Wine Club Newsletter
Summer 2021
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For the 2021 newsletters we thought we would take you through the process of creating our wines over the course of the year. We will look at picking decisions in the vineyards, fermentation variables such as yeast selection, skin contact, and aging, blending and bottling choices. Hopefully, we will give a sense of how we craft our style of wines, for example, discussing how to achieve balance through clonal selection and other blending options. Finally we will take a look inside a mobile bottling line at the technology of the packaging process and how it impacts the wines. We will begin our journey in early spring which puts us right in the middle of the pruning season. |
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Preview your upcoming Club Shipment:
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Gustavo Infante, Vineyard Manager
Gustavo has been with the Mahoney Family since 1984, and has been the Manager of Vineyard Operations for over a decade. He has been involved in the planting of every single vine on both of our Estate vineyards! If you ask most winemakers, we will admit that great wines require great fruit, and that quality is determined on the vine, not created in the cellar. Gustavo’s experience and attention to detail are key factors driving the quality of our Mahoney Family Vineyards wines. In addition, he is an absolute pleasure to work with, always cheerful, always ready to help with any project, while always keeping a keen and watchful eye over his vineyards!
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Cane and Cordon Pruning
The goal of grapevine pruning is to maximize both yield and quality of the fruit while maintaining the structure and health of the vine. Pruning can take place at many different times of the year depending on the region, varietal or ambitions of the grower and or winemaker. A common time for pruning is between December 1st and March 1st. It is important to achieve balance in a vine. If a vine has too much vigor it may have difficulty ripening fruit. High vigor may also promote diseases such as bunch rot and powdery mildew. Vines that are over cropped may permanently weaken the plant resulting in early vineyard turnover. An unbalanced vine will produce inferior wine.
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Cane Pruning
Small cluster varietals such as Pinot Noir are often pruned using the cane method. During harvest each arm will have produced multiple shoots. The strongest shoot is selected for next year's crop because the buds are likely to be more fruitful. The basal and apical buds on a cane are generally less fruitful than the buds in the middle. Canes should be cut according to the varietals needs, between 8 and 12 buds usually. An additional cane is selected to become a spur and be cut to 1, 2 or 3 buds depending on the current shoot length and vigor of the vine. This spur will become the next year's cane and spur. Spurs are always basal. There are several reasons cane-pruning may be preferred to cordon-pruning. One reason is that you are not restricted to the basal buds and may use the more fruitful buds of the middle portion of the cane. Cane pruning also allows for fewer cuts to be made and restricts cutting for the most part to one year old wood reducing the chance of Eutypa lata. Cane selection requires skilled pruners to maintain proper vine structure.
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Cordon Pruning
Cordon-trained, spur pruned vines use a permanent horizontal structure that extends from one or both sides of the main trunk that stay in place along the fruiting wire year after year. Each permanent arm has spurs that grow vertically every six to eight inches. The length of the cordon arms is usually determined by the vigor of the vine but they often contain between six and eight spurs per arm. Cordon pruned vines offer a strong, rigid structure, and are often used for large cluster or heavy-bearing varietals, such as Zinfandel. This system can certainly be used on many other varieties, including Pinot Noir, and was the original pruning method for all of the Las Brisas Vineyard. Over time, however, production on cordons can become uneven, and much of our Pinot at Las Brisas and Mahoney Ranch is now cane pruned. Some of our Vermentino vines are still Cordon pruned. Pruning is relatively simple, as spurs on the Cordon are simply cut back to two buds in late winter or early spring, which reduces total time and labor.
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Photo by Ian Hill
Have you ever wondered how or why grapevines are able to attach themselves to trellis structures or almost anything? It's called Thigmotropism (the turning or bending of a plant or other organism in response to a touch stimulus).
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In the search for precious sunlight, instead of growing sturdy trunks to reach towards the light, climbing plants such as sweet peas and grapevines cling to their surroundings and then heave themselves upwards. Scientists have now cracked how some plants do this, and in the process they have created a new kind of spring.
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New email signups will receive 15% ofFon their first purchase,
so share this newsletter with friends (and prepare to be adored)!
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Cellar News May, 2021 The last couple of months have been relatively quiet in the cellar, with the usual tasks of topping barrels, and making a couple of blends. Next month, however, we plan to bottle several wines, including our 2019 Estate and Mahoney Ranch Pinot Noirs, and the first-ever Mahoney Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2018 vintage. The Cabernet grows on a hilltop at Mahoney Ranch, in somewhat lean, rocky soils, and 2018 was the first crop from those vines. The wine was fermented in small open-top tanks, hand punched down, and left on the skins for a full month.
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Spring Lamb with Mint Sauce
For our summer pairing we chose Mahoney Family Vineyards,
Carneros Pinot Noir, Las Brisas Vineyard 2016
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INGREDIENTS
- lamb chops (rib chops versus loin chops if possible)
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked pepper
- oregano
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lemon wedges (cut the pretty way)
- mint sauce (recipe below)
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INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the broiler to high for a good 20 minutes if possible. Meanwhile, bring your lamb chops to room temperature (the 20 minutes while the broiler is preheating is fine).
- Season both sides all over with salt, pepper and oregano. Place on a broiling pan.
- Broil 3 minutes a side. Pile onto a platter. Let rest for at least five minutes. Drizzle mint sauce lightly over top or pass on the side. Serve lemon wedges on the side, too.
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Mint Sauce
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups loosely packed mint
- 2 cups loosely packed parsley
- 1 to 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 teaspoons capers
- 16 cornichons, optional
- pinch salt
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- pinch sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
Process mint and parsley leaves in a food processor until finely chopped. Scrape down side of processor. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar, olive oil, capers, cornichons (if using), pinch each of salt, pepper and sugar, and process to combine. Taste. Add the additional tablespoon of vinegar if necessary (I always do) and more salt, pepper and sugar if necessary. Process again, taste, adjust, etc. Transfer to serving bowl.
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The Artist behind Fleur de California Labels |
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milly acharya
(milly prefered her name not to be capitalized)
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In 2014 we made the difficult decision to change our Fleur de California wine label. By chance we stumbled onto Ms. acharya’s artwork, we were absolutely stunned and amazed at the beauty she was able to create with her watercolors, each one taking between 500 to 800 hours. We contacted milly by phone, at the time she lived in Ithaca, New York, and expressed our hope that she would grant us permission to use her paintings on our labels. She could not have been more gracious. We will be forever grateful for her kindness, we love our new labels. Thank you milly.
milly acharya passed away on February 27, 2019
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milly acharya original "Lathyrus odoratus" |
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Our New Spring Release Rose 2020
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Click on the Image to Play
this Beautiful Jigsaw Puzzle.
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