Cowboys & Indians

A small group of Winemakers and Growers from the "Independent Grape Growers Of Paso Robles" met with Dr. Redi Redi at Rio Seco Vineyard and Winery to discuss the possible export of bulk wine to India. Indian Winemakers are particularly interested in the Paso Robles AVA fruit due to its superior quality. Including in the meeting was a tasting of Indian Wines from a region with the same climate as Paso Robles.

In attendance were Richard Sauret, President of IGGPRA, Jac Jacob of Sylvester Winery, Francesco Grande of Falcon Nest Winery and Tom Hinkle of Rio Seco Winery.The Winemakers offered their opinions and suggestions for improving the Indian wines. India has a burgeoning wine market and is looking to improve its quality by importing bulk wine from Paso Robles. Many aspects of the proposal were discussed in addition to the idea to possibly form a cooperative of Wine Grape Growers in Paso Robles.

Putting Your Vineyard To Bed

This month's seminar was conducted at Evenson's vineyard in San Miguel; the first speaker was Craig Swetland of Ultra Gro who spoke on th subject of utrints. His recomendations ddescribed the advantages of starting the unutrient progra imediietly after harvest by watering heavily then starting the ferilliation progrm making sure to include phosphorus and potassium. The former will serve as a sparkplug for all other nutrients while the latter acts as anifreeze later on. Combining these with nitrogen, jumic acid, other biologicals, etc has the advantage of quick absorbton to the plant while the soil is still warm and the vine has yet to go dormant.
The second subject delt with cover cropping and was addressed by Paul Crout of Farm Supply an described the two basic cover crops; legumes, eg. clover, peas, beans etc. that, while slower to germinate, have deeper roots, fix nitrogen and bloom thereby attracting man beneficial organism to the vineyard. The grass family are generally annuals having shallower roots but sprout and grow very quickly and upon being plowed in, offer ready compost and quick erosion protection. It was mentioned that these two types could be planted in alternate rows and alternated occasionally. Finally a talk and demonstration of two new John Deere tractors was offered by Galen O'Reilly.

CCWC IGGPRA Member Winners

2009 Central Coast Wine Competition

Best of Class Award Winners

 

 

BEST OF SHOW

2008 Robert Hall Viognier, Paso Robles

Featuring honeysuckle, orange blossom and sweet spice aromas, this Viognier displays stone-fruit flavors of apricot and white peach with a burst of mango tropical fruit flavor and a hint of tangerines

Pink

2008 San Marcos Creek White Merlot, Paso Robles

The “perfect summer wine…” ripe with the aroma of white stone peaches, pink grapefruit and hints of honeydew on the delightfully refreshing off-dry finish.

 

Fortified Red

2007 Cinquain Cellars Touriga & Tinto, Paso Robles

These luscious flavors of the Douro include ripe cherry fruit, black current, truffle and a hint of smoke.

 

Zinfandel

2006 Donatoni Winery Zinfandel, Croad Vineyards, Paso Robles

A Big, Bold, Peppery Zinfandel.

 

Putting Your Vineyard to Bed

The September seminar entitled "Putting Your Vineyard to Bed" will be held Friday Sept 4th from 9 am-11 am at Evenson's Vineyard 7455 Casey Dr. San Miguel. RSVP Clarence Elder 237-1894 by Sept 3rd. Topics will include cover crops, nutrients and farm equipment.

Blogs Offer Great Potential for Winery Promotion

The impact of a wine or vineyard blog offers a huge opportunity for marketing your business.

As referenced from the extract of the following article:
Do Wine Blogs Impact Your Brand? New Study Highlights Wine Blogger Activity
by By Liz Thach, Ph.D., SSU Wine Business Professor

"Do they really have an impact on a wine brand? According to a new study just completed by Sonoma State University Wine Business Institute, it appears that the answer is yes -- especially for wineries with less well-known brands or located in new and upcoming wine regions........"

Of all the wine blog categories; "Only 9% of the sample included Winery Blogs -- or those created by wineries to describe their wines and news at the winery. This illustrates an opportunity for more wineries to create their own blog. Other less frequent blog categories included Wine Business and Winemaking & Viticulture. The category of Other was created for those very unique blogs that didn't fit into major themes. Examples included "wine & hiking; wine & politics; wine under $20; and an emphasis on a specific grape, such as shiraz.

If you are considering starting your own winery blog, make sure to implement it in a professional manner. This means making sure to write new posts at least once a week, but preferably more often. It also means writing interesting stories about what is happening at the winery and other issues, rather than just trying to market your wine. Finally, it means monitoring and responding to the people who post on your blog."
viewer may access the full article at
http://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=66751

Social Gatherings of Paso Robles Grape Growers

Independent Grape Growers of Paso Robles celebrated two socials recently; in June we were graciously hosted by Rio Seco Winery for a dinner of BBQ ribs and smoked turkey breast. Thank you Tom and Carol Hinkle. August found us at the Laird's Kokopelli Vineyard where Dale Evenson feasted us upon tri tip and grilled chicken. Both parties had more than a hundred people each and allowed us to relax, network and enjoy each others company.

Wine Making Seminar Series

The "Let's make wine #2" was held at St. Hilaire Vineyard in Templeton where a continuation of the first wine making seminar was conducted. Participants were enabled to refine and polish the techniques learned earlier and resolve problems that had come up.

Managing Birds in the Vineyard

Independent Grape Growers of Paso Robles held another seminar for growers on May 22nd. This one covered the various means by which birds may be managed during grape ripening. All the common and some exotic means were discussed. The common, for example, included noise makers (propane "cannons"and recorded distressed bird cries), visual threats (stuffed owls and those big balloon "eyes") and predator bird houses in the vineyard - very effective. A more exotic means is to employ the services of a falconer-rather expensive but very effective. The conclusions drawn were that no single means of bird control is effective for long. Variations of means and locations of the means helps measurably. And the grower can only, at best, hope to move the flocks on to another location. Incidentally, harming the little darlings is illegal but a shotgun with blanks is effective while patroling the vineyard for other purposes.

New Board Members Elected

The election of five new board members was accomplished at the end of March. They are Clarence Elder, Ellene Elder, Milt Laird, Margaret Eurrel, Tom Hinkle. Roughly a dozen people applied for these five openings. To employ this eager highly qualified talent in the service of IGGPRA those people who did not gain board membership are being offered positions on a committe of their choice.

The seminar scheduled for May is "Dealing with Birds" on Friday May 22nd. Nine until noon at Luft Vineyard in Templeton. Bring a chair. Free to members. Contact Clarence Elder to RSVP 805 237-1894.

Independent Grape Growers of Paso Robles Area (IGGPRA)

IGGPRA was created in the fall of 2002. Silver Horse Vineyard and Winery hosted the first meeting. The mission and benefits of membership in the Independent Grape Growers of Paso Robles (IGGPRA) are the ready exchange of information through seminars and workshops, the availability of equipment, material and the support of other growers with the ultimate goal of producing the highest quality wine grapes. In March, we had an informative seminar put on by Joe Brody of the Wine Institute. "California Sustainable Wine Grape Growing Program & Self Assessment Workshop." Lowell Zelinsky PHD of Precision Ag and Tim Boatman of Farm Supply presented an interesting seminar on "Irrigating Your Vineyard." Both events were well attended. View the video highlights of these events posted on our website www.iggpra.com. Join us at our next social "Spanish Night" Sat. April 18th 6pm-10pm American Legion Hall 805 Main Street Templeton. Non members welcome. RSVP:Call Elizabeth Torp 805 226-8293.