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May 31, 2005
Vineyard Updates
I spoke with both Barbour Vineyards (Butterdragon Hill) and Pina Vineyard Management (Baconbrook) over the last couple of days. Both of our vineyards are doing well and have weathered the extremely rainy spring.
Baconbrook is in full flower now and looks to have a heavy crop. We'll have a better fruit estimate in a couple of weeks. The cover crop is extremely high and needs mowing again. Normally, we try to only have to mow once but all the wet weather has created a jungle of grass as well as vine growth. Pina will go through and spray to prevent mildew again this week. This is a follow up spraying to one they did about 10 days ago.
Butterdragon Hill does not look to have a especially large crop but the clusters seem to be forming well and uniformly across the vineyard. Barbour went through tying and tucking the canes up in to the trellis system. This practice will allow for more even sunlight getting to the flowers and vines. Some vineyards in the valley have had issues this year with capping where the flowers are supposed to shed their protective caps but the process is interrupted by the young flower clusters being wet. Barbour has seen no evidence of capping at Butterdragon.
We've also added a second set of drip lines down the rows at Butterdragon Hill. This addition will allow us to irrigate the bottom of the vineyard separately from the top which should improve quality overall and give us the ability to manage our irrigation more effectively. The soils at the bottom of the hill are thinner than towards the top meaning that they typically retain less water. In previous vintages, it was all or nothing regarding irrigation. Now, if the bottom needs irrigating, but the top doesn't, we can better pinpoint the need.
The 10 day forecast for St. Helena is for sunny days with highs in the upper 70's and lows around 50. Perfect growing weather!
Posted by matchvineyards at May 31, 2005 02:02 PM
May 26, 2005
Tasting: 1999 Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon
I've found that most 99 CS from Napa are still pretty tight requiring vigorous decanting or more cellar time. That's not the story with the 1999 Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon. From the get-go, this wine showed beautiful berry fruit, cassis, and pleasant oak notes. Substantial tannic structure is there, promising that it's best days (+2-3 years) are still ahead, but everything is so well balanced, that we enjoyed it tremendously now. It passed the "wife sip test" -- where my wife takes a sip from my glass to check out what I'm drinking and then she keeps coming back to my glass for more. Lovely coffee and chocolate flavors are just below the surface. Great wine, made even greater by the friendly price I paid of $30. Highly recommended.
Posted by matchvineyards at May 26, 2005 09:01 AM
May 22, 2005
Spring 2005 shipping window starting to close
With warmer weather settling over much of the country, we are starting to close the shipping window for some locations. There is still time for some locations to receive your wine prior to Autumn, but you should ship to a business address using 2 Day Air. Not only is using a business address less costly for you, it ensures someone is able to sign for your wine on the first attempted delivery.
Any orders that are held up because of weather will be processed and your wine will be reserved for you until the weather cools off later in the year.
Posted by matchvineyards at May 22, 2005 07:00 PM
May 19, 2005
Match gets Land Use Permit to build winery
Thursday was a big day for us. We received our Land Use Permit from Napa County to build a beautiful winery designed by Backen Gillam Architects on Butterdragon Hill. Stay tuned. Although we've had nothing but good experiences custom crushing at Rombauer, we look forward to the day when our wine has its own home.
Posted by matchvineyards at May 19, 2005 04:10 PM
May 17, 2005
Free Delivery to All Ways Cool and 55 Degrees
If you're looking for a place to store your collection in Wine Country for later consolidation and shipping OR if you live in a "challenging" shipping state (and you know who you are) read on...
We are pleased to add another free shipping destination. Now, in addition to offering free delivery of your Match to 55 Degrees in the Napa Valley, we also offer free delivery to All Ways Cool in Sonoma.
You must already be a member of 55 Degrees or All Ways Cool for us to ship your wine to these locations, so please contact them first before ordering. Free delivery offer applies to a minimum 3 bottle purchase.
Posted by matchvineyards at May 17, 2005 11:01 PM
May 10, 2005
Photo: Baconbrook looking SW
Posted by matchvineyards at May 10, 2005 07:54 AM
Photo: Baconbrook looking east over St. Helena
Posted by matchvineyards at May 10, 2005 07:51 AM
May 04, 2005
Barrel Tasting 5/13/05
We'll be hosting a few people for a barrel tasting of 2003 and 2004 Match wines on Friday, May 13th at 11:30AM. If you are going to be in the neighborhood of Rombauer in the Napa Valley (where we make and store our wines) you can sign up to join us.
Posted by matchvineyards at May 04, 2005 09:03 PM
Match is "found" by other blogs
We'd like to welcome visitors referred from a couple of other blogs.
Tom Wark's Fermentations web log gave us a nice nod the other day. Tom runs a marketing communications firm specializing in the wine industry. I've just scratched the surface, but Tom's blog looks like an interesting read with a lot of good information about wines and the wine industry.
Speaking of a lot of information...
Professor Stephen Bainbridge at ProfessorBainbridge.com has a lot to say about "law, economics, Catholicism, politics and current events, dogs, and photography." Whew! After writing about all that, I would need a glass of wine. Professor Bainbridge must feel the same way because he writes extensively about wine on his wine-themed blog. The good professor correctly points out in his posting about Match that blogs should be updated often. I know, I know, Prof, but I just can't get these vines to grow any faster or the wine to age any quicker. Seriously, although some have suggested that the Vintner's Journal blog idea is an identifying niche in the crowded world of new wineries, I see it simply as a way I can answer the question I'm so often asked: What's it like to start and run a winery? The blog software provides an easily updateable way that I can post in diary format and give our customers a way to comment.
Should I have anything else to say about other topics, I'll be sure to post it here.
Which reminds me... have you seen a picture of our dog?
Posted by matchvineyards at May 04, 2005 06:06 PM
Rain, rain, go away... soon.
Yes, it's raining again in Wine Country.
Many people, including myself, have wondered what effect this unusually wet winter and spring will have on the upcoming growing season. I had the chance to talk with our vineyard manager Jim Barbour yesterday and ask him what he thought. "It's a good thing... as long as it stops," he said. The extra precipitation this year will allow us to delay irrigation until possibly late June - early July and let the grapes get their moisture the old fashioned way. Now, if the rains don't stop by the time flowering begins, it could cause shatter and reduce crop size by a significant amount. Jim doesn't think powdery mildew (a mildew that can grow on the grapes if they are kept moist) is a danger at this time.
Another effect of all the moisture that will be in the soil is once the sun does come out and it warms up, the vines are going to shoot up and produce leaves like nobody's business. The vineyard will look like a jungle for a while since we'll let them exert some excess energy and moisture before hedging them shorter. We'll also let the cover crop grow for a while before mowing to bleed off even more excess. It's a balancing act.
The vineyard crews will go through Butterdragon this next week for "suckering" where they pull off extraneous shoots from the vines.
Posted by matchvineyards at May 04, 2005 05:43 PM
May 03, 2005
Photo: Looking down over Butterdragon Hill Vineyard
Posted by matchvineyards at May 03, 2005 10:21 PM
