October 6 - October 12, 2013
October 6 - October 12, 2013
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Sunday October 6, 2013 We will take a break tomorrow and do more sugar tests. We have all the Zinfandel in now except for second crop or red bunches previously left for later. This fruit will be picked, probably on October 21. Below is what we found when testing sugar content on Thursday: Cabernet from older vines.............25 % Sugar (Brix) Cabernet Clone 6 new vines.........23 Carignan.......................................25.2 Cabernet Franc.............................24.7 Merlot............................................27+ Aglianico.......................................25.6 Petit Verdot...................................24 Tannat...........................................26 Souzao..........................................23.1 Alvarelhao.....................................23.1 If we had to, we could harvest all this last fruit right now. We want about 25 brix so we will be harvesting most in the next week. The Cabernet Franc and Merlot will probably be first on Tuesday because we can ferment the two together. They will be part of our Aca Modot blend. The Tannat will follow with some Souzao, Alvarelhao or Aglianico mixed in. Most of the Aglianico will be kept separate. The Carignan will be sometime this coming week. We need to check some other Cabernet sections but it looks like the Cabernet should be ready by October 18. There is no rain in sight and usually sugars go up about one brix per week this time of year. If we do see some highs in the 90's, the cabernet vines will go up by one brix in just a few days. Like I said earlier, we will be taking all the sugar tests again tomorrow. 9:30 Pm: The Raiders are starting now and I will not make it up to the end after midnight......I will survive until tomorrow....Nadal has lost the first set, I have it recorded.....The 49ers are winning.....I have a lot to look at in the next few hours BUT I love the Stock Market so I will be up early to see what the Congress is doing.......I do know......I do not have an audit.....a nice local resident all her life, represents the IRS now. I know her family and they are grape growers. I know she will do her job and I know I am so disappointed, she has been laid off of her job. She called last Tuesday when this all happened. She was so nice and said she had to take everything they needed and go home, in so many words. I told her I wanted to get this over and I was so disappointing in our government. You can search back on my dispute with the IRS......BUT more interesting....... Back to the Market. I may start buying stocks again......I am in 40% cash I do not own stock in TSLA (Tesla). This would have to be another Amazon, Google or Apple to get this valuation, way too much? new article on SeekingAlpha has been interesting today since there is this big feud with TSLA supporters, and supporters who want the stock to go down. TSLA is an interesting company, because I bought the only car available from them. I look forward to seeing what they have to offer me. I am hoping this is the first start TO kill oil. Think to the Future when there is no oil needed...........OH it will happen BUT when? TSLA could be a small start? Look........as i have heard some politicians say.........their new term........ Amazon is valued at 145 Billion, a bargain Facbook is valued at 124 Billion, compared to Amazon, which company is better? I think they both will go higher Google is valued at 290 Billion twice Amazon, why?? Apple is valued at 439 Billion......why........... since they have cash of over 150 Billion, more than Amazon is worth. OK the bottom line is 1) Netflix is valued at 19 Billion 2) Tesla is valued at 22 Billion Both cheap....and who is in the news?, these two Just think if Apple decided to bid to buy any of these companies, including Google...........that stock would go up.........What is Apple going to do with all this money? I've sold 60% of my Apple stock. I have done well and i will hold onto the rest to see. In the mean time I will put the money in to a Tesla Monday October 7, 2013 8:00 Pm: We are ready tomorrow to harvest again. All the sugar tests came in higher. We will do Merlot and cab franc for Aca Modot ....then onto Carignan. I will have more tomorrow BUT now if you have not heard about Elon........here is what i would have said, even if I did not have his money.........I still do not have stock, I need to check out the product first
If interested in more about Tesla, check out the rest of the article........... http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/10/05/elon-musk-on-how-to-think-about-teslas-value.aspx Tomorrow is another day.....I did not get much sleep last night......... Tuesday October 8, 2013 4:30 Pm: We picked all the Cab Franc today and we were surprised to see a sugar over 26%. It looked so good, we may bottle some separate and blend most into Aca Modot. We also finished the Merlot and one bin of Cabernet. All those came in at 26 also. They will all go into Aca Modot. The puzzle is falling into place!! We will start on Carignan tomorrow and finish Thursday. We will then pick some more Cabernet. On Friday I want to pick the Souzao and Alvarelhao. Those sugars are still a little low, but we have some Tannat and Aglianico that will be high enough to blend in to reach a brix of 25+. Those grapes will go into Escuro. We will finish the Aglianico Saturday or early next week. We will blend some into Escuro but save most to bottle as an Aglianico varietal. Early next week we will also finish our Cabernet. We should be able to start on our second crop toward the end of next week. We will still be waiting on our Clone 6 Cabernet which is being stubborn and showing only 23 sugar. We would like to keep it separate, but may end up blending it into ripe Cabernet clone 341 that we could save for another week. It will be fun. Wednesday October 9, 2013 10:00 Pm: There were too many things to analyze today, better word organize, wow I could think of many words that describe today. Catarino came in and said we had more Carignan than I suspected. Catarino's computer in his head, (as he calls it) is working very well these days. I think both of us are still having fun and figuring out what to pick next. Catarino and I have the passion!! We brought in 6.5 tons of very old Carignan. I have been here 35 years and these vines looked younger then. In all these 35 years though, this is one of the highest yields I have received from this area. Catarino says the other section in Block 3 is less productive lately and will still bring in another 2 tons. I think the highest production total in the areas was 9 tons in the past. That is 4.5 tons to the acre, not bad for old vines. Mr. Harris Kratka was here today, early. Matt speculated he was here to sell us grapes, but Marshal asked me to custom crush for him. Sure I know he had been other places before me, we go back away. He is, way nice, and smooth, persuasive and I am always a soft one for doing someone a favor. Harris Kratka is very famous around here. The designation on a wine label is important. Wines with that name on the label have produced many gold medals and over 90+ wine ratings, so it will be an honor to produce wine from these grapes. So I agreed to custom crushing 6 tons. As Pat, Matt and especially I, know, custom crushing is a lot of work and can bring surprises. Marshal has agreed to pay some money upfront. I now have to convince Matt to make the wine. I could always get Salvador and Catarino to help. Why can't congress resolve things like most of us in this world!!!!! Matt, Catarino and I have no trouble. Pat. Catalina and Cindi have no trouble. Martha is Catarino's wife and she puts up with him here during the day just like Pat puts up with me. There is a lot of hard work done around here, some more physical. I sit around here most of the day and answer the phone. I make decisions about picking. Pat does all the orders into the computer, Matt is doing more with the winemaking. Cindi and Catlaina sell the wine. Maybe the Congress needs a CEO Saturday October 12, 2013 I started a diary last night and did not finish it so that is where I begin below: Friday October 11, 2013 9:00 Pm: It was hard to remember when I last posted here. It has been very interesting days. I have slept well for the last few days so that helps. I dream always about perils, mostly about what could happen in the near future. I used to have dreams about trying to find my records at college to prove I graduated SINCE I never picked up my diploma.......... The last two days involved logistics and timing. Logistics wise......with the extra 5 or six tons of Harris Kratka, I had to order more racks in order to stack the barrels securely. I was told I would get delivery today but could not get a hold of the company all day so delivery was never made...... We did receive new barrels today so if we receive the racks, we will be fine.. OK, I had to figure out how to blend several varieties we brought in the last two days. I decided to make up an Estate Cuvee blend yesterday.......... now on to today........ 2:30 Pm: Saturday The Estate Cuvee blend I referred to was fermentations of Carignan and Cabernet. Estate Cuvee has both in the mix. On Friday we picked several varieties that will go into Escuro. I was happy to see Souzao and Alvarelhao come in over 24 brix so we fermented some Tannat with them. Tannat was 29 % sugar. Aglianico was next at 26.5 brix so it looks like 2013 Escuro should be great. Today we picked clone 6 Cabernet from very young vines. In the first two years, 2011 and 2012 we had very low sugars. Today I was real happy to see 24 to 25%. We blended in some Cab clone 341 which was over 27%. We also picked a ton of Cab clone 337 at 26.5. Some of these clones will go into our 100% Cabernet, some into Estate Cuvee and My Zin and some into Aca Modot. The most tannic and intense barrels will go into our 100% cab. Monday we will finish another section of clone 6 cab and the rest of clone 337. Tuesday I am looking forward to harvesting our Petit Verdot. I am hoping for 25-27 sugar. On Tuesday we will also start on our second crop which will be mostly Zinfandel. It now looks for certain we will be done on Friday. The quality of these last grapes look outstanding!! Time will tell. We need to taste....... |
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