A few weeks ago while filling barrels in the cellar, it became apparent that there was something missing in the winery.  The winery felt cold and dark, (while great for wine) it was not the greatest working environment.  Turning the music on helped (a little Jackson Brown will improve any day).  But there was still something missing.  The winery just was not complete.  It just needed a little more personality to help us make truly great wine.  I after a few days of reflection we solved the dilemma.  The winery was missing just that…personality.  And what is the quickest way to add personality?  A puppy!

I present to you our official winery dog…Bode.

Bode… Short for Bodeguera, which means Cellar Worker in Spanish is a perfect fit. 

Although she was a bit young to help us with our bottling day last week, she has perfected the art of chewing on corks. She recently found her favorite place in the winery for a quick nap; a small, plastic harvest picking box in the corner of the lab.  The puppy prefers the vineyard to the winery, after all she is a German Shorthair Pointer and the quail in the vineyard are much more exciting than the Peter, Daniel hand labeling the new Tempranillo.    

by Chris Turkovich

With the weather cooperating we arrived at the vineyard a little before 7am.  It was clear and cold but the sun was out all day which was a nice contrast from the last few weeks of overcast weather.  After a brief meeting to discuss pruning everyone set-off down there individual rows.  A few cuts are made to remove the older canes from last year’s canopy then a few more precision cuts are made to reduce the wood down to one bud.  Typically we would leave two buds for each spur, however because this year will be the first year we harvest a crop from the B&T Vineyard we want to insure a small crop.  With one bud and vines planted in 6X8ft spacing we will be shooting for crop yields of 1.5-2.5 tons to the acre depending on the block and variety. 

We worked our way through the vineyard and the sun began to warm-up the landscape.  It was a beautiful sight the vines began to ‘sweat’ or bleed water from the freshly cut wood.  Beads of water pooled up on the exposed wood and would drip off and fall to the vineyard floor.  A peaceful sight as hundreds of vines soaking sun show the first signs of spring.  This action while ever so slight shows us the vines are starting to wake from the winter long dormancy.  While the buds have not started to break (the official start of the growing season) the vines are starting to become active. The roots are now applying upward pressure and starting the season long movement of water and nutrients from the soil up into the vine.  With a few more warm days the buds will begin to swell and the new the vineyard will burst into action.

by Chris Turkovich

We are celebrating the Grand Opening of our new Winery and Tastingroom.  The cellar door will be open we invite you to come see where we make the wine.  The tastingroom is now open for sampling the current releases as well as the cheeses of the Winters Cheese Company.  Come visit all Downtown Winters has to offer next weekend.

February 19th-21st

Grand Opening Hours:

Friday 12-9pm

Saturday 12-9pm

Sunday 12-5pm

Hope to see you then!

Chris Turkovich

by Chris Turkovich

by Chris Turkovich