Wines I'm Making: Malolactic Fermentation Initiated (November 3, 2013)

I started malolactic fermentation today in the Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc wine that's been fermenting in the living room. The alcoholic fermentation has mostly finished, so it's time to get the malolactic going. I added two 125ml packets of the Wyeast brand malolactic culture to my 8 gallons of new wine. As malolactic bacteria can be finicky, I've wrapped the carboys in blankets and inserted a small electric blanket between them, which is what I've always done, even though this Wyeast strain says it will remain active at a temperature as low as 55 degrees. In the winter months, the house temperature generally ranges from about 58 degrees to 68 degrees, but warmer will be better, I imagine. Malolactic fermentation can take anywhere from four to 12 weeks. After about six weeks, I'll test the wine to see how it's coming along.

Wines I'm Making: 2013 Grapes--So Far, So Good

The 2013 grapes look good so far. The clusters have taken on full color by now. The grapes are netted. The electric fence around them has been on for a couple weeks now. So far, critters haven't shown much interest in them. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to harvest everything that's on the vines. Fruit set was good this year. I expect we'll get a fair amount of fruit. The 32 vines in the back yard have yielded anywhere from about 90lbs to a little over 200lbs over the years. I expect we'll be at the high end of the range this year. We probably have about six weeks to harvest now.

Plants I'm Growing: Summer Bounty (July 26, 2013)

The summer of 2013 has been a good one in the garden. We had wonderful early figs and a second crop is forming. The "Santa Rosa" plum tree produced several hundred delicious fruits. There is fruit on the "Dapple Dandy" pluot tree for the first time in years, Apples and pears are on the way. The "Flavor Queen" pluot is heavily laden with fruit (above). The new vegetable garden where the lawn used to be is producing greens, and the first tomatoes are just ripening. Edamame and green beens will be ready soon. We've had summer squash and zucchini and more lemon cucumbers than we can consume. The grapes, which set a lot of fruit this year, are just beginning to show some color in the past couple of days; veraison, as the French call it, has just begun. I've finished clearing weeds and debris from under the vines. The electric fence around the grapes is working and turned on. Time to get the nets on--before the critters begin to show interest in the fruit.

Plants I'm Growing: The Garden in April (April 29, 2013)

The garden is full of flowers at the moment. For about four years I kept a detailed record of the first date of bloom of each flower species in the garden (2009 to 2012). Somehow I didn't have the energy to keep up this year. So, here I note simply that much is in bloom now.

The Wisteria has just finished. The climbing roses are all in full bloom, with "Flutterby" having started first, the old-fashioned pink climber on the back fence--the laggard among them--just coming into bloom now. "Altissimo" and "Sally Holmes" are at peak. The bush roses "Cocktail" and "Easy Livin'" are in full bloom. Most of the Ceanothus varieties are finishing. The neglected German iris (they need to be lifted, replanted, and fertilized--I can never remember what time of year to do that, and so they languish) are blooming sporadically but could do much better.

Candytuft is fading, but the Rhododenron called "Noyo Dream" is coming into bloom and the large white Rhododendron with a name like "King George" has bloomed convincingly this year for the first time. Rhododendrons are also blooming at the front of the house, under the bamboo. Echium gentianoides is in full flower (pictured). Salvia Chamaedryoides, a similar shade of blue, is just beginning to open, and a patch of garden sage I'd forgotten about behind the house is blooming as well. Most of the rock roses are in flower. Phlomis fruiticosa (Jerusalem Sage) is blooming, and the other Phlomis species are either just coming into bloom or will be covered with flowers soon. The Rosa chinensis mutabilis on the side of the house (a large, blousy, multi-colored, single-petaled rose) is beautiful this year. I wish I could remember the name of this little mallow-like flower (below) that has spread itself all around the shady parts of the garden.

Before long, the dry summer will rob us of much of the color, but it's all very pretty right now.

Wines I'm Making: Shoot Thinning and First Sulfur Spraying (April 27, 2013)

Over the weekend (April 27) I thinned the shoots on the grape vines. The longest shoots are already about 18 inches long. I left two shoots to each node except on the strongest vines, where I have always left twice that many with no apparent ill consequences. On the one or two weaker vines, I leave one in the hopes that that will encourage a strong cane as a foundation for next year's growth. The vines generally look healthy and strong, though. I did the first sulfur spraying as well. So far everything looks good. This year, 2013, will be our tenth vintage.

Wines I'm Making: The Vines Have Awakened (April 10, 2013)

Warm weather the past few days has coaxed leaves out of the sleeping grape vines. As usual, the Sangiovese vines are ahead of the Cabernet vines. The Sangiovese sprouts are a couple of inches long, the largest leaves as big across. The Cabernet Franc vines are showing a little green. Buds on the Cabernet Sauvignon vines look just about ready to burst. A new year of winemaking begins. 2013 will be our tenth vintage.