Easter

To the despair of my parents, I am not religious – in any sense of the word. Nevertheless, I do recognize the symbolism of religious ceremonies, observances, rituals and calendars. Take, for instance, Easter.

After the vermin endemic to suburban Los Angeles and beloved by the deluded hug-a-pest-but-grow-a-garden-instead-of-a-lawn hippies, destroyed 70% of my crop last year, I was ready to give up. Then, we had two deaths in the family (more or less expected, but still difficult to get through). So, I’d not been to the vineyard since I pulled the netting.

Broke down and did it

5 cubic foot chest freezer.

My kids, when they want something, are very clever in presenting selling points that are likely to appeal to me: “A new computer will help me do better in school.” Or: “Playing football will help me lose weight“.

It’s important to keep learning, so I learned form them: “Honey, if we get a chest freezer – Home Depot has a good deal on one right now – we can use it to store all the stuff that doesn’t fit in the fridge.” And: “We’ll be able to save by buying bulk items and keep them in the chest freezer.” I was careful to add: “Except for a few weeks a year when I need to drop acids in a wine“.

So… you want to plant a home vineyard…

What’s in your vineyard supply bin?

I’ve made some recommendations in the past about making the most out of a tight space when one wants to put in a home vineyard.

But, if the reader is lucky enough to own some land and has a hankering for the vigneron lifestyle, a producing vineyard is just three years away.

“Proof-Of-Concept” sparkler

“Proof-of-Concept” base wine.

I want to make sparklers with the traditional champagne method, but without the additional cost of champagne bottles, crown caps, baskets, etc.  Making sparkling wines is not that difficult, and I think I can do it with with 750 ml flip-top bottles.

And that is the concept: A complete Champenoise process can be done successfully with a carboy and flip-top bottles.

The goal is to create sediment-free, tasty wine with carbonation. The challenge is doing it in one bottle and without the above-mentioned additional supplies.

Smells like a miracle (or something….)

The miracle of “native” fermentation.

In order to feed my wine making addiction (after the #%@*!ing raccoons destroyed 70% of my crop), I brought in some fruit from Santa Clara Valley this past weekend. In addition to my new love, Fiano, I bought 100 lbs of Sangiovese.

I have some grafts in my vine nursery awaiting planting, but I wanted to experiment with the variety. The fruit I bought is a small-berried “piccolo” clone. While the “grosso” and “piccolo” classification is not exactly accepted nomenclature, the small berry variant tends to be preferred, by virtue of the pulp-to-skin ratio notion.

When life gives you a building slump, make eggs.

Are concrete fermentation vessels a load?

In an economic slump, when housing starts are slow and nobody wants to re-do their driveway, finally put in that pool for the kids, build another tasting room or buy a post-modern, industrial-looking counter top or bathroom sink, what’s a “concrete manufacturer who just happened to be in the heart of the California Wine Country” to do?

Well, you could do what Frank Arciero did: invest in a winery and network of vineyards. But then, you need capital and equity for that… Never mind.

So what does one do to pay for all that cement making equipment?

Some online cellar tools

Found this on winebusiness.com today:

Winemaking Calculators (from vinoenology.com):

• Fermentation - Specific Gravity & Brix conversions, Yeast & Nutrients addition, Unit Conversion table
• Chaptalization & Water dilution - Sugar content adjustment & Water addition
• SO₂ addition - Liquid SO₂ solution & Potassium metabisulfite addition, Molecular SO₂ table, SO₂ reduction
• Acid addition - Tartaric, Malic & Citric acid addition, Deacidification
• Fining & Oak addition - Copper addition, Clarification & Oak addition
• Fortification - Alcohol addition
• Wine Blending & Cost calculator - Blending & Wine cost calculation
• Online Conversions - Volume, Temperature, Pressure, Mass, Area and Distance

These are handy calculators to keep around for large and small productions.

A slow goodbye

I’ve put a lot of energy into my vineyard. I’m not even mentioning the money.

The vineyard has kept me sane. It has been my escape, my solice. Going up that hill and getting dirty and sweaty has helped me keep a mental distance from all sorts of negative things.

This is not a wine review… or is it?

I don’t normally do wine reviews here. It’s not what this blog is about. Besides, the mode du temps of wine evaluation is not even in the same galaxy as the way it should be done. However, I recently bought four bottles of a wine based on past vintages and, needless to say, I was profoundly disappointed.

Wine blogging is an inherently stupid and vapid endeavor

The new design for the Wine Blogging Awards.

I know, I know, I know…. you’re reading this on a blog.

I’m talking about the “journaling” of personal wine consumer experiences and not journalism in the Dan Rather sense (…errr, wrong example; Edward R. Murrow). Access to the internet seems to be the only requisite for the former enterprise.