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Full Moon Fever
Fun news for the three people who read this blog:
Ledge is expanding into Santa Barbara County.
Why?
We are exploring our roots, literally.
Our first planting of Syrah (own rooted in sandy soils) is called the Estrella clone and it was propagated from the Bone Rock Block at James Berry Vineyard, a vineyard that was literally jackhammered into heavy limestone soils. The JBV Bone Rock Syrah was propagated from a vineyard called Bien Nacido in Santa Barbara County, one that enjoys the combined terroir of the ocean, the desert, the river, groves of avocado and citrus, incredibly complex soils and I'm not sure but I think Jesus may still hang out around here on his days off.
All that said, when I visited this vineyard (thanks to Trey and Mike and Chris for giving us this opportunity) it tasted very much like my sensory memories of my Granparent's homes (on both sides) in Escondido, where Mom and Dad are from. The fruit gives essence of ocean and groves and OP shorts and strawberries and kumquats and orange fights and whipped cream and cousins and vacation.
This vineyard is the Adams Ranch Syrah's Grandparent, and we are totally stoked to make wine from this fruit. We will be bringing it in on the next full moon, October 24th, 2018.
Oct 17, 2018 at 11:47 PM
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Little Boxes on the Hillside
Big boxes acually, and a lot of them. Today was a humdinger. We picked, processed and pressed wine into barrel, which we call a "Triple P" day, which started at 6am and wrapped up a few moments ago around 10pm.
Git 'er done.
The past few days have been exciting ones for Ledge. We brought in the Adams Ranch Grenache, Rolph Family Grenache and Syrah and the glorious James Berry Vineyard Syrah, Grenache, Mourvédre and Roussanne, which we will combine together in one happy coferment.
There has been much conversation these days about the definition of various fruit quantities. As I become more adept at farming and winemaking these definitions have become clearer and clearer.
Allow me to break down what I am talking about:
It starts with a "Butt Load" which is not that much really, say, a few tons or so.
Next we have an "Ass Load" which would probably be in the 10 ton range.
Several "Ass Loads" would likely constitute a "Shit Load".
Once "Shit Loads" are multiplied you get to a "Fuck Load" which is getting into a hot mess, with grapes flying hither and thither.
As grapes are flying hither and thither and tractors and trucks keep delivering fruit the jargon moves to the Queen Bee of harvest measurements. You see, a "Load" is no longer an adequate way to define how much damn fruit is being processed. That's when you get to the final two: "Shit Ton" which is a maelstrom of "Fuck Loads" and when you start multiplying "Shit Tons" you get to a "Fuck Ton" which is a measurement which cannot really be measured by any instruments know to man. It's like a Laird Hamilton worthy monster wave of grapes that makes a vigneron scatch their head and think, "Holy hell, what we are dealing with here is a fuck ton of fruit."
I hope you enjoyed this little lesson in weights and measures.
Bye for now.
Oct 10, 2018 at 10:40 PM
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That Was a Good Drum Break
First Adams Ranch bottling, 2006 with (left to right) Olivia and Colin Smith, Sid (the dog), me, Ciera and Laura Kay.
Today was magical because we picked the 2018 Adams Ranch Syrah and Roussanne and we are even more excited now than we were then. Better yet, my brother, his wife and two boys, my wife, my daughter, Jordan Collins and good ol' Bobby Fox all helped deliver that beautiful fruit into a fermenter where all the magic happens. It's ticking away right now!
Harvest is on. Grapes are flying. So many grapes. It's exhilarating, exhausting and completely awesome. Sunrise after sunrise. Tractors, heavy lifting, forklifts, sorting tables and fermenters. This is what it's all about.
I can't wait for tomorrow.
Good night.
Sep 26, 2018 at 10:45 PM
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Keep on Moving
Not much of a story tonight folks, partly because harvest has begun and I'm a bit spent. Also I need to get my arse to a bachelor party for the rest of the weekend with one of my dearest college buddies down at Leo Carillo near Malibu. I am stoked to be back at the caves at Saxum, assisting my buddy and mentor Justin Smith, who joyfully encouraged the trek before the shit really hits the fan. Justin has known my buddy Arash since the 90s and knows what a special occasion this is. Best work environment ever.
Congrats Arash! We have pictures of you helping us plant the first Ledge block, but could not find them tonight. When we toss one up you will already be married : )
We pick about 7 tons for Ledge next week.
Everything looks great.
We're all pumped.
Sep 19, 2018 at 11:36 PM
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Still Crazy After All These Years
Ciera (Tammy Wynette) and her roomate Julie (Cher) in L.A., 2004.
The story of our vineyard and winery is built around the support of those who allowed (and even encouraged) us to dream big. To those who didn't mention how crazy it was to plant a vineyard without experience or financial backing. Thanks guys! We're still crazy after all these years.
Syrah cuttings prior to planting, Spring 2005
Trimming all of these sticks down to size was pure insanity. We did nothing but clip. As mentioned in the last blog, we called it our "A.B.C.s" or "Always Be Clipping". What wasnt mentioned was the "D" part of the equation. As the hours rolled on and our fingers began to blister our mantra became the "A.B.C.D.s" or "Always Be Clipping Drunk". My wife (then girlfriend) Ciera took most of the photos during this time, but she was there helping us clip away.
(l to r) Laura Kay Swanson, me and Tom Eaton. Thanks Guys!
After days of non-stop clipping came non-stop planting. I had the vineyard block surveyed wide - 72'x72' if I recall correctly, so we took a long tape and sunk popsicle sticks every three feet down the rows for vine placement. At each popsicle stick I pounded a hole in the ground with a heavy duty bar, where we put the vine cutting. Rinse. Repeat. Wipe hands on pants.
Pounding holes for vine cuttings
We had ample rain in this winter and you can see the saturation of the soil in the photos during this time. Thank heavens too, because it saved us huge amounts of time. Dry soil would have been our undoing.
A little baby Syrah cutting, popping out & yearning to be a vine!
We have a decent amount of video, and a lot of it is hilarious. We all had the right spirit. Good friends subjecting themselves to endless manual labor in order to play a game that can turn a rich man poor. Yes this was an almost idiotic, impossible dream, but it goes to show what one can achieve if they put their mind and body into it with all of their heart.
Mark and Ciera around the time of planting.
Sep 12, 2018 at 6:10 PM
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Brave New World
Preparing cuttings for planting, Spring 2005
Cut the knuckle, leave two nodes and soak the cuttings in rooting hormone overnight. Repeat 4,000 times. We invited a few friends to help "do our ABCs" as we called it, "always be clipping." I collected thousands of Estrella clone Syrah cuttings from the Bone Rock terraces at James Berry Vineyard over the course of a rainy February in 2005. I wrapped them in wet newspaper and black trash bags and threw them into the basement until spring. We plowed the field and did a wide survey of what is now known as the Ledge Block. The spacing was 8' by 3' and we would train them on a cordon, or a wire in a "T" formation with 6 spurs on each arm. We didn't have the end posts, wires or irrigation in place. We placed the block as close to the water well as possible, and planned to complete the infrastructure after planting.
Planting the Ledge Block, Adams Ranch Vineyard, Spring 2005.
Planting a vineyard from cuttings, or "own rooting" has its risks, but we have been lucky. Sites such as ours with sandy soils and exposure to coastal winds are resistant to pests like phylloxera, which can decimate an own rooted vineyard in heavier soils. We continue to propgate our vineyard from cuttings, and the sticks seen above have been bearing fruit (and wine) since 2008.
Ledge Block in late Spring 2005
Sep 5, 2018 at 1:48 PM
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Keep your hand on that plow and hold on
Aug 30, 2018 at 9:46 PM
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Let's Make Some Art!
Hard at work in the late 1990s
We made some pretty hilarious movies as kids at the ranch. Game shows, talk shows, phony phone calls, stop animation, crime dramas, fantasy, music videos, you name it. None of it was very good, but we were prolific and are still happiest in the creative realm.
I practiced music and filmmaking as a kid and on through college at Chico State, where I majored in Humanities, Cinema Studies, rock n roll and Sierra Nevada beer. Chico State was chosen after a statewide road trip with Justin Smith, who true to form, generously took me to visit a variety of college towns in order to help me decide. My knowledge of wine was minimal, but during my time at Chico State, (usually around Thanksgiving) I was gifted killer bottles of red wine from James Berry Vineyard, unlabeled but remarkable Rhône blends called "Barn Red" and "Farm Red". These early wines were very much like the JBV wines of today: balanced, inky, tannnic, ripe, floral and simply delicious. Those were good times up in Chico, but a move needed to be made and I chose Los Angeles to sniff out new creative opportunities.
After an embarrasing stint as a singing waiter at an Italian restaurant, I landed a job as an usher at the Regent movie theater which was was also a film production company. I was hoping to go from sweeping popcorn and tearing tickets to writing and scoring movies. I arrived to work early and stayed late and eventually was rewarded with jobs on several low-budget films in varying capacities, learning that a lack of money should never prevent one from executing their visions, especially at studios like Troma where their B-Movie battle cry is "Let's Make Some Art!" That mantra stuck with me even when I landed a solid job as a sound effects editor at Sony Pictures. I got myself a studio apartment near Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset Boulevard where I would eventually meet my wife. Everything had fallen into place, except for the fact that I was creatively stifled. To top it off, my plan to buy a ranch was about 30 years away were I to retire with earnings from the Editor's Guild.
My family was proud of my work at Sony, but I think they sensed that I wasn't content, and they welcomed my coming back to help develop the ranch the family already owned. Justin and I remained close and I sought his advice. Not wanting to be a copy-cat, I asked him about planting an orchard or some other non-grape crop on the property. He cautiously suggested that a small vineyard may be better and that he could show me the ropes in exchange for labor and some fruit when the time came. Delighted, driven and inspired, I prepared to move, but it was essential that I keep my Sony job in order to maintain a living wage. Over the course of many months I traveled from Los Angeles to Paso Robles on weekends, assisting at Saxum and learning the ways of a vigneron. It was around this time that I met my future wife, Ciera Lamborn, a Soprano at the Los Angeles Opera. She and I had what we affectionately called a "summer fling" that never fizzled. She was familiar with Paso Robles, but hadn't explored the countryside where the Adams Ranch is located. I think she fell in love with the Adams Ranch and the Willow Creek District almost as much as with me. My parents gave me their blessing to plant some grapes, I eventually became Saxum's first employee and I married Ciera, the love of my life and Ledge Vineyards visionary in her own right.
"What the hell." we figured, "Lets Make Some Art!"
Aug 29, 2018 at 5:00 PM
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Don't Order What You Can't Eat
Going out to eat was always a big deal. It was a treat to go into town to celebrate a monumental birthday with the whole family or a victorious ball game with the team at Foster's Freeze. I can still taste those crinkle-cut fries and softy frosties. These are some of my fondest childhood memories.
We especially loved going out to dinner with the Grandparents down in Escondido. They would always say, "Order whatever you want." Followed by one of the parental units saying,
"Don't order what you can't eat."
My modus operandi was to go with the former suggestion and load up, as this was a directive from on high ... from The Grandparents. The problem was, as prophesied, I usually wasn't able to finish my food, leaving a quarter to half of the plate untouched. But I always managed to smuggle the unwanted portion unnoticed to a dog under the table or into a cleverly placed napkin. That way, you see, I was still offered a sundae - with full honors!
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I have always been inclined to take on "too much", aim "too high", set lofty goals and dig myself into tunnels with no real escape plan. I have faith in well-intentioned ambition, self reliance and willful overindulgence with regard to an individual's perception of their purpose. I'd be blind to suggest that this is always healthy, as we see overwhelming evidence of toxic ambition, greed and vanity on the rise in America and all around the world.
With regard to Ledge and the Adams Ranch Vineyard, my wife and I venture into the intimidating world of wealthy wine growers with measured optimism, gratitude and vision, keeping our program simple, focused, respectful, sustainable and with a steady eye on the cherry at the top of life's sundae: love and family.
With practically no budget whatsoever, we planted fifteen acres of own rooted cuttings on a sandy ledge and are growing nuanced wines with unique personalities that vary dramatically from their cousins in the same area and of the same varietals. In many ways we have ordered more than we can eat, but we maintain that we don't have to conquer the wine world in one sitting, if at all.
We are deeply grateful to those who have joined our allocation list and to the many professional critics who have written glowing reviews of our wines. You are all helping us nibble away at what many have said was an impossible order to finish. We have already gotten there, we aren't going anywhere and drop us a line if you'd like to make an appointment to taste the wines.
May I be excused?
Click for Wine Wednesday
Aug 22, 2018 at 4:20 PM
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