October 15
- October 28, 2023 
Monday October 16, 2023
In the last 2 days? Besides all the complications, with a now 80 year old person like I am, I did fine!! Hey yesterday my Raiders won, but Jose's team and I do like them, the 49ers lost.....but there is Harvest!!!!!!!!!
So today we were NOT supposed to do harvesting but as I went off to my cardiologist for a 6 month appointment, I saw the weather looked like we would get to 70 after starting at 10:30, if not following, sorry but we do need 70 when we pick grapes.........So I said, let;s go with Aglianico!!, done tons!!
So I went off to the cardio guy and so far he said I am going to live.......then I got home and there was an electrical problem and a possibility for a custom harvest.....?>?Now
Long story, but the bottom line is organization......we will be harvesting for the next few days. We have to take off a couple of days late in the week to pack up our Wine Club......again......long story........
So tomorrow is Carignan and today was Aglianico and a test of Lagrein. It still looks great the finish is in 8 days!! We are now 3/4 done. I am hearing a large winery is only 50% done, I am so happy we are North where it gets hotter, because away from the ocean and goes through Russian River before the fog gets here.........long story.....sorry.......I need sleep!!
Tuesday October 17, 2023
Another complicated day, somewhat because Pat and I had to go to get our next Covid booster and I had to pay $205 for a second shot of Shingles.......I sure do not want to get Shingles!!
That said we did harvest Carignan and then very surprising!! Catarino said he left some First Crop Old Vine Zinfandel in a section near the Carignan so we picked another ton of Old Vine Zinfandel......
Tomorrow we will do some Aca Modot, that would mean some Cabernet Franc and we have a lot of Petite Verdot ready so will keep some of the Petite Verdot separate but the rest will go to Aca Modot or Maybe The Ultimate Cuvee?
So tonight I did a taste off with two wines, I have never tried Blind before, The Ultimate Cuvee and Block 4 and I was shocked, I preferred the Ultimate...........but!!
Take this lightly, since Pat would not agree with me.......The Ultimate Cuvee had more structure and some of you know I am in to more structured wines, like Sangiovese, Italiano, Aglianico and I could go on, like CAB!! Tomorrow, maybe I should try an Ultimate Cuvee compared to an Aca Modot our Bordeaux Blend??
HARVEST.......Tomorrow is!! Cab Franc and PV..........I love what I do, but it is complicated.............
Wednesday October 18, 2023
I went off to my primary doctor and she said I am doing fine, but wants more tests......long story, but the bottom line is she had no problems right now!!! Maybe I will live?
So today we did harvest the last of our Bordeaux varieties, Cabernet Franc and all the Petite Verdot. All the sugars were great!!
Now we only have 16 tons left. Mostly for Dave's Cuvee and Terre Melange, more tomorrow!!
Thursday October 19, 2023
What else is new, more problems!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We did harvest Carignan and some Zin but when we went to destem the 4 tons, the hose that lifts up the grapes to destem, busted out OIL and the hose could not be repaired by us on the site ..............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So we called the forklift place and they are too busy with other Wineries like us so they can not come out tomorrow to fix it.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK, I am good at this, I have had decisions before with the last life, the Stock Market.......OH I did make a trade today, I am buying more TSLA after the stock went down today and I may buy much more tomorrow........I digress!!!!!!!
As I said I am good like making decisions on the spot or even in the next few days if necessary.....So We do not know how long it will take to get this vital forklift that turns bins into our hopper. SSSSSSOOSOSO
We have 8 warriors who help now with the Harvest and they can put the harvested grapes from today (We have them stored for tomorrow) and put them in to be destemed, sure it only takes us 2 but these guys like to make money......so they will put all the grapes back in picking tubs and dump them just as fast to destem........OH, then do I need a forklift?????
Back to tomorrow we will harvest more grapes and see if someone can come in next week to fix our Forklift???
I need an NFL FIX!!!!!!!! Derek Carr..........
Friday, October 20, 2023
As you see below, the Warriors took over for our Forklift!! They dumped 6 tons of Carignan and Zinfandel from yesterday in 45 minutes!! Today we are back picking Lagrein, Barbera and Montepulciano and will be through at about 2:30. The Forklift will be fixed by Monday. We now only have about 9 tons left, mostly for Terre Melange.
v
7PM............
The day was over at 4:30pm, the warriors did a great job!! BTW, I am sure you all are wondering if I am tasting wine and having great food.......SO I can assure you I am happy.......tonight we had a great pasta with squid slices.......nice....tomorrow salad with King Crab.....Sunday Pizza!!........Tuesday, THE Harvest again............I need a break! I need some sleep.
Saturday, October 21, 2023, one month into Fall
As I have said to many, I like Spring season the best, Summer is nice for awhile and of course holidays are great, but I live by Light. I have to have all lights on in the evening when cooking and I live the whole day by light, so
String is nice because it has the longest days of light. By June 21 or about then, sun is at its highest peak so I am happy, and before that at the beginning of Spring on March 21 the days get longer so I am saying I look forward to longer days and do not like days getting shorter...........I then have to turn on more lights when I Love to cook........Oh yes, Pizza tomorrow............I did get some sleep.........
BTW, did I mention I may not be able to watch TV in my Movie room, I do have a nice 9 foot wide screen in there........but The signal keeps going out and I am still trying to figure what is the problem......I do have a new HDMI cable coming tomorrow so will I get to see the Raider game.........still a large fan!!!
Monday October 23, 2023
The Raiders were awful.......
That said we will be finished harvesting our First crop tomorrow and go into our Dave's Cuvee wine, second crop on Wednesday!!!
Tuesday October 24, 2023, Pat's Birthday!!
We did finish all the First crop today. That would be.....Syrah, Mourvedre, Peloursin, Carignan and Grenache which will go into our Terre Melange blend. Tomorrow we will start on the second crop used for Dave's Cuvee.........
Wednesday October 25, 2023, Nice dinner at Catelli in Geyserville!
Today we started on our second crop used for Dave's Cuvee. We go in and find bunches that were left so now after a few weeks these bunches are ready. Catarino said there was more than I thought out there but how much Dave's Cuvee do we want to make, Oh they are left over grapes so all we can sell is easy money!! And like I said to Pat we can put it on sale?
Friday it looks like we may harvest some grapes for my accountant. He has a small vineyard where we may pick a ton of Syrah and 2 tons of Grenache which we will make into a rose. What we will do with the custom crush is to be determined.......more later
Thursday October 26, 2023
The days are getting shorter so: It Means We are at the end of Harvest?
Yes we finished our harvest today but I have a friend who wants us to custom crush his new acquired vineyard. It is only 2 tons of Grenache for Rose and 1 ton of Sirah for a red wine. We will see what the quality is........we are harvesting those 3 tons tomorrow..........
Friday October 27, 202
We did harvest about 3 tons for my friend today and we will see what the quality is. The Vineyard was way over cropped so we are concerned, even though we selectively picked what we thought should be the best quality.
We are now done harvesting this year but we have fermenters still going and barrels to fill and then I have fun deciding where these 200 barrels go in the puzzle of our 20 plus different wines..............
Dave
For any comments or questions I encourage any of you to e-mail.....david@coffaro.com
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