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Here's the Norton bunch a day early this week because we head to the beach tonight. It's so hard to get away this time of year, but we can't go when the grapes are ripe, so we go while they are growing. This is the near end of bloom for this cute little Norton bunch. I'll be back in two Mondays.
I would like to post a picture of this bunch of Norton grapes once a week, hopefully on Fridays. I took this picture last Friday, and you can see I'm already late, but I have good intentions. I think it will be fun for you and I to see the weekly progression of a bunch of grapes.
While I was out in California judging at the Pacific Rim International Wine Competition we had bud break here in the vineyard. It was probably around April 24rd or 24th, which is a little late. We have had a very wet and cold spring, which is fine with us considering the warm March we had last year, and then the sad Easter freeze.
This is a picture of a tiny Vignoles cluster already formed. You can see this cluster has a shoulder, which is the smaller part of the cluster on the left. You have probably seen shoulders on grapes you buy in the grocery store also. If not, look for it next time.
This is a picture of the Seyval blanc grapes growing over the hill. All the new growth looks so crisp and green. Soon the canes will hang down over the top wire and leaves and tendrils and grapes will be everywhere.
All this rain has got to be good for something. According to the St. Louis news, we had a record amount of rain in March. Right here on our property we had over 10 inches of rain in March. The ground is so saturated that it is easy to get posts into the ground. This is a new vineyard that we planted last year. We planted a few Gewurztraminer and Cabernet Franc on this site to see if we could grow a few vinifera besides Muscat Canelli. We covered them with straw over the winter; that's what you see all over the ground. Now we are putting in the trellis to get them to grow up and onto the wires we will hang later this spring. We cut all our own cedar posts in the winter and drug them out of the woods.
One of the best parts of this job lately is the fact that I bring my baby to work with me. She's so good, and she sleeps so much, that right now it works out great. She eats every 3 hours and is awake for 1 hour then back to sleep for two. I can get a lot done if I stay focused while she's asleep.
We seem to be covered in snow over here. Most of February has been wet. These pictures were taken Wednesday. There were big, slow falling flakes coming down, and the sun trying to peak through the heavy cloud cover.
This picture was actually taken on Christmas Eve, on my Dad's porch, where the UPS man delivered our boxes of corqs. The fuzzy cat in the front is Cassandra, and the short haired grey cat on the other box is Shannon.
I have been absent from this blog for a couple weeks, but with good reason. On December 26th I gave birth to a tiny little girl. She has instantly become the apple of my eye, and she makes it difficult to think about anything else, wine related or otherwise.
While tromping around the ice covered vineyard the other day, I came across these frozen Queen Anne's Lace. It is officially a weed, and even more precisely a member of the carrot family, but it is abundant, and pretty in the summer, and photogenic covered in ice. 
I took a nice brisk walk this morning, and took a few snapshots of the vineyard covered in ice. It was melting while I was out there, but it's supposed to ice back up this evening, and melt again tomorrow. Or, we could have snow. I'd hate to be a weather person right about now.
Autumn is my favorite time of year. It is my most busy time of year, trying to get all the grapes in out of the vineyard, trying to be at all these wine tastings, trying to host Bed and Breakfasts guests, and trying to make sure that everyone that visits the tasting room is happy, plus trying to bottle and label the Cranberry and Christmas Plum, and motivate our distributer to sell the Cranberry and Christmas Plum.
Dad and I just got back from our annual trip to Wisconsin to buy cranberries. This year the weather was a little warmer than usual, but the berries, as you can see in the picture are still as red and beautiful as you can imagine. It's a long trip, but a bonding and invigorating one, as we always come home, heads brimming with ideas.
This is a picture I took two weekends ago at the St. Louis Wine Festival in Forest Park. It was a beautiful setting, and lots of wine was poured.
We pressed the Norton today. It was a small crop, but the color and taste were superb. Don't you love that garnet color?
I will have to admit that I really like this picture I took yesterday while testing the sugar of the Norton grapes. I like the blue on the tips of the wings, and a tiny bit of orange and yellow, and the black contrasted with the purple of the thistle flower. If I look at the green grass below, I get dizzy.
We have two doves on the property, they have been here at least a month if not most of the summer. They are light grey, with dark grey or black on the tips of their wings and a ring around their neck. I have never seen this type of dove before, and I have no idea why they chose to come here, but they are peaceful, and beautiful, and are always seen together. Some people believe that when you have a rare animal cross your path, that symbolizes something in your life. Wonder what these doves are trying to tell me, if anything? If anyone has any knowledge about what type of doves these are, and/or if they are native to Missouri, I would love you to leave a comment.
It's the little things that one should pay attention to and love and enjoy. These barrels are my new favorite additions to the winery. We have other Missouri oak barrels, but these are so fresh and clean and new. Plus they are filled with our Estate Seyval, so the smell is heavenly.
Here is a picture of a bunch of Vidal bunches. =) It will be a couple weeks before we harvest these, but they do look scrumptious already.
Here is a picture of the blackberries we have fermenting right now. Not too many people had blackberries for sale this year. I think with the frost and now all this dry weather, this isn't too good of a growing year for most things in Missouri. These blackberries sure are beautiful though, and their perfume radiates the air around them. When you stir them, or punch them down, a pink foam forms and bubbles up and looks like sherbet.
