Category: <span>Farms & Vineyards</span>
Halter Ranch | Great Wines, Beautiful Vineyards
[caption id="attachment_946" align="alignright" width="264"] Halter Ranch Wine[/caption] Halter Ranch is one of my favorite places on the planet. I adore Mitch & Leslie, their chickens, their crazy dog, and their commitment to the land and people. And you can never go wrong with a bottle of Halter Ranch anything. As many of you know, we just moved our office. It was brutal, but the fun part of it was rediscovering some old treasures and files. During the move, I found this Dave Eckert (Culinary Travels) DVD. He did a great job with this piece, and... [Read more...]
Hangin’ at Halter Ranch
We have long loved Halter Ranch with its 250 acres of winegrapes nestled into a 900 acre ranch teeming with wildlife, a giant coastal oak deemed Ancestor, and, of course, the lovely pond. With the new winery up and running this harvest, we decided to make a trip out to the ranch for a little tour. Halter's own winegrower Mitch Wyss never disappoints. The new winery is nothing short of impressive. My favorite feature is all of the stonework. Turns out that those beautiful rock walls are made with stone from the property! Mitch... [Read more...]
From KJ’s Kitchen
I always love food so here is a great share from Kendall-Jackson! At Kendall-Jackson, not only are we known for our amazing wines, we are also known for our heirloom tomatoes. We have been saving heirloom tomato seeds for the past 15 years and now have over 400 varieties of seeds saved. Each year, we plant approximately 175 heirloom varieties in our culinary gardens and invite chefs from all over to come and cook tomato-inspired dishes to pair with our wines at the annual Kendall-Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival. Read More >> [Read more...]
Vineyard Tour with Riverbench
I never shy away from the chance to learn something new and Saturday was no different. Sporting my new SIP hat**, I cruised down to Riverbench Vineyard & Winery in Santa Maria for a vineyard tour compliments of Central Coast Winegrowers Association (CCWGA). I was immediately impressed with the turnout (all ages and backgrounds) and the desire to learn from the other attendees. Jim Stollberg, Vineyard Manager for Riverbench and owner of Maverick Farming Company, led us into the vineyard first. Jim was the perfect tour leader. He's extremely knowledgeable and down to earth, allowing... [Read more...]
Wild Weather Wine Tasting
Snow in Paso? NBD. It is not like we were all standing outside in the freezing weather gawking at the little snowflakes as they touched down...and immediately melted. [caption id="attachment_789" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Stormy Aftermath"][/caption] Read More >> [Read more...]
A Tasty Training
Here at the Vineyard Team we spend most of our time on the farming side of wine making so we thought that we would get into the cellar and learn a little about tasting the fruits of our farmers' labors. The Team loaded up for a trip to Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos where the fabulous Amy Freeman offered to be our wine tasting teacher for the day. [caption id="attachment_773" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Our tasting training center"][/caption] We began by blindly testing our sniffers on a line-up of wines enhanced to smell like an individual characteristic... [Read more...]
September Farmers’ Market in Paso
[caption id="attachment_699" align="aligncenter" width="221" caption="Fall Veggies"][/caption] September seems like an interesting time in the world of agriculture, especially on the Central Coast where the lines between seasons are often blurred. On this late September day it feels like summer but there are signs of fall in the air. (The weather on this day can fluctuate easily between the two seasons. Record high for September 21st: 106 degrees, record low: 38 degrees.) So, I decided to head to the Paso Robles Farmers’ Market, held each Tuesday in the City Park downtown from 3-6pm to see what... [Read more...]
Falconry in the Vineyard – Super Sexy IPM
Falcons are used in a number of places as an Integrated Pest Management tool to address non-native avian problems. Did you know? Falcons dive at 250 mph (that is FAST!) Falcons are used to protect municipal water sources You might see Jim and the falcons at Pebble Beach Resorts before the big tournament I was thrilled to be invited by Hahn Family Wines to their demo of the avian abatement program in their Monterey County Santa Lucia Highlands vineyard. Jim and Kathleen from Tactical Avian Predators are amazing and taught us tons about the raptors, ... [Read more...]
Harvesting Veggies with Steinbeck Vineyards & Winery
What better way to start your morning than in the garden? Beth and I headed out of the office for a morning of vegetable harvesting at Steinbeck Vineyards' Vineyards Growing Veggies project site. We met with Cindy Steinbeck Newkirk of Steinbeck Vineyards and Winery and, after a quick tutorial, we were off to work! [caption id="attachment_612" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Straight off the vine - Beth's got a zucchini and a squash[/caption] [caption id="attachment_615" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mmm...nothing says summer more than a juicy cantaloupe![/caption] [caption id="attachment_644" align="aligncenter" width="300"] These winter squash will make a hearty dish![/caption] [caption... [Read more...]