Sunshine Brings in the New Year!?!

January 11, 2012

Happy New Year everybody! It’s actually 2012, and I can hardly believe it. I guess time flies when you’re making Dam Fine Wine, right? As we all know, each New Year brings new opportunities, new problems and new solutions. 2012 has already proven to be an eventful year, starting out with what may be one of the driest winters on record. If you’re anything like me you too have had mixed feelings on the unusually warm and dry weather we have been experiencing. One side of me wants to throw on some shorts, go for a hike and soak up the cosmic rays, while the other side longs for snow in the mountains and water in our streams.

Due to the dry weather we have been forced to water our grapes, something that is usually a rarity this time of year. Without water, vines can dry out and young vines can even die (something we don’t want to happen). To offset the energy needed to water the grapes we have undertaken a new solar energy project out at our Dos Viñas vineyard on the East side of Paso Robles. The solar panels being installed will power the well used to water the vineyards along with the home located on the vineyard property. This effort is part of our continued commitment to sustainability in our vineyards and community.

Another project many of you may have noticed is the replanting of our Cobble Creek Vineyard surrounding the Tasting Room. Having grown up just down the street from the Tasting Room I am very familiar with the property and have never seen it without grapes, as the vines were over 30 years old. The current view definitely takes some getting used to but in the long run replanting the vineyard was something that simply needed to be done. The main reason for replanting, aside from the age of the vines, is a disease referred to as dead-arm or grape canker. Dead-arm is a disease of grapes caused by a deep-seated wood rot of the arms or trunk of the grapevine. As the disease progresses over several years, one or more arms may die, hence the name “deadarm”. Eventually the whole vine will die and we definitely don’t want that to happen! The new vines will continue to be organically farmed and will be Zinfandel just as they were before. Unfortunately, the new vines can’t be planted until all frost has ceased, so when you gaze upon the vacant vineyard take comfort knowing good things are on the horizon!

As farmers we constantly have to make due with the cards Mother Nature deals us. When the weather is dry we take advantage of the opportunity and prepare for our spring planting. There is never a dull moment in agriculture! With a little luck we’ll get some rain soon and I’ll be writing the next blog from the lodge in between ski runs!

Until next time,

Cheers,

Luke