Vineyard 2020
We are sheltering in place due to the pandemic, but life goes on.
Sycamore Canyon
A nice little canyon near the AZ/MX border.
2018 in the Vineyard
Year 10 in the vineyard! It’s fun to see the growth in the spring.
Harvest 2015
I’m a bit late writing this. We just got busy with life and the time slips by. We had a good harvest this year. Mild weather and extra rain this winter combined with a wet spring to increase the early growth and the canopy went a little wild. Our total harvest was 1400lbs. Fruit quality…
Canopy management for hot climates
I thought I’d show the pruning technique I’m trying that I learned from Chano. The idea is to arrange/prune the morning side of the rows so they are vertical, for maximum sunlight exposure. Long canes are placed to overhang the afternoon side of each row, which is the left side of each row in the…
Harvest 2014
Wine Grape Harvest Hi All, This morning, Sunday July 27, 2014, I was up early at 4:30 AM along with 11 other hardy souls to begin the Great Grape Wine Harvest at Brett Cook’s back yard vineyard located in the Oro Valley area of Tucson, Arizona. The 12 grape picker/ harvesters were made up of…
June 2014 Update
I added three sets of double-catch wires this year, along with cross-arms. I placed two-foot long cross-arms at the top of the T-Posts, with a pair of wires running across the top. This lets the canes spread wide, allowing more light into the canopy. A foot below this set, is another set of steel wires,…
Harvest 2013
I just measured sugar levels today. The average is about 20 brix. This means it will possibly take another two weeks before the grapes are ready.
New bladder press
I decided to retire the basket press. It’s done a good job, but it was just a bit small. I think it holds about 20 l. This new press is 80 l and works off of household water pressure. I’m looking forward to trying it out. I thought I’d post a few pictures so folks…
Pruning 2013 Part 2
The weather finally warmed up. Since it’s the first of March, I think the threat of frost at this point is low, so I went ahead and pruned down to 2-bud spurs. I averaged a bit over 2lbs of pruning per vine when I took off the long canes (Part 1). According to the 20…
Pruning 2013
I started thinking about getting ready for spring this weekend and began pruning in anticipation. It looks like I was a bit premature – wishful thinking I guess. Take a look… Pruning 2013
Filter media from Critical Process
I uploaded a couple of data sheets for filters from CP that will work in the Enolmatic. They are: CPGGD1*0NOOO1E6 one micron nom pre filter (I like to use an EP seal, black in color, on the prefilter as an easy indicator for this filter) $ 41.65 ea CPFGD*40N0001S6 .45 micron nom final filter (silicone…
Crush 2012
We harvested around 1000 lbs of Barbera from our little backyard vineyard on 8/3/2012 and crushed them in our small Enoitalia crusher/destemmer. The numbers for this harvest were: pH=3.87 and TA=6.3 g/l Tartaric. Brix was 23 B. After adding 1g/l of Tartaric, ph=3.75. This is a bit high, but I can adjust again after malo-lactic…
Harvest 2012
We harvested almost 1000 lbs of grapes this Saturday. I’ve been busy managing the fermentation and haven’t had time to post pictures. I hope to do that soon. Cheers!