Crosscut Saw

There have been spinning blades a'plenty here at the Adams Ranch.

I've been mowing the vineyard like a bat out of hell almost weekly and today I thought it would be a good idea to lube up the the ol' chainsaw and and clean up massive sections of a recently injured valley oak.

The branches that fell are bigger than many of the trees on the property.

My back is angry with me.

My blood pressure is high and I am an insomniac.

I sprained my eye, your honor.

I have tractor butt.

Do you mind if I belly ache some more?

I won't do it. 

Life is too good!

While I am feeling my age, the vineyard is looking better than ever.

My wife is a total rock star who runs the business like a champ. 

She answers almost all of your emails.

God bless her.

Be nice to her.

To top it all off we will be bottling the 2017 James Berry Vineyard and the 2017 Adams Ranch Vineyard wines next Thursday.

More and better pictures next week. 

Oh, and for the record, we are both readily available by phone and email.

My cell phone is on the bottle and we both receive the emails that go to this inbox:

info [at] ledgevineyards.com

Talk to me goose.

May 29, 2019 at 11:11 AM Permalink

I'm the Map

Where are all of our grapes grown? See the map below! 

Please note that the varietals listed are grapes that have been included in current or past vintages of Ledge wines.
Most of these vineyards grow a wide range of varietals, not only those listed. 

James Berry Vineyard (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvédre and Roussanne):
Southwest quadrant of the Willow Creek District

Adams Ranch Vineyard (Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne, Cinsaut, Counoise, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc):
Southwest quadrant of the Willow Creek District

G2 Vineyard (Grenache Blanc and Tannat):
Southwest quadrant of the Willow Creek District

Dante Dusi Vineyard (Zinfandel):
Central Templeton Gap District

Rolph Family Vineyard (Grenache, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel):
Central Adeliada District



Bien Nacido Estate (Syrah):
Santa Maria Valley AVA
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY



 

May 22, 2019 at 11:11 AM Permalink

We've Only Just Begun

Greetings from Rainy Templeton,

No joke. It's May 15th and it's raining.

On with the show!

We usually base the titles of these blogs on songs.

We then try to tie them back into the story of Ledge Vineyards, the Adams Ranch or the wines.

This partcular excercise in reverse-storytelling is like an old-timey version of the game Six Degress of Kevin Bacon.

The following is what we learned tonight after choosing the title of this blog. 

The number-one hit song "We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters debuted on a wedding-themed television commercial for Crocker National Bank in California in the winter of 1970.

The founder of Crocker National Bank, Charles F. Crocker, was also a Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  

Southern Pacific was connecting the railroad between San Fancisco and Los Angeles in the late 1880's.

The town of Templeton, California was named for Charles Crocker's only son, Templeton Crocker.

Templeton, California was a bustling stage coach town before the railroad was completed.

Ledge Vineyards and the Adams Ranch Vineyard are based in Templeton, California.

Templeton Crocker wrote the first American Opera produced in Europe.

Ledge Co-Founder Ciera Lamborn (Adams) earned a Doctorate in Classical Music from UCLA and has performed in numerous professional opera productions.

She also likes trains.

Until next time.

Keep on Chugging,
 
Mark & Ciera Adams

---

Sharing horizons that are new to us
Watching the signs along the way
Talkin' it over, just the two of us
Workin' together day to day
Together
Together

---

Mark Adams at the Kimberly Jones Selections Portfolio tasting, Downtown Los Angeles 5/13/19
Photo: Ciera Adams

May 15, 2019 at 11:11 PM Permalink

Templeton Gap

Lulu and I had an awesome walk.

The poor girl gets a bit tuckered in the tall weeds, so we rested often and took plenty of photographs. 

The Templeton Gap influence is really something to behold, but there are at least two other chambers of Zeus-like winds howling from the west.

The Tablas Creek blog is a better authority. 

Adams Ranch
May 8th, 2019 6pm-ish
Paso Robles, Willow Creek District 

Looking toward Cambria, CA (time lapse)

Looking toward Cayucos, CA.



Looking toward Creston, CA.


 

May 8, 2019 at 11:11 PM Permalink

You Are My Sunshine feat. Les Poissons

Aaaand they're off!

With 4 inches to 2 feet of shoot growth and fan-like leaves in all of our mature blocks, the vines are absolutely going off. The babies from the nursery are also taking well to their new homes in the vineyards. Their little solar panel leaves are out, but the shoots are yet to reach for the sky. By next week that will change. 

In other news, on Monday I was honored to be a part of a round table at Saxum with Justin Smith and world-renowned French wine consultant Phillipe Cambie, who blended a wide array of Saxum barrel samples for the purpose of the Justin Smith / Phillipe Cambie project called Downstream, now in it's third vinatge.  While I have been invited to the blending sessions for all three vintages, it is always an honor to taste through these (around 20) barrel samples and soak up the intelligence and experience of these two masters. This wine, like Saxum is a wine that will be incredibly difficult to procure, but let me not dissuade you. Seek it out. Get on the list. The final blend is other worldly, fresh, complex and elegant. 

I've been meaning to open up comments on this blog, but the damn robots and spammers have me down. Let me know what you think via email here: info@ledgevineyards.com

I'll probably open up the comments soon anyway and fight the bots off like zombies.

I can take 'em.

Later days and better ways...
MCA

Estrella Clone Syrah Solar Panel

The Downstream Team, L to R: Phillipe Cambie, Justin Smith, Sasha Verhage

May 1, 2019 at 11:11 AM Permalink