David Coffaro Vineyard and Winery

arrow August 22 - September 11, 2021

Sunday August 22, 2021


Tomorrow we will get ready to harvest all our white grapes on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will do a small sugar test in the whites that were lower in sugar last Monday, the Muscat and Viognier.

Monday August 23, 2021 Cold today and my Wound is getting better

The sugar tests came in what we wanted BUT the acid is way too high so we will pick next Monday..................

Did I mention my Model S Tesla does not have air conditioning now? Yes, SOSOSSO, My new buddy Jon looked into the Frunk section of the Tesla Model S and did not find any mouse droppings so we are confused what caused it.......SO I have an appointment down in San Rafael on Thursday at 8:15 to see if they know what is wrong. San Rafael is 60 miles away so I will leave at 6:45.......sure with my Model S I can drive in the car poll so I may get there before 8, it will be cold so no need for air. If early, I can read on my Kindle or maybe they will take me early.

The bottom line is whether they will have my Model S repaired in the afternoon or earlier, if not how do I get home?

Sure I go out every night on my scooter. It was very chilly out tonight but I still had a thin tank top.......SO I only got out to the Petite Verdot and back to taste Cab Franc and Pinot. Only the Pinot berry was over 23 sugar and we want 24, but there are many Pinot which are very low in sugar. So what causes the problem in Pinot, It could be, soil, clone, we have three clones.......Or is it a virus that was into the vine when we got it...............

OK, yes some of our vines have a virus.......It can be in the nursery before we got the vines which would be every year...........or there are bugs, that crawl or fly and they like green............and can make a virus into the vines for one season.........What ever.........HARVEST is near............

Tuesday August 24, 2021 Cold today Again but will get hotter

Catarino handed me a few bunches of Old Vine Zinfandel and he got 26 sugar, but I told him I do not want a big sugar test until next Monday. I have two more appointments in the next 2 days.

The wound center wants me to check out the circulation in my leg.............

Then the big time..........I go down to San Rafael to fix my Model S...........

So went out again to look at grapes and I still think, Old Vine Zin is off two more weeks,,,,,,,,,,..........but we will test on Monday........

Wednesday August 25, 2021 Cool today 87..........the weather gurus still predict 100 by Saturday........

This was a hard day and tomorrow will be harder going down to San Rafael to check out my Model S air conditioner. It is 65 miles so I will leave at 6:55 am and drive in the car pool lane so I should arrive early for my appointment at 8:15. I guy called me today and said they may see the problem by spying on me. Remember Tesla can look into every thing I do or need ......LIKE today, I had the back window open a little so I could get some coolness and MY Tesla app on my iPhone watch told me I had it open.......The guy said I could get a loaner if it will need to be there over night........it will be a gas guzzler since all their loaners are booked..............

So today's appointment was stressful. The vascular doctor agreed with my primary that I should start Statins. I have high cholesterol but not too high so is this start of my demise????

Just got back as usual from the vineyard on my scooter.......there is no red bunches I can see from the main road down the middle of the vineyard, 1200 feet I went to the bottom where Catarino is growing some interesting stuff, a lot of hot peppers!!!

Red bunches is something we would not pick now. The pickers are paid by the hour and more than anyone else around here so they can be careful and harvest what we want. But let me be clear, they like to pick quickly........They want to have lunch at NOON and get out of here before it gets too hot...........

Thursday August 26, 2021 Hot today 100..........the weather site is not working so I will figure out tomorrow...... 100+ by Saturday........and hotter Sunday, so we are harvesting Monday.............

So I made it back to here after moving to San Rafael and back.......gee those tail buggers and people driving much faster than my 76................SSOSOSOSSO where are the HW Patrol????? Should I start going 85???? I digress

So the Tesla guy was very nice, I was out of there in 35 minutes with a loaner Model S. They need my 100D over night but I am fine with this 75D, better tires, smoother ride, so maybe I could put on the tires I have out in the building........long story but Tesla gave me 4 new tiers and also these nice wheels I have on now so I could go to have the new tires put on or wait for my new Model S, due in February with a change and now Multi Coat Red, Pat is upset she does not like RED.............................tomorrow is another day

Friday August 27, 2021 Hotter today 104..........

I have had little sleep in the last 2 nights so I should sleep well tonight, especially after an IPA

I found out the Multi Coat Red which I might order with my new Model S will cost $2500 more than The Pearl White I have now on my Model S that I purchased back in 2017. (which is in repair in San Rafael!!!!!). I really like my Pearl White with white seats so I may switch to that color. I have plenty of time to decide since the new Tesla will not be ready until next year.

Back tonight tasting Old Vine Zin again and it will be interesting to see what our sugar test comes in at on Monday.......we could try a ton or two on Thursday..........

Oh I heard my 2017 Model S 100D is ready to pick up on Monday.........gee aren't we harvesting on Monday!!!!!!!!!!! OK

I will head down to pick up my EV in the early afternoon so, I will have an Idea what the sugar will be on our harvest of white grapes on Monday morning, starting at 7am.........tomorrow is another day............

Saturday August 28, 2021 Hotter again today 107..........

Should start cooling down tomorrow when we start harvesting white grapes.

Monday August 30, 2021 Cooled today 97..........Should be cooler in the next few days

Bryan's parents are here so it is an adventure like any relatives you do not know well. We met Bryan's parents when Kate and Bryan got married back 2.5 years ago. Doug and Dori have plenty of questions about the vineyard and such. They drove over from Wisconsin in a nice large van. I hope they can stay for a time to get to know them well. It is fun

That said, the Harvest is on!!!!!!!!!!! We harvested half our white grapes and will finish tomorrow. The sugar of course went up with this spike of high 100+ temps. Now we need to do a sugar test in old vine zin tomorrow............Harvest is here...................

On more important events...........kidding but I do like my Tesla......So I had to go down to San Rafael today and pick up my repaired Model S, it was a part they knew was required so no Mice problems.......and TSLA was up today so I am still selling my trades and I need to make enough to pay for my new Model S..........

Wednesday Sep 01, 2021 Cooler today 80..........Should be hotter in the next few days

So we did harvest today, an adventure as usual so when we got ready to Separate the grapes from the stems we had problems with electrical connections so we will get it figured out tomorrow..........BUT

We did harvest Pinotage, Pinot Noir and a test of the ripest old vine Zin. Like I have said before Catarino thinks there is less crop in our Old vines............

The sugar in our Pinot blend came in at 26 sugar and our test in Zin was 24+, but as we know we need to see if the sugar goes up tomorrow SINCE Zinfandel always goes up in sugar the next day. This year there is less raisins so tomorrow will tell more of what we should harvest next.........yes we have delayed Harvest since the lows over night and into this evening is very cold and at this time of the year, sugars could go down since the vines will be resting..........

OK, look back on the box in my back, if interested, I am not going into it again right now BUT, since I have an open wound on my leg, small!! I GOT A REPRIEVE, I go back in 4 weeks so I can still hop on my forklift without the wires going out my back.........I know too complicated info..........sorry.......Tomorrow is another day?

Thursday September 2, 2021 Warmer a little today 85..........Should be hotter in the next few days

another stressful day, that is not unusual, it is Harvest..........

My old Cuckoo clock needs to be repaired and The Giants had lost 4 games and TSLA is going up so I sold some short term trades and our harvesting equipment was repaired and working SOSOSOS

The Giants game was only available on You Tube so Pat and I had to watch it live.........we both have other things to look at tonight...............

We did another sugar test and it was interesting!!!! Cab is close in another week and Zin which was 24+ sugar yesterday went up to 26 sugar in the fermenter as usual so we are harvesting Zin again tomorrow and trying out some Grenache which had a reading of 27 in the test........sure Grenache varies out there so we only want to try a ton, 67 cases eventually, per ton bottled......

Every year is an adventure so why do we have leaves that are losing color............

I need to go down to the creek and see what is happening, there are a lot of leaves in different varieties that are losing color and that means we need to wait for dehydration.

I tried, but the wind is on high so cold on my Scooter. I know all I need now are sugar tests and will give  me more input to harvest the best fruit...........

Good night I hope......IPA

Friday September 3, 2021 Warmer 87

I have just finished the most intense book I have ever read by far. I must say I don't think it was my favorite, but if you can get through it I highly recommend it. It is "The Girls in the Attic". It is during several months from 1944 to 1945 in the Second World War. It is about Jewish people in Germany and it is also about many Nazi supporters and how they were affected, thus so far different from anything else I have read from World War Two which usually focuses on people in countries that were suffering by the hands of the Nazi's. There is a lot of graphic descriptions of death so it may not be for everyone............

I wanted to say, I looked up this author because I was so impressed and I saw he did novels in the past that had some graphic sex, I know sex so I do not need that but this book had nothing about graphic sex but a lot about graphic people who died............I will never forget it...............

Now into the Harvest!!! We did 2 tons of Old Vine Zin and a ton of Grenache and the sugars on both were perfect at 25.5. Sure we will have to add some water to the Zin since it will swell up to over 27 maybe. 

Giants Dodgers.........I need an IPA

Sunday September 5, 2021 Warmer yesterday 97, today 102

I need to think about Monday, yes we are harvesting on Labor Day.

Jose and Salvador came in today and yesterday to tend to our new fermenters mostly our Zinfandel...........they are up over 27 sugar so we need to add some water to make sure the alcohol is not too high.

Tomorrow we will be harvesting more Old Vine Zin and the rest of the Grenache. We will also do some sugar tests to see what we will pick next.

8.........pm

A very Stressful day......I started making Zin from this vineyard in 1979 and then I started making commercial wine in 1994 so that was a few years ago and then I knew I needed some help with mostly the physical work and now, after 4 new helpers........Jose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big problem today, Jose is positive, his girl friend was exposed with her kids so maybe that is what caused our dilemma.........

So I have not made the decisions on the winemaking for years and it was NICE to have Jose here now since he is very organized. Bryan and I did some research so we know most of what we have to do in the next week until Jose can get a negative result. He has had little symptoms since he is fully vaccinated but we have o be careful. Salvador took the test today and said he felt fine but we will see, since Salvador is a big part of this Harvest. Kate and Bryan asked me to take a test and I was negative.

We are still harvesting tomorrow, the Harvest has to go on.............

Monday September 6, 2021 Warmer today 105

Like I said Jose if off with a positive test so Bryan and I stepped up and did what was needed. I have not done this for several years, like I said, but I see some things Josh taught Jose was questionable so Bryan and I are seeing if we can correct so we do not have wine like every year is too high in alcohol........long story

Tomorrow we will pick some Zin. Today we did harvest our Old Vine Zin in Block 3 and tomorrow we will move to Block 4 Zin, that is different from Block 4, simply the most complex vineyard varieties in Sonoma County.......

I know they talk about Pagani but I am sure there are less varieties there and sure we are both about the same years old??? How old is Pagani, I know we are over 120 years old and nearing 130. Sure we need to think about picking Block 4, the field blend in the next few days...........

https://historicvineyardsociety.org/vineyard/pagani-ranch

It was 105 today so what will be ready next, we need Jose back to help!!!!!!!!!!!! He is getting a test on Thursday, he and his family are feeling great!!! Jose had the shots......................................

Bryan and I are up at 6am and our Pickers will start on Old Vine ZIN at 7:30, It will be cold so we need to pick some bins cold and some bins hot by Noon when it may be near 100 again. That way the M/L will work............long story, IS back in the diary

IPA

Tuesday September 7, 2021 Warmer today 107.......what is going on

Another complicated today, especially since Jose is not here

So this thing .......about my wound, they say I should change the dressing every 5 days, seriously, I am out taking tests at the distemer so I get juice all over me So I have started to put a nice weather dressing on.........

We harvested the rest of Block 3 old vine Zinfandel today and started on the Block 4 Zin South and finish tomorrow. We will take a day off on Thursday and hope Jose will be back on Friday and THEN start harvesting our best section Block 4. Friday will be a big day...............IPA

Wednesday September 8, 2021 warm overnight, low only 60, high today 110 what is going on

BTW, I looked up Pagani Vineyard and the mix is 83% Zinfandel, 16% Alicante Bouschet, 1% Petite Sirah, so not as diverse as our Block 4 which is about half Zinfandel with a lot of Petite Sirah and some Peloursin and Carignan and another 10% which is hard to identify, a true Field blend.........

9pm......just got back after sundown so I saw a nice sunset, rare here.........Petit Verdot looks good

Jose will take a test tomorrow and after the quarantine he may be back on Monday..............I know..................

I hate Extended Maceration, I tried it before, look it up if interested. I found it makes a dryer less fruity wine and I do not like that style so for my wines

We usually press at 3 to 5 percent sugar.........I believe to press early makes a more balanced wine. Most wineries don't press until the wine goes dry, even more wineries all over the world leave the skins and all else in a bin and leave the whole oxidized mess for several more days or weeks..........yes my biased opinion

That is my problem, if Jose is not back by Monday we will have extended maceration.

If so.........Bryan and I will have to step up and run the press on Tuesday September 14...recall day........I digress......

Salvador is great filling barrels and making things happen, he learned from Jose. After the wine is in the press he knows what to do............

 SSOSOSOSO I love any thing that is a challenge for me............I need an IPA

Thursday September 9, 2021 Finally cooler today and over night

Great news, Jose has been cleared to come back on Sunday so he will tend to all the pressing and racking white wines so Bryan and I have a break..........of course I still have to predict and organize the next grapes to harvest SSOSOSOS.......tomorrow

We will take a ton from the first block which always goes in to our block 4 blend because it has several varieties which were planted in the 1890's and then a ton from Block 4.........We will start on the Block 4 South. It is away from Block one up front here toward our house, and it is about 600 feet down toward the creek and we need to start the South side of the rows because they have more Zinfandel and is riper. So if the First block which has a lot of brown leaves comes in lower we will have a nice blend...................

Out in the vineyard tonight as usual but it is getting harder since the sun is going down  by 7:30pm........I still take a quick jaunt to taste two sections of our Cherry tomatoes.............wow, great and sure...........NOW I need some IPA for NFL



Dave

For any comments or questions I encourage any of you to e-mail.....david@coffaro.com




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