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Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
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Integrated Pest Management: It’s A Bug’s Life
When most people look at a vineyard, they see an orderly series of vine rows marching off to a distant vanishing point. But for Kirk Grace, Vineyard Manager at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, the sight is something more akin to the movie “A Bug’s Life.” He knows that beneath the neatness and symmetry there is a wealth of activity —animal, plant, and insect life. It’s a world-within-a-world, and although most people are unacquainted with it, in spring, it preoccupies Kirk on a daily basis.
Irrigation: Turning Water into Wine
As every home gardener knows, water is crucial to the success of any plant-growing endeavor. But in grape growing, the application of water – or irrigation – is the single most influential tool growers have to affect the desired outcome of a particular vintage. Too much water and the grapes will produce an insipid, vegetal wine; too little water and the wine will be overly tannic and astringent. It’s a fine line, and it’s one that Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Vineyard Manager Kirk Grace walks every day.
The Chase Creek Restoration: Good for the Environment, Good for the Vineyards
Talk to any viticulturist or vineyard manager today, and you’re as likely to hear about ecosystems and wildlife habitats as you are about rootstocks and clones. In the last two decades there has been a sea change in the way California vineyards are farmed. Today, viticulturists focus not only on the grapevines and the crop, but on the environment around the vineyard and adjacent habitat as a whole. The effect has been two-fold: more vibrant, natural ecosystems, and healthier vineyards.
Does Vine Age Matter?
If you read wine labels, one of the terms you’re bound to come across eventually is old vines. The implication, of course, is that old vines make better wines, but is this really true, or is it simply a romantic notion? Like many issues in the world of wine, it depends on who you ask.
A Tale of Two Harvests: Harvest Report 2007
If you ask Winemaker Nicki Pruss or Vineyard Manager Kirk Grace about the 2007 harvest, they might ask you “which one?” That’s because they both see 2007 as having two very distinct phases: before and after the intense heat spike of late August - early September. Kirk calls it the “two full moons harvest,” because both phases were clustered around full moons that occurred in late August and late September.
Community
“Just opened a bottle of 1978 Cabernet Sauvignon last night, pulled from a friends cellar a generous friend, I might add. The cork broke and the initial pour was questionable. Within fifteen minutes, the second pour was a revelation, with a dark, black fruit nose mingled with olive tapenade and spice. The palate was strutting a lush mouthfeel and plenty of fruit. This wine caught everyone by surprise, and was a joy to consume. At 13 percent alcohol, this wine still has a life ahead of it. ”
“We drank the Fay Block 7 from the May (wine club shipment) and felt it was one on the best Napa Cabs we have ever had!
Editor's note: This wine is only available to wine club members and guests of the winery.”
Auctions
South Beach
Wine & Food Festival
Silent Auction
- Miami, FL - February 25, 2010
Sotheby's New York
- March 20, 2010