Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 21: What's The Buzz?

Our featured artist today is the enigmatic "Sade" (pronounced shaw-day). Born in London, her father, a Nigerian Economics Professor and mother, a British Nurse, she was raised briefly in West Africa and then in the U.K., Sade started out in the fashion business, tried modeling and finally landed in the music industry. She was is several groups before getting a record contract as "Sade" (the band), comprising of herself & her great backup band. This cut, "The Sweetest Taboo" is from their second album and is one of my favorites!

05 The Sweetest Taboo.mp3

We're going to take a break from summer music until sometime in the future. Thanks for taking the time to listen. Hope you enjoyed it!

What's buzzing at Young Oak Vineyards? Well, we found a great beeman who is trying to re-populate bees in Northern California, one backyard at a time! Allen Larson will bring a beehive to your backyard, service your hive and give you a minimum of 24 pounds of honey a year, but more like 40 - 50 pounds typically. So, we purchased a hive and had it installed by the southeast upper corner of our vineyard (that's the very front of our place, down the hill to the left of our driveway above the vineyard).

Although, I have often thought about building hives and doing bees, this is a quick & easy way to get started to help your allergies by eating local honey, help your grapevines or other flowering plants assure pollination, help our bee population recover from the "Colony Collapse Disorder" by spreading hives to new territories, and (and this is the big one) you don't have to do the dangerous stuff! But for the daring, Allen will suit you up, so you can assist him when he is servicing your own hive(s)! Check out Allen's website at: www.getbees.net

Hope you get the buzz,

John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 20: Back To School!?

Hi all:

This post's featured musical artist is the consummate "Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks".  Dan went to high school in Santa Rosa and hit the San Francisco music scene in the late 60's. This cut, "I Scare Myself", is his signature piece, although I like his original "The Walkin' One & Only" when I want to tap my foot a bit!

Well, the grapevines are continuing to do well.  I noticed the Pinot Noir vineyard on Concepcíon Road, about a mile or two from my house, is now fully laden with grapes.  Last year, the vineyard master there told me that they typically pick in late August to early September, because the Pinot Noir grapes mature earlier here in Los Altos Hills due to the warmer climate, compared with some of the other coastal valley regions known for Pinot Noir (Remember the movie "Sideways"!). Mark Vernon, Ridge COO, mentioned that they usually pick 4-6 weeks after the grape turn to their dark color.  Well, we only have a couple of handfuls of grapes on our vines this first season as you can see in the picture below!  Maybe I will make a couple of glasses of grape juice for Kristen and I to toast you all!

I found a great description of the laboratory equipment & techniques from the Hardy Wine Company in Australia, used for the measuring sugar content of grapes and determining when to pick.  I have been exposed to this information in the past, but it will be interesting to re-learn about these methods.  By the way, the Hardy Wine Company, founded in 1850's, is now the largest winemaker in the world.  Through mergers and acquisitions, they recently changed their name to Constellation Wines Australia.

On a related note, Ron Mosely, the owner of Vinescape and the installer of my neighbor Mark's vineyard, will be teaching in the new Viticulture Program at Foothill College starting this Fall '08 term.  The "Establishing A Vineyard" class, which I would love to take, is on Fridays, so, unfortunately, I won't be able to attend.  I think I will try to sit in on at least one class, though.  Additionally, Foothill is offering a winemaking class on two Saturdays this Fall (Sept. 27th & Oct. 4th), which I am planning to register for!  Check it out and maybe we can take it together!!

See you after class,
John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 19: Here's My Card!

Hi all:

This post features the music of our famous, local Menlo Park residents & internationally known performers, "Tuck & Patti". Tuck is originally from Oklahoma, went to Stanford and performed in the LA music/TV scene. Patti, from San Francisco, is classically trained and met Tuck in 1978 while auditioning for a band he was in. The band didn't happen, but Tuck & Patti did and they have been making beautiful music ever since! This cut is "Time After Time", popularized by Cindy Lauper, but I like Patti's soulful version best with Tuck's great guitar work!

On a personal connection, we last saw Tuck & Patti perform at the Peninsula School Benefit a couple of years back with a tremendous improvised "scat" by Patti on "Tears of Joy". After the performance, as we walked to our car, my youngest daughter, Suzie tripped, fell & skinned her knee. As I helped Suzie up, Patti came running over the driveway with a folding chair for Suzie, helping her up & consoling her about her skinned knee! Thank you, Patti!!

What's going on at the vineyard, you ask? Well, ..., I got new business cards!!!

Otherwise, the plants just keep growing & growing! The grapevine that my daughter, Suzie was holding in my post of July 27, 2008 is now taller than me! I just have to watch the watering, not too much nor too little. And finally, there is the possibility of mold causing August rains! If it gets damp, I am told I need to dust the grapevine leaves with sulfur powder.

Hey, the new August 2008 issue of the "Wine Spectator" has their annual "world's best restaurants for wine" review. Seventy three restaurants received their top accolade and the nearest ones to Young Oak Vineyards are in San Francisco: Fifth Floor in the Hotel Palomar on Fourth Street, Michael Mina in The Westin St. Francis Hotel on Powell and Restaurant Gary Danko on Point Street.

Several peninsula local restaurants received the "Award of Excellence" or the higher mark "Best of Award of Excellence", including:

John Bentley's in Redwood City,

Bella Vista and The Village Pub in Woodside,

Marché in Menlo Park,

Fleming's Prime Rib Steakhouse & Wine Bar,

Il Fornio, La Strada, Lavanda Restaurant & Wine Bar,

Mantra Restaurant & Lounge, Quattro Restaurant & Bar,

Sundance The Steakhouse and Zibibbo all in Palo Alto!

One aspect of their listing is restaurants featuring "inexpensive pricing" with one local restaurants noted, Woodside Bakery & Café!

You can go to WineSpectator.com select the Dining & Travel tab and press the Free Restaurant Search button to search for restaurants all around the world. Here's to the enjoyment of the rest of your summer!

Saluté!

John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 18: More Grapevines!!

Happy Summer Everyone!

Well, here we are in the middle of the "Dog Days of Summer", but it has been a really mild summer temperature wise, so far.  To make things even cooler, our featured music is by Paco de Lucia, considered to be the King of Modern Spanish Flamenco Guitar. He was a child prodigy, making his first public performance at age 11 and is probably the fastest Flamenco guitarist ever.

Paco recorded this wonderful piece, "Entre Dos Aguas" in the 1976 at the ripe old age of 29. (Hey guys, ... remember how psychedelic you looked with your long hair, your favorite paisley shirt, bell bottom pants & side zippered black boots, ... Oh wait, ... that was me!)  Well, this isn't Paco's most dynamic piece, but it is one of my favorites!  Push the play button to watch this short 5 minute video or listen while you read my blog below!  Olé!!



Now, about the goings on's at Young Oak Vineyards!  Ridge Winery has been planting some Cabernet Franc in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which they use as a blending grape.  And they have some leftover grapevines with no place to plant them.  These are potted grapevines with leafy foliage, more developed plants than the root stock/grafts we planted back in March.  Mark Vernon, Ridge COO, has generously offered some of their extras, as I have room for about 25-30 more grapevines at the bottom of our field on the south side.

Although somewhat obvious from its name, it has been recently confirmed, by DNA analysis, that the Cabernet Franc was crossed with the Sauvignon Blanc grape, to give us the Cabernet Sauvignon grape sometime during the 1600's in southwestern France (i.e.: Bordeaux).  Early planting records in the Loire Valley suggest that the Franc grape originally came from Brittany, consistent with the cooler climate found there.  I am excited to see how they will fair on my hot Los Altos hillside!

Just to make things fun, we have added a "billy" & "nanny" goat, to our menagerie.  The "nanny" goat is due pretty soon, so we will have a herd of "kids" to keep the weeds trimmed in the "North Forty".

These guys are pygmy goats from a herd in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Felton, where Big Mac (black) was the dominant buck & Ellie (tan) was the matriarch doe of the herd.  They are very gentle and come right up to eat out of your hand.

Ellie is a little stressed about leaving her herd behind & bleats a bit.  And Big Mac is a little skittish, but very gentle.  I think they will settle down in a few days. Definitely have to keep them away from the vineyard, though!

Well, I gotta go milk the goats now, but I'm having a little trouble finding Big Mac's udder!

John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 17: Water Consumption

Hi all:

Hey, It's my son's birthday! Happy 28th Birthday, Scott! He is currently off traipsing around Kyrgyzstan on a holiday! But Katie, my 16 year old daughter, will be visiting Scott in Finland in a week, where he currently resides.  He has planned a world-wind trip for them, flying to Budapest, then by train/car to Bratislava, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich & Frankfurt, visiting friends along the way! Then flying to Estonia to ferry back to Helsinki! Sounds like a John Candy Movie  or Mel Brook's  If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium!

Closer to home, just look at those grapevines! My youngest daughter, Suzie, is 5' 7" and several of the vines are almost as tall as she is.

As we had in Palo Alto, we have the wonderful, but contriversal Yosemite/Hetch-Hetchy West Bay water up here in Los Altos Hills. Since we moved here, our home water usage has been about 8 WU per month (water units, where 1 WU = 100 cubic feet of water). Hey, that is on the lowest usage billing tier, for anyone who is checking on my water conservation during our drought, by the way! Also, we don't have any landscaping, just weeds!

Well, after the March vineyard planting, our water usage has gone up to an average of 18 WU per month with a high of 30 WU during the May/June 2008 heat waves. Cutting to the chase, it was costing $25.63 per month, on average, to water the grapes by hand, using about 7,500 gallons a month. This has really allayed my fears of horrendous, multi-$100 water bills!

Also, we started using the drip system over 4th of July weekend, watering for 4 hours (at one gallon an hour) every 4-5 days or even longer. That would be about only 6,000 gallons a month. That is a reduction in our current usage by about 20%. We will just have to wait & see if we have any $20.50 per month bills in the future!

The featured musician of this edition of the Young Oak Vineyards Blog is Ottmar Liebert with "Bullfighter's Dream". Ottmar is a extremely talented German guitarist, first starting as a rock musician, then becoming one of the world most foremost Nouveau Flamenco guitarists. He has a great website with a diary blog (just like me!!), lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, US and is into environmentalism, Buddhism & photography among his many other creative talents & interests!

Drinking Mojitos & wishing you well from down in the vineyard,
John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 16: Wine & Music !!

Hi all:

One month into summer and I have so many projects still to complete. But the grapevines just keep growing & growing down in the vineyard and there has been no sign of the deer coming back after we patched the "hole" in the fence. It is truly amazing, considering we just planted these vines 135 days ago. My watering system still has some bugs in it, but I am slowly addressing the non-cooperative emitters and the faulty plastic tubes as the former clog and the latter leak.

Needless to say, I have had more time to work on the old Chateau du Sphar. Daughter Suzie now has new halogen track lighting washing her walls and soon her sister,Katie, will have same. Perhaps, Kristen will even get new bedroom lights soon!!

As you have probably noticed by now, I have added a music widget to the "Young Oak Vineyards Blog". I find this initial piece by Pat Metheney, Sueño Con Mexico, to be very soothing. Pat is a most eclectic guitarist who experiments with many different styles & sounds. I hope you will enjoy it.
Forgot to mention a couple of weeks back, we attended a very enjoyable wine bottling of a Petite Sarah blend at The Bacchus Winemaking Club in San Carlos. Very Interesting facility located on Industrial Road off of Whipple Road. The owner also bottles his own line of award winning wines as the Domenico Winery at the same location.

Wishing you a wonder-filled mid-summer from down in the vineyard,
John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 15: Vino Locale

Hi all,

Since I have finished the vineyard watering system, I now have time to do other things, like go to lunch with my dear friend, Lynn Fielder. We went to Vino Locale, which features meals made from local foods, featuring local wines & local artwork. Lynn displays her jewelry creations there and is instrumental in selecting the featured artists.  (Click Lynn or Vino Locale to see their websites.)   It was great catching up with Lynn. Her family has a Finnish heritage & connection, hosting a Finnish exchange student a few years back, which has been a great contact for my son Scott, who did his masters there and now resides in Helsinki.

Lynn & I had a fabulous lunch and sampled a flight of local Pinot Noirs. We started with the "Crostini Sampler" with home grown pesto and a wonderful pâté, followed by delicious grilled tri-tip sandwiches and completed with petit mocha cheesecakes. Vino Locale has a great wine cellar of small (& some not so small) local wineries within a 75 miles radius of Palo Alto. I highly recommend a visit to this wonderful restaurant !!

Regards, John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 14: The Trellis's Are Up!!

Hi all,

Hope you all are enjoying a great 4th of July weekend! Having the summer off has allowed me to do a lot of projects at home, and we have made a lot of progress in the vineyard as well. We have finally put up the trellis wires and now you can see why we put the posts in at an angle, to pull against 75 feet of wire and eventually the weight of the fruit ladened vines! I must say, the vineyard is really taking shape!

Many vines have reached over two feet in height and a few are even four feet. Several vines have developed green, unripened grapes berries about one centimeter in diameter (that's 0.4 inches for you non-metric folk).

I had intended to use grow tubes to protect the grapevines from the critters, however, Ron of Vinescape suggested I just allow the grapevines to grow unpruned and unfettered, to allow the root system to fully develop over the first year. Generally speaking, the root system below the ground is about the same size as the foliage is above ground. To use the grow tube, you have to prune the grapevine down to only one shoot, which you would train up as the trunk of the vine. For this we will wait until the late Fall / Winter season when I will learn about pruning.

A couple of days ago, when I was working with a couple of my amigos, five deer came wandering into the vineyard under my neighbor’s deck. This answers my question of how these guys have been getting in and browsing on the grape leaves. Now that we have plugged that leak, hopefully we have eliminated our deer problem!

Keepin' it "Safe & Sane" in the vineyard!
John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 13: Neighbor Mark Vernon Reports Big News!!!!!

Hi all,

Mark Vernon, Ridge Winery COO and neighbor extraordinaire, has reported to me that "green things" (leaves) are emerging from the sawdust inside the milk cartons, which you can see to the left.   

Congratulations, Mark!  That heat wave probably got the grafts & rootstocks going PDQ.

Regards, John  

Young Oak Vineyards-Vol. 12: Emerging Tendrils!!

Hi all,

Working down in the vineyard this Memorial Day weekend, I was reminiscent of another life, in another world, at another time thanks to the recent Moffet Field Air Show.  As I looked up to the blue sky, I saw a B-17 Bomber lumbering by the clouds and I thought I could be a Frenchman working on his vineyard in German occupied WWII France watching the Americans looking for a German tank convoy!  Here's to the men & women of our armed services, past and present.

Above you can see the new grapevine tendrils (v shaped structures in my palm) emerging from the new leaf grow looking for something to grab onto, coil around & support future growth.  It is amazing  & miraculous how the cells of the plant differentiate into new and different structure just as our stem cells differentiate into the different tissues and structures of our bodies!

Now that I have received my "Gripple Tool" & my pink "Grow-Tubes", I have a flurry of work to do to put in the trellis wires in the next couple of weeks to help encourage that growth.  So we will have lots to report in the near future.

But this weekend I just had to go camping at Foothill Park with my youngest daughter, Suzie, and some of the great Escondido families to share stories around the campfire!  Hope you too had a great Memorial Day weekend.  Wishing you and your families are all well, especially those with members in the armed services.

Regards from down in the vineyard,

John

Young Oak Vineyards-Vol. 11: Its Growing Season!!

May 18, 2008


Hi all:

Well the heat is here! And we are at the start of our warm weather growing season. But these grapevines you have planted have not done too shabby during the early spring for the last 78 days. As you can see from the attached photo, we have several cane shoots in full leafy foliage with flower bud clusters as I am holding in my hand. These clusters will soon bloom into tiny flowers from which the fruit (grapes) will swell. I have attached a great photo montage from Michigan State University showing the stages of grapevine development. Check it out:


http://www.grapes.msu.edu/pdf/Growthstages.pdf



Next time we will be pruning down to one main shoot on each grapevine and putting on a growth tubes. I ended up purchasing the pink ones (Paris Hilton, you win), but more about that later. I should be receiving them next week, along with my "Gripple" tensioning tool! My neighbor, Mark Vernon, had the super crew from Vinescape plant last week with very interesting techniques to protect the grafted rootstocks. Each rootstock is protected by an empty milk carton, open on each end. Further, the planted rootstock is covered with sawdust inside the milk carton. Those guys really know what they are doing!

Trying to stay cool down in the vineyard,
John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 10: Now, That's A Vineyard. !!!!

March 30, 2008

Hi all,

Not much to report at the end of Spring Break at Young Oak Vineyards, but it sure is looking like a vineyard!  The attached photo was taken from my dilapidated balcony off the living room.  It was a lot of back breaking work, but we made all the little terraced moats around each grapevine for the drip rings of the watering system.  The grapevines are all starting to show healthy leaves, although a couple didn't make it and will need replacing.  We are going to start to put in the support wires for the the trellises, soon, after I purchase my "GrippleTool".  Check out their website animations under the "trellising" section for "looping around an end post":

http://www.gripple.com/agriculture/flash/

Gotta love new technology !!

My neighbors Mark & Dianne Vernon, have retained "Vinescape" to install 100 vines adjacent to our vineyard.  I can't wait to see what I am doing wrong when these pro's do their thing.  They started laying out the vine rows with a laser!!  I have to say that some of our planters were not quite laser straight, so we had to move a few of the grapevines!

Hope you all had a nice Easter, restful break and /or a pleasant rite of spring! 

Best wishes from down in the vineyard,
John

Young Oak Vineyards - Vol. 9: Botany !!!?!

March 26, 2008

Hi All:

I have to make a confession now.  When I applied for my bachelor's degree in biology, I had never got around to taking botany, a required class for the degree.  Since I was entering the graduate program at the same institution, they gave me my bachelor's anyway, but required me to take botany as a graduate course before I could advance in my master's program.  At about half of a semester into graduate program, I grew weary of another 2 to 3 years of college, so withdrew and follow my nose into the field of ?:

But that is a whole other story, for another time!  So, now that I am actually teaching biology, and we do cover botany, I kinda have to get my pistils and stamen straight!  Fortunately, I have picked up a few things about plant physiology here and there.  And depending how things work out this summer, I may get to spend a week at Texas A&M doing some teacher field work on botany research, where my other good old (long?) friend from kindergarten, Duncan MacKenzie, hangs his hat.  This is from the Texas A&M website "Yell" section:

AGGIE YELL [Hands flat, with index fingers and thumbs touching to form an "A"]

A-G-G-I-E-S , A-G-G-I-E-S,
 Aaaaaaaa , Fight 'em, Aggies !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Texas & Football, what can I say!  

Well , the grapevines buds are growing with each day of sunshine.  And the leaves are now forming, as you can see from the attached photo.  With the watering system in place, with a big thanks to friend of the family Gary Fine lending a hand this last week, the concern now shifts to survival.  The deer should be kept at bay by our fencing albeit only six feet tall.  And the gophers actually do not eat the grapevines, but are more of a menace to the root system, so we don't expect too many loses there.  But the big concern are the rabbits!  Other than Elmer Fudd's approach, anybody have good ideas?

On vigil down in the vineyard, John