"To succeed you must first improve, to improve you must first practice, to practice you must first learn, and to learn you must first fail." ~ William Woo

8-17-12:  After a year of what seems to be significant setbacks and harvest projections predicting harvest possibly as much as a month early, these ranchers need to dust off their behinds and focus solidly on what's on the horizon. It would be very easy to dwell on the hundreds of pounds of grapes that had to be dropped due to the locust swarm eating all the leaves or the three rows of Zinfandel grapes we may possibly have to drop due to an electrical failure in the well during a heat wave, which saw temperatures rise above 110 for over three weeks.

However, Robert Mondavi's mantra was that the art of winemaking is to be able to make a good wine from the hand you are dealt, whether that be bad weather, no water, electrical failures, pests -- the list is endless. So it is to these greats we look for inspiration when the going gets tough. Also recalled to our mind is the story of Warren Winiarski, the pioneering winemaker at Stag's Leap, who grafted all of his own grapevines, planted them all himself, with the goal of dry farming, only to have the hundreds of vines die after the first year. Over the next winter, he researched, did troubleshooting, and determined that in certain areas, with new vines, they must receive water, and he and his family personally carried bucket after bucket of water to pour on each vine, over and over throughout the year, until they became established. This was to eventually become one of the wines that beat the great First Growth French Grand Cru Bordeaux wines in the historic Judgment of Paris in 1976.

There are a great many things we have done better and right this year, which helps us remain focused on continually improving each harvest. We have monitored the 2011 vintage much more diligently and have spent countless hours reading and researching what we needed to know to understand wine chemistry better. We have managed our SO2 levels much better. We have learned to test our own wines for pH, TA and we're working on SO2. We have purchased a bottler and will be learning how to bottle and will be bottling the 2010 Cabernet in several weeks. We are improving our racking skills and have instituted a regular racking schedule. In the vineyard, we have significantly improved the manner in which the nets are put on, as well as improving our understanding of required winegrape nutrients and manners of applying them. We have learned that locust will be an issue every five to seven years and spraying by July 4th should head them off, hopefully. We have learned how better to measure wine grape maturity and evaluate the best time for harvest.

So despite two very large setbacks, a great deal has been accomplished and there is yet much to be accomplished. We will harvest the remaining grapes and make wine, and while it will not be the hoped-for quantity, we expect it to be quality. We will continue to improve, and very soon, it will all come together. In the meantime, we look forward to harvest in the next month.

Cheers!