Fall & Harvest

After a very wet spring, we had an unusually mild summer, with just a few short spells of 100 plus days.  Which provided for a longer than normal season, so the grapes could develop some really good flavors.  The grapes were ready for harvest in early October, but with the mild weather we had a long hang time until all the new vines were harvested on Oct 20th and 21st.  We then had an early season rain that delayed harvesting the old Cabernet vines until October 29th.  The average sugar for the Cabernet vines at harvest was 26.2 Brix and the Petit Verdot was 25.5 Brix.  The old Cabernet vines came in slightly lower at 24 Brix.  Initial indications are that the 2005 vintage should be a really good one. When we sit down with the Benziger winery team in early spring 2007 to taste the latest vintage, we will be able to report on how the 2005 vintage should be in the bottle.

During the late summer we re-worked our grape contract with the Benziger Family and committed to change our farming practices over to a full biodynamic method starting at the beginning of 2006 and start the process of having the vineyard certified by the Demeter Organization. 

For more information on biodynamic farming go to www.demeter-usa.org and www.benziger.com.

By mid-November we had spread our fall compost and planted the cover crop for the season.  This year we planted a mix of bell beans, peas, vetch, oats and barley in the old vine cabernet and the new merlot planting on every row, which we will plough down in the spring as a green compost to provide additional natural nitrogen, and organic matter to the soil.  In the new Cabernet and Petit Verdot we are going to alternate the plough down rows with a permanent cover crop of perennial grasses and sub-clovers to improve the soil health.  In the picture, at the left, you can see one of the insectaries still in full bloom this late in the season while the tractor is spreading the seed for the cover crop in the new merlot planting.

In mid-October we moved into our new house slightly later than hoped, and while there are still a number of small items to be complete, we are very happy to be living at the vineyard after so much planning and hard work by all involved.  One of the center pieces of the house is a mural of our favorite goat “Squeaky”, which we have installed above the kitchen stove so that we can see her everyday while we are busy in the kitchen.

Summer

Our season started with an unusual amount of rain. We had an amazing 5 inches of rain in May, and luckily the heaviest storm came after bloom, so we suffered minimal damage to the new crop. The early blooming lavenders gave way to some of the later varieties, and the honey bees were joined by a profusion of bumble bees taking advantage of the many blossoms.

By late June our Canadian Geese had raised their young and taken them on several trial flights around the vineyard. One day in May they took their brood and took flight, maybe to return next year. We also added a llama to our vineyard. We obtained him from a llama farm in Sebastopol and his official name is “Skansen’s Miracle at Last”, or Magic for short. Magic was added as a livestock guardian animal to help provide protection for the goats from coyotes and roaming dogs. So far he seems to have bonded with goats quite well, and is an interesting addition to the animal diversity for us, and all the local neighbors and cyclists touring the area.

The work we did earlier in the year in planting the new insectories is now a colorful centerpiece to the vineyard, with many of the flowers in bloom. We have also added three other insectory and habitat areas to the perimeter of the vineyard, which provide additional areas for beneficial insects.

Our house construction has continued to stay on track and we are now planning for an August or September move in. We completed the solar electric panels for the house in June and they are now generating power which is being fed back into the grid. If we have planned the design correctly we should be providing power to the grid during the day, that balances our use at night.

In late July, right after the start of veraison, we met with Mark Burningham of Benziger Family Winery www.benziger.com and reviewed the vineyard to make plans for our farming practice through the balance of the season. In addition, Mark and Chris Benziger visited the vineyard in August along with many of the Benziger’s sales team to check progress in the vineyard. The Cabernet in Blocks A1-A3 looks phenomenal! The fruiting is even and open, we have thinned significantly.

We are excited to announce that this year for the first time a full ½ of this year’s harvest from the replanted vineyard will be bottled as a vineyard designated label with the Benziger’s. This was our plan from the beginning as we have spent the last five years revitalizing the soil and replanting the vineyard. For more detail about the changes we have made since we purchased the vineyard in 2000 see www.pumasprings.com/Restoration.htm. We really had no idea when we started on this course just how much work and time this would take, but as of now we are starting to see that our dream of 5 years ago is a step closer to coming true for us soon. To all who have supported us to this point – friends, family and the Benziger team we say a big Thank You!

Spring

Bud break this year was in full swing by the middle of March and by the end of March we had the fruit trees in bloom and some of the early songbirds checking out which bird boxes had the choice locations for easy access to the bugs over the pond.

This spring has been quite mild with rainfall below last year’s, but the irrigation pond filled up by early January so the lack of significant early rain was not a cause for concern.  We had some repeat visitors in a pair of Canadian Geese that have stopped at the vineyard pond for the last 3 years and this year they had a large brood of goslings.  They were born on April 1st and have been growing like weeds.

We worked with Jerry and Liz Langermann of JL & Son Landscaping to design and install the main Insectory that we laid out last fall.  That was completed in April and should be a colorful center piece to the vineyard by summer.

Intermittent rains held up mowing and discing during March and April, with the tractor getting stuck several times, but by early May the fields were ready for summer.

Our house construction has been speeding along.  If all goes well, we are anticipating a late summer move-in time. 

In March we sat down with Mark Burningham of Benziger Family Winery www.benziger.com and reviewed the wine from the 2004 harvest.  This vintage had a significant proportion of fruit from the new vines and was one of the best so far with black cherry and sweet fruit aromas, and dark berry, fruit, chocolate, and coffee flavors.