The First Visit to "My" Vines at Raphael
Saturday morning, Nena and I battled the dreary weather on our way to Raphael to visit "my vines" for the first time, before sticking around for a barrel tasting of 2005 reds (more on that later this week).
Winemaker and managing director, Richard Olsen-Harbich met us in the winery and took us over to the row of cabernet franc vines that will be used to make the first LENNDEVOURS-labeled wine. We also learned that Rich went to college at SUNY Cobleskill, just outside of Nena's hometown. Small world when you consider the size of said hometown.
The row is right next to the parking lot (so I still have easy access to it when Rich isn't around) and is 50 or so ten year old vines. As Rich said that morning I've gone from not having kids to having 50 children.
Right now, there isn't a whole lot for me to do (the vineyard staff is taking care of much of the day-to-day work obviously) but, I'll be stopping by every week or two to take pictures and do a little weeding when necessary. I need to pick out a couple individual vines to take pictures of on every visit to chronicle their progress here on LENNDEVOURS.
The coolest thing (at least to me and so far) is that once the fruit sets, I'll be doing my own cluster thinning. Right now we think we're going to thin signifcantly, but time will tell.
Check back often as we watch "my vines" grow and bear fruit -- all on the way to making some tasty (I hope) vino.
About time! And I see the real lure was the barrel tasting! Just like every winemaker, content to sit in the cellar tasting (for professional purposes only, of course) while the "vineyard staff" takes care of the work.
Just kidding!
But it is too bad you aren't able to be there more frequently, especially early in the season, as the "kids" grow and change daily. It is an incredible thing, and very beautiful as well. The period from budbreak to set (and especially bloom) is one of my favorites in the vineyard.
Posted by: Ben | June 05, 2006 at 12:44 PM
Haha...well played, Ben. Well played.
I wish I could be there MUCH more often...and I'm disappointed that this was my first visit. But, I'll be out on the East End again next weekend...so I'll probably stop by.
Posted by: Lenn | June 05, 2006 at 12:51 PM
If you have a couple of pounds of grapes to spare, I'll make some Harvest Ale.
Posted by: Donavan Hall | June 09, 2006 at 01:33 PM