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Halloween at Michael Florentino Cellars!
Video of the Halloween release party at Michael Florentino Cellars. They released a Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Frank and a Petite Verdot. With a special guest appearance of Gene Simmons and Father George, everyone had a “spooky” good time!
Birth of a Vineyard!
Vines waiting to be planted
We have finally done it! Jay and I planted a real test block of grapes vines! At the end of April we headed over to Inland Dessert in Benton City WA to pick up our vines. 100 in total: 25 Malbec, 25 Cabernet Franc, 25 Pinot Noir and 25 Pinot Blanc. Then, the following week, in early May, we finally planted them, about
First vine planted!
one month late, but luckily the ground is still quite moist and plants are still dormant. I had no idea how long it would take to plant them, but we finished in just 6 hours! Now, I have an idea of what it will be like to plant the next planting. But what to plant next?
At our next visit, a month later, a fairly large percentage of the vines had started to break bud or just plain leafed out and started to “vine up”! The straglers of the bunch, oddly enough, were the Malbec. Strange, becuase of all the varities we planted, the Malbec had the largest, beefiest root systems.
The vineyard one month later.
Our next visit, which will be Fourth of July weekend, is greatly anticipated as the weather has heated up a bit, with a few days already reaching up into the low eighties!
In July, we are taking a much needed vacation in Canada, just over the border, up the Canadian side of the Okanagan Valley to check out their many wineries. I see lots of both Pinot Noir and Blanc listed, as well as some lesser know varities like Kerner, a German hybrid. Ice wines and late harvest are also on the list of wines to check out!
Hopefully, the next time I post, I will have even more growth to show off, provided I have set the irrigation to enough time and frequency. We shall see!
Cabernet Franc blooms!
Laurelhurst Cellars
Laurelhurst Cellars
For my birthday last Saturday, a bunch of us “Underground Winos” hit a few wineries in South Seattle and the highlight for me was Laurelhurst Cellars. Greg Smallwood, owner/vintner lead us through his 08′ Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and 06 Red Mt. Syrah and Laurus Nobilis. We also were treated to a barrel sample of his 09′ Petite Syrah, not something you see much of in Washington state. It’s tasting pretty good right now, but I imagine when he bottles and releases it, it will be fantastic! All of them are outstanding but clearly amongst the “Winos”, the favorite of the day was the 08′ Cabernet Franc! Crafted from Boushey, Kiona and Burgress Vineyard grapes. For a wine that has been aged in 80% new French oak it did not come off as “too oaky”, I would say the oak, alcohol and fruit flavors are nicely balanced. Definitely a great representative of the varietal! There was only 89 cases produced so better get some soon!
5608 7th Ave. S. Seattle, WA. 98108 Phone: 206-992-2875Analogue Vineyard June 2010
penstemen
Garage with new power pole
sunset
trailer with glowing lights
This visit out to the property is very special because for the first time we have both running water and electricity! It’s amazing! You turn a light on in the trailer and it actually comes on! Sounds silly I know, but we have been roughing it there for over 2 years! I finally got around to bring out some paint samples. Think I am going with the middle shade of yellow. Now if I can convince Jay on it. And on a sad note, all of the vines I planted are pretty much dead. Oh, well, I guess I will have to wait till next spring. Now if I could finalize what to plant. As of right now, my thoughts are Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Petite Sirah and perhaps Petite Verdot. Still have to research the last two. Sometime in July is our next trip. Hopefully to paint the garage and to clear out more sage brush and less on the weed control!
The View from Analogue Vineyard 