Archive for June, 2009

Label of the Month for July

{ June 29, 2009 @ 1:37 PM } · { Label of the Month }
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LotM

For July, I choose the label of the month to be a Juno label. So, I have the image of the wine label in my head, but can I find out anything about it? Because, although I know the label is from a series of the same style of labels (a really pretty girl sitting wistfully) I’m not sure I really remember anything else about the wine.

We’ll first start with a google search for Juno and wine. Aha! here it is: Juno Wine Company

Fantastic, it’s from South Africa. Oh yeah, now I’m remembering a little bit more about it. The original label in the series was something like a girl sitting wistfully awaiting her lover straight out of an epic poem like the Odyssey. A little more research uncovers the Juno Cape Maidens labels. Several years ago, I was first exposed to the Juno Cape Maidens Chenin Blanc label. A maiden she is, flying a very Greek looking flag wistfully waiting for her lover to return from sea.

juno_chenin_blanc_cape_maidens

More research uncovers several other white wine Juno Cape Maiden labels such as the Sauvignon Blanc and the Chardonnay labels.

juno_sauvignon_blanc_cape_maidens

juno_chardonnay_cape_maidens

A few more flicks of the search wrist uncover the rosé version of the label. Umm, I’m getting thirsty for a nice summer rosé to go with my Seattle Summer BBQ. I’m liking this educational opportunity to learn more about wine! Um, hm.

juno_rose_cape_maidens

But alas, I have yet to find the label I was thinking about. How can I have a label of the month column without the appropriate label? More searching…

Wait, I have found it!

juno_shiraz_cape_maidens

Yes, another pretty maiden wistfully riding her bike to greet her lover from return from afar. This my friendly winos is the label of the month. This label belongs to the Juno Cape Maidens Shiraz. The labels are from the artworks of Tertia du Toit. As the website details, “her works have often been described as ‘an uninhibited, outpouring of inspiration, life, creativity and love’.” I wholeheartedly agree that she unquestionably has an amazing talent for the sensuous nature of life; and I am addicted to her wine labels and artwork.

But back to the Juno Shiraz, another website leaves us with the following tasting notes: “a vibrant, deep red Shiraz. White pepper, hazelnuts, pencil shavings and cinnamon adds spice to the dark red fruit components.” Wow, sounds fantastic. Wait did they say pencil shavings? Now, I’m certainly intrigued. I’m going to have to rush out and find this little gem and confirm the pencil shavings for myself! I suppose they go well with the first issue of my column, as let me tell you writing for an audience my dear winos is a task that surely merits a good rubber (that’s what they call eraser in South Africa.)

Cheers until next month or when ever I feel so inspired,
WineGirl

PS: I’ll let you in on one more Juno label to complete the set. It’s the Cabernet-Merlot label, and although it did not make LotM, it certainly deserves its due credit.

juno_cabernet_sauvignon_merlot_cape_maidens

Images from research on http://www.lebonvin.co.uk

Premier of Label of the Month – LotM

{ June 29, 2009 @ 12:43 PM } · { Label of the Month }
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I’ve been asked to write a sort of Wine of the Month column for a school paper, but found that it was too difficult to be creative, at the same time that the voice in my head was screaming “Uh, duh! MY wine is the best wine of every month.” So instead I have decided to try a Label of the Month category. Although, I’m sure the topic is not completely original, at least I have a chance to say something perhaps the more well known media critics have not said. I said perhaps. There you have it. This post category will officially kick off the July LotM.

LotM

And last, but not least on the weekend.

{ June 29, 2009 @ 10:57 AM } · { WineGirl Wines }
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We did arrive safely back in the Sammamish at the winery, and the wine too. Now it was time to bulldog it! WE get to use our fancy new stainless steel bulldog and fat 1.5 inch lines to move the chardonnay into the stainless steel tank.

Bulldog and Javier

But before we can bulldog it, we gotta clean and sanitize the equipment.



At least its a gorgeous day for playing in the water.



Now that I’ve showered and everything’s clean, time to bulldog it.

Um, pretty Chardonnay at the end of the day.

Cheers to the end of the weekend!
WineGirl

The weekend didn’t end there.

{ June 29, 2009 @ 10:42 AM } · { WineGirl Wines }
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Our weekend wasn’t over after picking up the bottles. Nope it was off to the other corner of the state to find us some unfinished chardonnay wine. In Quincy we found our selves tucked away amid the farmland of the state at another small winery, where Edgar and Rafael were SO patiently awaiting our arrival on their day off! So sorry we were late! But we did make it before the close of day.

Securing the straps on the barrels.

We're trucking

We're trucking

Secure

Secure

All things smooth as can be until we rounded the highway out past the Columbia Gorge.

Blinking Check Engine light. Krappe what does that mean? Well slow her down. We don’t have to go fast with a full load! Let’s pull over at the next rest stop. Can you read a dipstick? Looks like there’s no oil. Well how can that be? We’ll just get some oil at the next gas station. 2 quarts low. Oh, man. Great, Check Engine light is off. Nope Check Engine light is now on permanently. Oh geeze, well we gotta get the truck back to Seattle. We can make it. Phew. Made it.

Bottles for a small winery.

{ June 29, 2009 @ 10:26 AM } · { WineGirl Wines }
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When you’re a small winery, as we are small on capital and big on hopes and dreams, well some times one has to get a little more creative to fit into the big world of the wine industry. In the big world, some things are well, just bigger. Stacks of bottles come on pallets 6 feet tall, forklifts are regularly employed to move things around. A semi is a regular occurrence on the supplier meets manufacturer seen. But when you’re small like us, you can’t afford $700 delivery charges for 150 empty cases of wine bottles. (That would add 55% on to the price of EACH bottle!) You don’t have a delivery bay hooked up to your garage and you sure can’t accommodate a forklift in your daily operations. Suffice it to say, a lot of bicep power goes into getting what you need done. I dream for the day I get me a forklift. I will name her sweat equity.

So our weekend this week included borrowing our gracious friend’s truck to move what became an 11 foot affair, and that’s after the Dodge Ram’s suspension sunk 2 feet when loaded. Let’s just say a 36 minute trip down the highway, turned into 1 hour and 49 minutes on the back roads to Sammamish, cause well we weren’t sure about the tensile strength of the saran wrap holding the pallet of 72 cases of bottles together. Lots of torque goes into every turn and bump in the road.

This picture doesn’t even begin to capture the monster that became the bottle pickup day. Even the supplier’s manufacturers stared in awe as we loaded this baby up.

Not only was the truck packed to the brim, the Jeep got it’s fair share of the affair with at least 40 cases in its belly and loaded with a forklift I might add.

We finally made it our destination and at least we can say not a bottle was broken during the event!

Long Week – Day 5

{ June 12, 2009 @ 10:12 PM } · { Sesto Cielo }
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Wilson pipe here we come! We’re off to pick up the miles of irrigation pipe needed to fill sweat dug trenches! We also got 18/10 or 10 core irrigation wire from S&W pipes to run the dozen electrical valves. It’s a real spinkler system we’ve got here, fully automated and all. I say, all the vineyardos will be jealous of Ricardo Vineyardo’s pipes.

Pipe loading is boring when you’re 5’4″.

OMG! How long does it take to pick up pipe? We gotta go to Lowes then, Starbucks, then Home Depot. Krappe it’s already 1:00 PM. It won’t be 2 till we get back to the lot.

Finally, back at the lot!

Agh. The pressure’s on. We came to put pipes in the ground and we’ve yet to complete our task and it’s the hottest part of the last day and we have to be home at 6 for dinner with grandparents! We’re out of TIME!

But without fail, we plunged through the 88° heat and sowed up one block of 12 rows of feed line and more than half of the mainline pipes. It looks like chinese chopsticks along our new road!

Time to head back to Seattle in the morning, write a paper, say good bye to a dear dear friend, check on Charlie and Chi Chi… Real life has got to happen somewhere in between! So much work! but our team of three has really congealed into the Green Woman Hill group. We’ve learned what assess are for (idea reservoirs) and we’ve come up with more than enough ridiculous puns to last a lifetime. What’s next? I guess we’ll be back for more in July!

Bubbye,
WineGirl

Long Week – Day 4

{ June 11, 2009 @ 11:54 PM } · { Sesto Cielo }
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THE longest day yet. Boo.

Confucius Farmer says “If you ever do half a days work, don’t drive over it; or it will be a whole days work!”

In other words after renting the Ditch Witch trench digger to make the holes for irrigation pipes, Richard made an escapade down the new road and accidentally drove over the new ditch causing us to have to RE-DIG the ditch. Confucius Farmer blister o!

Then I got stung by an abeja. So between my war wounds from last Sunday’s cat fight, my derby injured knee and the thousand prickers embedded in my palm from the fight with a tumbleweed, I’m amazed I’m still buzzing! Ouch!

Visit from Star.

After digging out the trench…

Long Week – Day 3

{ June 11, 2009 @ 8:36 PM } · { Sesto Cielo }
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Whirlwind trip around Wenatchee!

8:30 AM: Wilson Orchard & Vineyard Supply
After accidentally knocking on the door of a private residence we find Wilson (down the hill, like the sign said). Let’s talk irrigation pipes, two inch lines, solenoid valves, risers, drip line, uphill along the slope, 30 psi, filters, 30 microns, crimper, $0.27 per foot, $100 per valve, butterfly valve, pre-designed, 50 meters, 333 feet, three lines, feeder pipe, NE quadrant… Oh My!

10:00 AM: United Pipes
Quote number two, that valve is cheaper, that line is more expensive, WHOLESALERS only, cash accounts…

11:30 AM: Chelan Country PUD
We won’t give you a map of the utility lines, you must CALL before you DIG!

12:15 PM: Quiznos
Finally! Oh man, need me a turkey, avocado sammich. AND double chocolate chip cookie!

1:00 PM: Call Before you Dig
Phone call to the man. White spray paint means “find my line.” Red means electric, risk of DEATH if you cut here! Green means sewer… Are they gonna be able to find the place? Oh My!

2:00 PM: Sleepy Hollow Nursery
Us: We’re putting in 10 acres of vines and we need windbreak trees.
Him: Uh, like those?
Us: Yeah.
Him: No one really sells windbreaks anymore because all the orchards that need windbreaks already have them.
Us: But ours are dying, what should we do?
Him: Try the hybrid willow.
Us: What’s that?
Him: Uh, I dunno.

2:30 PM: Tractors
Oh yeah! Tractors baby! $27,000 Massey Fergusons. Which one’s Javier?

Massey Ferguson

Massey Ferguson

and Blue Landinis. Is Landini the Lamborghini tractor?

Blue Landini

Blue Landini

And of course, the quintessential Green & Yellow.

Jon Dear & John Deere

Jon Dear & John Deere

3:15 PM: Time to head back to Chelan for some white spray paint from ACE hardware and metal pipes from Stihl to affix to the truck to carry the 20 foot PVC irrigation pipes we’ll be bringing home Friday.

Front Mount Pipes

Front Mount Pipes

WineGirl,

Long Week – Day 2

{ June 9, 2009 @ 8:18 PM } · { Sesto Cielo }
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Long Day, Short Week.

6AM, off to rent the Bobcat tractor with a shank fitted plow box in the back and a dump bucket in the front.

Carving roads, making tracks, kicking up dust. Jon Farmer (not to be confused with Farmer Jon) was tearing up the place all day. I cut new tracks up the center and all around to divide the property into four quadrants.

Ang on the other hand got stuck with the shovel, digging up apple roots, weeds and whatever else was in the newly carved road.

And we had to test out the road. It worked great at holding up the jeep.

J.H.

Added by WineGirl. Click on the pic below to see its animation.
JeepRoad

Long Week – Day 1

{ June 8, 2009 @ 5:38 PM } · { Sesto Cielo }
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We need to shank!

A visit to Wally World, Wilbur-Ellis and the Manson Water Reclamation office all brought us one step further to farmdom. It was a rather short day, 73° with very nice working weather, but lots of big decisions have been made.

We started in the office with morning coffee,

headed to the vineyard and measured the road. 180 meters, was it? This culminated in a decision to move the road to bisect the vineyard into four quadrants. But in order to move the road we had to order up some supplies. Thus, a trip to Wally World got us two new hats and bunches of batteries to operate the CB radios.

New Hats

New Hats

Wally Hats

Wally Hats

The next stop, Wilbur-Ellis a chemical supplier. Here we found out about soil testing and shanking. Yup, shanking. How does one get those darn apple tree roots out of the ground? Well with a shank, of course! But what’s a shank?

And last, we ended at the tractor shop where we ordered up the big toy for pick-up at 6 in the morning.

Wait, did I say 6? AM? This (over-educated) WineGirl hasn’t been up before 9 AM in months! Sure, by the looks of the picture above, you might have thought it was 6 AM but really it was like 11 AM.

Next stop, bed-time to prepare for the god-awful cock-a-doodle doo time.

WineGirl

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