tractors on a four-acre vineyard seem like a lot, but each had its purpose to fully integrate our cover crops. It is the time of year when we have to knock down the cover crops to help the soils and aid in frost protection ...  
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Don't Read too Much about Food...(It is better to enjoy it!)

Posted 03/27/2009 at 11:49 AM by Dirk

I just finished reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food." In spite of being dangerously close to qualifying as a "self help" book, it was very good. (I tend to avoid self help books because there would be no logical place to stop if I ever started in on that Herculean task of my own self improvement.) Michael (now that I have read the book, we are on a first name basis...other than the fact ...  
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Half-Track Takes on Vineyard

Posted 03/24/2009 at 01:57 AM by Dirk

When I was a kid, I had a toy half-track. It was a WWII truck with tires in the front and treads in the back. (That's why it is called a half-track.) They were probably in a lot of those movies about D Day, A Bridge Too Far, Saving Private Ryan, Kelly's Heroes... I never expected to see a half track in our vineyards but we have one (It's orange instead of green and comes ...  
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Spring Release

Posted 03/13/2009 at 12:14 PM by Dirk

In spite of it being frost season, spring has arrived. I know that spring is here because the change to daylight saving time has zapped me. We have had a bunch of frost recently (For Californians, that means we had to defrost the windshield for a couple of minutes...or even scrape it!) but the vines haven't pushed out quite enough to require turning on the frost protection sprinklers or fans. We are hoping that we get ...  
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Breakfast with Tiffany's

Posted 03/04/2009 at 10:17 AM by Dirk

Wine blogs don't normally talk about breakfast but these are hardly normal times. You may even harbor views about someone who would drink wine in the morning, but sometimes it is fun to break the "rules." At the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival, Dolce paired up with Tiffany's for a wine breakfast. Call it the ultimate breakfast if you must. (It was the first event to sell out and up to the last ...  
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Open That Bottle Night

Posted 02/27/2009 at 10:16 AM by Dirk

When a winery says "Open that bottle", we may start to sound suspect but the words come from Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher of the Wall Street Journal. Ten years ago, they started "Open That Bottle Night" as a way to get people to open a special bottle of wine that they were saving for a special occasion. I love their idea. It gets to the heart of what counts in wine; sharing it, drinking ...  
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Pull Up The Covers

Posted 02/24/2009 at 08:26 AM by Dirk

Things are growing in our vineyards. But, the "things" are not vines. In these times of financial crisis, it is nice to know that something is "up." Aaron, our viticulturist, says, "cover crops are up." Yes, they have been growing throughout the winter, but it is the purpose and the importance of cover crops that is up. They have become critical. It is almost like farming two crops; grapes and cover crops. Each requires its own ...  
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Smart Phone

Posted 02/12/2009 at 09:00 AM by Dirk

Smart Phone  
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Oakville Taste Treats

Posted 02/10/2009 at 04:08 AM by Dirk

Oakville Taste Treats  
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Haiku

Posted 02/05/2009 at 01:45 AM by Dirk

Haiku  
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Tasting Quiz

Posted 01/30/2009 at 03:21 AM by Dirk

Tasting Quiz  
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Bonfire Smores

Posted 01/26/2009 at 02:03 AM by Dirk

Bonfire Smores  
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Corkscrews

Posted 01/16/2009 at 08:15 AM by Dirk

Corkscrews  
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Tasting is Work

Posted 01/13/2009 at 02:13 AM by Dirk

Tasting is Work  
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You Did What?!!!?

Posted 12/12/2008 at 08:18 AM by Dirk

You Did What?!!!?  
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Nuts...a small warning

Posted 12/08/2008 at 02:34 AM by Dirk

Nuts...a small warning  
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