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Love to explore! Had a sunshiney beautiful day in the Yountville - St Helena - Calistoga area. Started our day with a delicious cup of coffee and pastry from Bouchon Bakery in the heart of Yountville, then boarded the Trolley for a day of fun. First stop was Castello di Amorosa for a 2 hour tour - one word….. FABULOUS! Bryan and I first visited when it opened in 2007, there was still quite a bit of construction going on. The tour, the guide (Joe), the wines and the ambiance were truly amazing. I was excited to try the Vermentino as it truly is one of my favorite whites

Although we are still in the midst of our winter season, we are taking full advantage of the sunshine weather mother nature is providing for us and getting a few much needed tasks done in the vineyard. While the vines are still taking a siesta, we’ve begun adding 4” J clips and VS cross arm to run wire through. There are several types of trellising systems, however, this is the one Bryan felt he wanted to implement at our vineyard. Once bud break takes place and the vines begin to showcase their gorgeous leaves, we will position the shoots of the vines to grow up in between the

Even though Bryan and I are opening a winery, we still enjoy visiting various wine regions and drinking other wines. We love the diversity in wine, the various methods used by winemakers and the intricate details that make each wine unique in its own way. We currently have a total of 9 wine producers here in East Contra Costa County which represent our area very well. In Brentwood we have Nunn Family Vineyards, McCauley Estate Vineyards, Tamayo Family Vineyards, Hannah Nicole Vineyards and Bloomfield Vineyards. In Oakley we have Favalora Vineyards Winery, in Knightsen we have Petersen Vineyards, in Byron we have Campos Family Vineyards and Martinez we

This is the 2nd year we have attended the wine symposium, it truly is a playground of fun for wineries and wine makers. From barrels, bottles, labels to tanks and everything and anything you could possibly be interested in is there. We always find it interesting to see the oak barrel systems companies introduce. The system which intrigued Bryan the most this year, was a French Oak spin barrel. With this system, barrel fermentation is made to be much easier and functional. The coolest and most impressive booth there was a French oak sphere by Galil Mountain Winery. It was not only a conversation piece, but a gorgeous

After having such a great time pouring a “Taste of the future” at Petersen Vineyards French night, we were very excited to be given another opportunity to provide complimentary pours along with small bites at the Brentwood Wine Stroll hosted by the Brentwood Coalition.  It rained buckets and was extremely cold and windy, but surely didn’t take away from the amount of fun we had sharing our wines.  Loved that all our kids and a few friends poured with us as well.  Watching Bryan take a step back to just bask in the moment of hearing people we’ve never met before share of how much they enjoy the wines was truly

The vines have been pruned and the cordons have been tied down to the North. Bryan will begin tilling in between the rows and planting the winter cover crop. Why plant a cover crop? Crops are beneficial in many ways, it restores nutrients to the soil, controls unwanted weeds and helps rain water penetrate deeper into the soil.

Varietals of grapes Bryan and I put a lot of thought into selecting the varietals we chose to grow at the vineyard. We wanted to ensure we were not only growing varietals that we loved but varietals that we could create a variety of delicious palette pleasing wines with. Our final decision was VERMENTINO, Sauvignon BLANC, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Sangiovese In addition to selecting the varietals, we had to choose the clone we thought best of that varietal. For those that aren’t aware, there are various clones of a type of grape. When choosing the clone you must take into consideration of the ter-roir for the specific varietal tested

Today was a big and exciting day as truck after truck came loaded with concrete ready to fill the trenches that were set with re-bar. A total of 45 yards of concrete. The entrance has been graded to level the transition from the road to the property. The band has been poured to accommodate the rolling of the front gate which will be our next exciting improvement. The base for the very large tree boxes was poured and the masons will begin building the walls for the “grand entrance”. Bryan and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to place our hands in the wet concrete.  [ngg src="galleries" ids="14" display="basic_thumbnail"

I love when Bryan flys the drone over the vineyard showing the growth of the beautiful vines. The progress is all very exciting. We are currently working on the entrance to the vineyard. Trenches are being dug for the fittings of the wall entrance and gate, platforms and irrigation being prepped for the olive trees and the fabric will soon be spread for the roads.

Reminiscing…..  I find myself thinking about the morning Bryan and I along with friends and family anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first 3 varietals of grapes, Sangiovese, Vermentino and Tempranillo.  It seemed as though we had waited an eternity for the ground to be ready for the vines to be planted.  It truly took a village to set every end post, anchor, rebar, t-post and 20 miles of wire.  As the truck pulled in the overwhelming feeling of “this is really happening” came over us.   As the vines were coming off the truck we were elated by how much greenery was on each vine.  The look on Bryans’