May 13, 2009

The vineyard is 95% complete and is looking very beautiful. The grass between the rows of grapes is growing and has been mowed. The final drip tubing irrigation is being installed and will be ready when the temperatures start to rise. Our vineyard manager has been on gofer patrol watching for all those mounds of dirt that seem to grow over night. The gofers just love the roots of our newly planted grapes. Last weekend as I was having my coffee driving through the vineyard it was so nice to watch the sun rise as well as the balloons rise up over the horizon. There is lots of wild life surrounding the vineyard. Lots of little birds which, I'm sure are staking out their territory for when the grape plants come into full production.

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March 1, 2009

Mixing business with pleasure is definately the way to go when doing research on winery programs.
Deb attended a course in Napa California. The subject was "Best Practices for Owning and Operating a Winery". The course was a 2 day seminar and was packed with information. I joined her on Friday and that is when the "winery research" began.
We visited several small wineries looking for interesting ways in which they presented themselves in the tasting room. We also looked at how the winery sites were developed. Some had one large building, some had a campus style building format and one of our favorites was a cave built right in to the side of their vineyard.

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February 13, 2009

Friday the 13th of any month generally are looked upon as being unlucky days Right? Well.. We hate to go against the grain but today has been a very wonderfull day for us at Castillo de Feliciana.
This morning we received an e-mail from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau that our application has been approved for purposes of establishing our winery!
Deb was so excited, she had tears of joy and had to sit down! Her big concern was that we might not get it! I would always tell her " Don't worry, we'll get it!" But..that wasn't good enough for her.

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January 14, 2009

Happy New Year to all!

I just returned back from Walla Walla this weekend. Just last week there were reports of 24-30 inches of snow on the ground with temperatures sinking down to 5 degrees. Before I got on the airplane I made sure I was prepared for the cold weather. I wore my down vest over a nice wool sweater and then layered a comfortable thick red coat on top. I was ready!

While in the airplane I envisioned the worst. My trusty Suburban nicknamed "The Burbazoid" was parked at the airport in the long term parking lot. I was concerned how I was going to be able to travel from the airport to our property in blizzard like conditions. I had visions of the Burbazoid getting stuck and having to hike to the casita at the property, starting up the tractor and blazing a trail from the main road to our casita so that we had access back and forth.

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December 24, 2008

This short note is sent to all of you to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous 2009! By looking around in your enviornment winter is here and is quite cold and snowy! Stay safe and enjoy your time with family and friends.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you in 2009 and anticipating an exciting and challenging year.

So from us here at Castillo de Feliciana Vineyards and Winery

Feliz Navidad !

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