Rancho Azul y Oro ~ Surviving the Dream

In the old days (three or four years ago), there were down times at the ranch, such as summer and winter.  It could be said that it was because the plantings were not so mature and required far less work, which is, in part, true.  Experienced farmers, wine grape growers, and vintners probably know better.  Slowly, it is becoming evident that free time was abundant because we did not know we were supposed to be doing certain things on a regular schedule, such as spraying the vines, olives and lavender (yes, even the lavender) for disease and pests, thinning the shoots and fruit early in the season, regularly testing the grapes approaching harvest, performing regular chemical tests on our wine, adjusting the SO2 level, topping the barrels, then adding inert gas, all the while planning yeast choices for harvest, calculating harvest estimates and ordering barrels for the wine, bottles, labels, and corks for the oil and the wine. With all those lesso...

Oddly, this winter seems as if it may last forever.  It started raining last September, and as the ranch prepares for the seventh annual Stuart & Jason Birthday Festival (and a mighty big one for Stuart, at that), the reports have just come in, chance of rain all days.  It isn't as if we aren't appreciative of the gift from Mother Nature, but with over 26" in the ground for the season, we're ready for a little sun and warmth. All things growing are also ready for springtime, as well.  Bud burst has actually occurred on the table grapes (no frosts, please), we anticipate bud burst on the Zin and Petite Sirah around the time of the birthday festival, the Cabernet usually is a bit later, the olive trees have sprung forth and are preparing the 2011 crop, and the fig, apple, and the cherry trees have buds.  Of course, the truest sign that spring has arrived is when Pete's cattle returns to the ranch, and that has not yet happened. It hardly seems like it's...

The end is in sight. The last olive has been picked. We remind ourselves, however, that it is now February of the next year. When one is hauling one's self in late at night after mat-layering or schlepping over to the barn in pajamas to crank the press down early in the wee hours of the morning, a negative attitude could creep in or thoughts along the lines that it seemed one was doing this months ago and is still engaging in the same task. It's been decided to opt for the positive spin, in order to retain sanity, the Italians don't pick their olives until January or February -- so we've got that going for us. The Arbequina paste and oil look distinctly different from the other three. The Mission and Frantoio paste were thicker to spread and the Mission oil is a gold, with hints of green; the Frantoio oil is an emerald green. We don't exactly know what to make of the Arbequina yet. The paste is extremely oily, so oily that the layers of mats were nearly slipping ...