Git Along, Little Dogies

Lulu and some other dogies in repose at the Adams Ranch


While I do enjoy the challenge of balance, I've taken to stacking these cairns mostly for the well being of our mower. I can't tell you how many times (especially while mowing the Lake Block) that the tractor has breezed past a football-sized hunk of stone only to hear a "ker-chlunk!" as it gets scooped up into the blades of the mower. Lulu has been wise to keep her distance. Shards of sandstone have gone whizzing past her head more than once. Good girl, Lulu.

I'll be heading cave side tomorrow to check in on the 2017 and 2018 Ledge vintages. We will bottle the Adams Ranch and James Berry 2017s soon. The 2018s have recently gone through malolactic ferentation and are really starting to shore up flavor wise. We are very excited to share these new wines with everyone. The 2017s will include the usual suspects: Adams Ranch Vineyard, James Berry Vineyard, Rolph Family Vineyard and the amalgamation of all of those vineyards in the MCA Cuvée, the only non-vineyard designate in the batch. The 2018s will see the same lineup with the addition of a Bien Nacido 100% Syrah. Stoked!

Ranch wise, the nursery has been transplanted and the vineyard soil is plenty saturated. We designated the Bunkhouse Block as a field blend, with Syrah, Grenache, Counoise, Cinsaut and Roussanne planted for the estate red blend, and Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Clairette for the estate white blend. Ultimately we pick these grapes together in order to coferment them, but it is entirely likely that we will pick them seperately for optimum ripeness.

For those in the Los Angeles area, I will be pouring at Mission Wines in Pasedena this Friday the 12th. I look forward to seeing some old pals and of course making some new ones.

Arrivederci, 

MCA