News of 2007

12/27/07
A good rain, last week, delivered nearly 4 inches and the ground seemed to soak it up like a sponge. Once the soil dried a bit, we completed a tilling and seeding of the vineyard preparing for a cover crop to help avoid erosion and add value to the top soil.

Our new order form will post next week reflecting a raise in price for our 04' and 05' Estate Zinfandel. With a new year around the corner, I look forward to releasing two more terrific wines. Our 2006 Toucan Cuvee will be available this spring and our 2006 Estate Zinfandel will release later this summer. In the mean time, the 05' Estate Zinfandel continues to improve and the 04' has just begun to open up beautifully.

Also available, 2006 Carignane and the newly released 2006 Estate Petite Sirah.

12/11/07
Cold winter nights with a little frost and mild days in the 60's make up the central coast weather this time of year. Sunday was a beautiful day, we took a walk on the beach and enjoyed visiting with friends.

We're busy filling holiday wine orders and packaging orders. With only our 06' estate Zinfandel left to label - soon I'll turn my attention to the vineyard. Tilling and seeding the cover crop has been delayed for the lack of rain, and in late January we'll start pruning.

12/6/07
My youngest, Lauren, today gave birth to Landon Alexander Timewell - we couldn't be more excited.

12/5/07
Our 2006 Toucan Wines Estate Petite Sirah is now available - read about this wine on our Wines page and order online or link to our order form. Also new, a page we created in support of the wineries located in the Arroyo Grande Valley AVA. Link here or via the address: http://www.arroyograndevalley.com/

The first potential real rainfall is expected this week and boy do we need it! More on that once the rainfall gets closer and truly occurs.

11/28/07
DRY AS A BONE. As this month comes to a close we are still dry with no rain in the forecast. You may have seen the national prediction for the west coast - we're in for a dry winter. What does this mean for California wineries? Less crop volume and more intense wines from concentrated flavors for those vineyards not over irrigating. Good for consumers? More quality wine from more wineries.

11/22/07
Happy Turkey Day! We woke-up this morning to our first seasonal frost -- a sign of colder days and nights ahead. At 6:30am I took a walk through the vineyard, on this thanksgiving day, looked around at our beautiful valley and felt there was a lot to be thankful for. Maybe today we all can start being more giving - consider driving less and recycle more.

11/21/07
We are just back from a great visit in San Diego and Los Angeles areas - we enjoyed the San Diego Food and Wines Festival and we thank all the folks who stopped to try our wines at the Wedell Cellars table.

We have just a few more nets to remove from the vineyard and then I'll begin the winter preparation - including tilling and seeding for a vineyard cover crop. All is well in the winery, we're still labeling the bottled wines and thinking about our first racking planned for early January - once we've done the usual testing and made blending choices.

11/12/07
Our 2006 Carignane is now shipping to customers - order by downloading the order form or calling us at the winery. Please remember - we ship our wines to your gift list. Give a call or email me with your requirements.

11/9/07
Our weather has turned a little colder and we're using this time to remove and put away the vineyard netting. We pressed the final bin of estate wine - adding to the other port-style wine aging in our cellar from earlier pickings. Today we expect labels for the 2006 vintage to arrive, we'll begin the process of labeling and adding capsules to our recently bottled wines.

11/1/07
Harvesting once again: early this morning, this evening and tomorrow morning we harvest the last of the remaining fruit in our estate vineyard. This last fruit was intentionally left behind given how unripe it appeared during regular harvest. The extra fruit will go into the estate port-style wine already in progress. It was for the most part Zinfandel with quite a lot of Petite Sirah. This will produce a third barrel for our port-style program.

Yesterday one of our farm dogs, Jake, was struck by a rattlesnake that was coiled next to our house. After an all-day Vet visit, a powerful blow to the credit card and a good night sleep - he seems to be doing pretty well. Update: Jake is fine - he's his same ol' stupid self!

10/20/07
We completed bottling the 2006 Toucan Wines Estate Zinfandel, 124 cases were produced from our small vineyard. This wine spent 12 months in 80% new French, Hungarian, and American oak barrels and will release in 2008.

10/15/07
Effective January, 2008 we won't be shipping into Oregon due to rule changes in that state. Oregon customers should place their last orders with us by December 15th, 2007.
Also in January, 2008, our pricing will change for our estate wines - order in 2007 to save a couple of dollars on each bottle.

10/10/07
Check out the 2007 Harvest Slideshow by clicking on the link above. The first little bit of seasonal rain fell this morning - just enough to wake-up the weeds. Our 2007 estate wines are all in barrels - I'm very pleased with the quality.

This past Sunday we enjoyed our friends and neighbors at our annual harvest party. It's always fun getting together with friends this time of year to share stories, food, drink, and enjoy the crisp fall weather. And last Saturday we spent the day pouring wine at the Morro Bay Harbor Festival - if you had the chance to joins us, then you enjoyed a beautiful day on the central coast. In fact the weather has been remarkable the past several days.

10/03/07
Today we bottled the 2006 Carignane, made from the 120 year old vines of the Evangelho Vineyard, which we'll release this fall. It's a wonderful wine with a complex floral nose with ripe dark berry fruits and oak forward flavors - a mouthful of wine that will be ready to drink soon.

9/29/07
Harvest completed in record time this season - with the exception of a few cluster left for late harvest. The sugars, after last week's heat wave, snuck-up on me and we completed harvesting the Zinfandel this past Thursday and Friday. Today, we brought in the Petite Sirah completing the regular harvest of our vineyard and allowing me to put all my energy into the winemaking.

Thank you again to all our volunteers for helping make this our best harvest yet!

9/26/07
Were getting ready for a big push to finish the harvest of our estate vineyard. The weather has been wonderful and the job of ripening the fruit accomplished. We just pressed the first harvest and put it to rest in new French and Hungarian barrels. As I filled the barrels with tasty Zinfandel, a particularly satisfying feeling came over me. This final step in the harvest process places the wine safely away for a long winter rest - a good sense of accomplishment.

Next Saturday, the 6th of October - visit with us at the Morro Bay Harbor Festival. Of course we'll be in the wine pouring section and sampling our 04' and 05' estate Zinfandel and a peek at one of our upcoming releases.

9/23/07
A great morning for harvesting... we were able to escape the rain and harvested another small section of the vineyard this morning. So far - so good! The grapes are all looking great. Thanks again to our volunteers for their help! In fact, it's difficult to describe how beautiful a day is was here on the central coast. But wait, our friend Bob took some pictures that I'll post later this week.

9/21/07
I hope that I'm not speaking too soon - it seems the pending rainstorm has for the most part gone around us. We may see a couple of showers but not the 1-3 inches forecasted. This great news puts us back on a harvest schedule for this Sunday and then next Saturday after a week of warmer days.

9/18/07
Under nearly perfect conditions, we began harvest on the 15th and 16th with the help of 15 or so wonderful volunteers. Thanks to everyone for helping!! The first two tons of fruit arrived in the winery in great condition and the vitals were excellent. Now, some very cool weather is in the forecast - this may slow down sugars but some forecasted rain may force our hand to harvest the fruit early... stand by!

9/14/07
On Friday the 14th, we bottled 48 1/2 cases of our 2006 estate Petite Sirah. The fruit that made this wine was harvested on October 7th of 2006 and spent nearly 12 months in new oak. This wine has beautiful color and flavors - we recommend dropping us a note to reserve your allocation (to be released in Spring, 2008).

9/12/07
Ready for harvest... however the weather has turned cool and that always slows things down. The vineyard looks good, similar to 05', the fruit is a mix of plump berries and other clusters starting to raisin, dark brown stems and seeds, and intense, concentrated flavors. I'm not predicting the result of this year's effort, but yield look small and quality looks great.

9/6/07
Harvest will begin at the Toucan Vineyard next Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th, I hope our volunteers can once again help us. Call me if you're available!!!

9/2/07
Still very HOT and it doesn't want to let up... 112 degrees today, how much of this can we take! The vineyard is dry as a bone and becoming scorched by this heat wave. Now a tropical storm is working it's way toward Central America and may influence our weather pattern in the next week or so.

8/30/07
Hot is right - last night we had all-night thunder and lightening (we barely slept) and even a brief downfall that dumped rain for ten minutes. At 3:30am a thunder burst over head that sounded like a bomb exploding. Of course rain can be a problem for the grapes (mildew and stuff like that enjoys cooler and wet environments), but once the sun came up the wind picked up. Blowing all day and drying the grape, the wind and 108 degree temps (in the shade and our hottest day this season) saved the day. We just finished walking the entire vineyard re-placing the nets blown off from the earlier winds. What a day, and long night - we'll sleep good tonight.

8/29/07
Hot days and cool night over the next week will help the vineyard complete veraison and take us into the final ripening stages. This weather pattern was exactly what I was hoping for. The crop looks medium-light in term of volume with smaller than usual berries, and the fruit looks beautiful. Today I'll take the first sugar readings of the Petite Sirah and Zinfandel giving me some idea of when we might expect to begin harvest.

8/25/07
Nat Decants FREE Wine E-Newsletter: Wine picks, articles and humor from Natalie MacLean, named the World's Best Drink Writer at the World Food Media Awards in Australia. Natalie is also the author of Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass. For more details on this book and to sign up for the newsletter, visit http://www.nataliemaclean.com/

8/17/07
Warm to hot days and cool nights are all contributing to ripening the fruit in the vineyard. Perfect growing weather is the best way to describe this month (fingers crossed that it continues). While we're waiting for the grapes to get perfectly ripe, we have been preparing for bottling and for the upcoming harvest. Equipment must be cleaned and serviced, supplies inventoried, and volunteers lined up.

Our winery has been invited to participate in the Orange County Wine Society's The Wine Classic on November 4th at the Anaheim Hilton. This event showcases award winning wineries awarded at the Orange County Fair in 2007. Tickets are available by contacting the Society.

8/7/07
Yesterday we started netting the vineyard and by this morning we're half way done. Every year this process is carefully timed, any spraying must be caught up and all the vineyard work needs to be complete. At a time that always seems too early, the grapes begin turning color. This change signals the birds to the sweeter fruit which can result in serious fruit damage. Thanks to our volunteers Debbie, Ray, and Greg for helping with the nets!

8/2/07
Finished racking the 06' wines and they taste great. Intense wines, but in limited production. Only 125 cases of estate Zin and 50 cases of estate Petite Sirah for the 2006 vintage will be bottled. Our 05' estate Zin is now served at Papillon on 2nd in Baywood Park.

7/30/07
I'm starting to see a few berries start to turn colors, this signals the time for final vineyard work and netting of the vineyard. The weather is warm and consistent and very pleasant. Join us on January 26, 2008 at the largest wine tasting event
in the world, the ZAP Grand Tasting

7/23/07
This is one of the most peaceful times in the vineyard. The sun is beating down on the vines and the fruit is taking shape, the wind blows through the growing vines and leafs wave. We're beginning to forget the long back-breaking hours spent earlier this summer getting the vineyard to this point. And now we await the transition of color in the clusters and the eventual netting to protect the berries from birds.

7/17/07
We're enjoying beautiful weather for growing fruit and for playing outside. This week I'm busy working in winery, shipping product, restacking case goods to make more room in the cellar, and keeping a close eye on progress in the vineyard. It seems that we'll have long growing season this year. The dry winter and spring slowed down green growth earlier than usual allowing vines to strengthen and resist the strong winds that threaten our valley. Our fruit set was normal, but cluster size seems small from a lack of water. Given the cluster size and moderate temps, I'm anticipating later than usual harvest. This is good news for those who love intense flavors and balanced acids in wine.

We enjoyed pouring at the Central Cost Wine Classic - thanks to those who stopped and enjoyed a taste of our Toucan Wines 2005 Estate Zinfandel.

One of our favorite places for the people and the wine bar is Tastes of the Valleys in Solvang. On Wednesday, July 25th - Tastes of the Valleys manager Bobby Moy leads a class on "The Central Coast Wine Region". I highly recommend you consider putting this on your calendar and arranging for advanced tickets. Bobby is extremely knowledgeable and a great person to talk with and to get to know.

Also, I plan to visit Tastes of the Valleys this Friday evening to attend the pouring event featuring Wedell Cellars. Maurice Wedell will be pouring his amazing wine and talking about his unique hill side vineyard. If you want to taste one of the best Pinots grown and produced on the Central Coast, then we'll see you Friday evening at Tastes of the Valleys.

7/10/07
We completed the long process of thinning, hoeing, and pulling second crop from the vineyard. This is a big effort, we even had some help from visiting volunteers Jeff and Molly. With this stage complete, we'll still give minor attention to leaf pulling and weeding just prior to netting in mid-August.

The vines look good, given the weather has been dry, windy and always at extremes (today a few rain drops - last week super hot). The fruit set is very good, but a few areas have received too much intense heat and the berries have dried and fallen off. The Petite Sirah looks to be smaller in terms of green growth, but average for fruit - the smaller and more exposed clusters have been dried by the sun.

Behind the scenes we're getting ready for harvest, new oak barrels are now in the winery and winemaking supply lists have been written. Bottles and corks have been ordered for bottling - which we'll do just prior to harvest.

7/3/07
Yesterday, today and tomorrow will be the hottest day so far this season 102 in the shade yesterday and nearly 100 today. This has further slowed down progress in the vineyard, the heat making it too difficult to work outside.

7/1/07
July and Summer are bringing warm Zinfandel weather along with it. We're working on thinning the vines, hoeing, and other duties in the vineyard.

Yesterday morning while working in the vineyard, a small truck lost control, pushed by a larger truck, and flew through our fence and vineyard. Fortunately the driver was unhurt, something we can't say for the vines the truck ran over. About 60 feet of fence was taken out and 14 vines damaged. As you might have guessed, this event reprioritized our entire weekend. Yesterday, it took all day to replace the basic fence structure and work to salvage a few vines. Today, more fence work and irrigation replacement is on the schedule, putting the much needed vineyard work on temporary hold.

Our next pouring event is in two weeks at the Central Coast Classic.

6/23/07
Thank you to all the folks who attended the Atascadero Wine Festival and tried our wine. We enjoyed the event talking with new people, sharing our story, and recent awards. When we returned home - we received a letter announcing that a forth Gold Medal has been awarded to our 2005 Zinfandel from the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition.

6/18/07
We're pleased to have received two more Gold Medals for our 2005 Estate Zinfandel.

Started my day early on the tractor spraying the vines and listening to music while I drove between the rows, enjoying the sun working it's way through the morning fog.

6/9/07
Warming weather and the vines are setting a very nice vintage of fruit. We poured our 05' estate Zinfandel and 06' barrel sample at Tastes of the Valleys (Solvang) last night. I had a great time and the customers seemed happy. Our 05' is drinking really well, order yours now.

If you're visiting Solvang, please stop in and visit Tastes of the Valleys. Try our award winning 2005 Estate Zinfandel by the taste, glass or bottle. And try our latest release - the 2006 Toucan Blush, exclusive to Tastes of the Valleys.

6/5/07
Were back from a wonderful week+ of travel, enjoying family on the beautiful outer banks of North Carolina, to attend my eldest daughter's wedding. We had a great time with both daughters, met new family members, and even relaxed a bit (between parties).

On the food front, we tasted some very good BBQ in the Nag's Head, NC area at a place named Sooey's BBQ and Rib Shack. The hush-puppies were to die for and the sauce was terrific. Also, we found a great BBQ sauce (made in NC) called Uncle Yammy's - buy some!

5/26/07
As the summer heat approached, ground shipping becomes a risky option. Place your summer order now for late spring arrival and avoid the heat, we won't ship to areas being impacted by hot weather.

Hopefully the last mowing of the vineyard rows is now done. Dry spring weather has the vineyard growing perfectly. We've been spending most of our time in the vineyard - just finished the last of the spring chores, including tying and a second pass suckering. It's still very windy, maybe more than recent years past.

5/11/07
Terrie worked with me to complete the spring suckering of the vineyard. After roughly a week of hunching over - our backs are sore and we deserve a couple of days off. As we worked through suckering the vineyard, we also hoed the weeds, and tied vines.

5/3/07
We've had a few HOT days and today a strong on-shore wind is blowing the young shoots and on occasion breaking them from the vine. I'm working on suckering our 3,000 head-trained vines, shaping them as I go to assure even growth and optimum crop levels. Head-trained vines are slow to develop the needed arms to carry a full crop. I tend to leave four to eight shoots per vine depending on the age and strength of the vine. Later in the year, I come back and thin the leaves and at the same time thin the number of clusters.

4/30/07
Thank you to the hundreds of wine-knowledgeable folks who stop to sample our wines at the Orange Co. Wine Extraordinaire. I had a great time pouring wine and talking with all the terrific people - thank you to the Orange County Wine Society for inviting us to attend this top-flight event.

I'm going to take a break from pouring events until the June 8th pouring at Tastes of the Valleys, in Solvang. This time of year we focus on vineyard work and the detail required by our head-trained vines.

4/27/07
I'm pleased to share new locations in Southern Ca. to purchase and taste the 2005 Toucan Wines Estate Zinfandel: WineStyles of the Pacific Palisades located on Monument Street is a new fine wine shop offering wine tastings, Vino Divino in Santa Barbara at De La Vina and Mission is fine wine shop and tasting bar in a great old neighborhood, Primitivo Wine Bistro, Venice is located in the hip Abbot Kinney section of Venice offering our wine by the glass, and the Sepulveda Wine Co is a fine wine landmark located in Manhattan Beach.

4/22/07
Finally a little rain, Friday and again today we're getting the wet stuff. Not a lot and nowhere near normal - but some is better than none. Yesterday we poured at the first annual Earth Day Food and Wine Festival in Paso Robles, sponsored by the Central Coast Vineyard Team. Thanks to those who came out to the event!

4/18/07
Our 2005 Estate Zinfandel proudly wins our first gold metal at the prestigious Dallas Morning News Wine Competition.

4/15/07
The most honored and most respected wine blog is of course VINOGRAPHY founded and written by Alder Yarrow. I've had a long standing respect for Vinography (as I've mentioned before), Alder's consistency in publishing interested content, his relentless commitment to his work, and the integrity and balance in his writing keeps me, and his many readers, coming back for more.

Toucan Wines was today's focus on Vinography, Alder's kind words tell our story and offer detailed tasting notes on our 2005 Estate Zinfandel.

4/11/07
Toucan Wines a recommended Zinfandel splurge: see today's San Jose Mercury News.

Windy best describes the past couple of days. I've started suckering new growth on those vines with reasonable growth. This process can take a couple of weeks or more. And in head-trained vineyards, like ours, often more than one pass is required to sucker vines. During this time in the vineyard I always try to accomplish a secondary task... like weeding.

Yesterday I topped-off the 2006 wine barrels and had the chance to taste most of the wine in barrels. The 2006 Estate Zinfandel is developing very nicely in barrels - it's a huge mouthful of ripe berry-cherry fruit, delicious, brash, and still young. The 2006 Estate Petite Sirah is also delicious and developing into a very big, but elegant counterpart to the Zin. More on these wines later.

4/3/07
The most selective and well managed wine club in California is the Sideways Wine Club. Wine Merchant Dave Chambers offers members carefully selected treasures from well known and lesser known California wineries. I'm proud to claim that the Sideways Wine Club now offers Toucan Wines.

Dave Chambers has some kind words when referring to our 05' Estate Zinfandel: "I attended ZAP this year in search of Zinfandel not imitating port. I found many of the latter, with alcohol a point or two shy of Port’s 18%, and more sweet fruit than a jam jar. Cocktails, these. Wine shooters. By contrast, Toucan provided a pleasant respite for those who enjoy wine with food. This wine was my favorite of the day - the feminine elegance I want at my table complimented by enough taught, sinewy athleticism to avoid being effete. Winemaker Doug Timewell adds an 11% dollop of muscular Petite Sirah for color, depth and aroma enhancement. Look for spice and dark fruits and licorice and a subtle pepper spice that I particularly like. In my early wine days, I sought exaggerated pepper spices in my Zins. Today such wines make me sneeze. Do our senses get more attenuated to subtlety as we age?"

4/2/07
April brings with it the start of seasonal vineyard work. This work includes hand-watering second year vines, mowing, suckering new growth on the head-trained vines, and preventative spraying for mildew, vine tying and maintenance. If you're trying to find me - I'm likely in the vineyard, our recent warm weather has made working outside a real treat.

3/30/07
Just a drop of rain this week will help to green the grass. Most of the vineyard has bud break and in some sections the first few leaves search for sunshine. Nice mild weather has been the norm here on the central coast.

The estate wines are developing nicely in the barrel room. Our 06' Estate Zinfandel is resting in 80% new oak barrels (mostly French, the balance Hungarian and American) and 20% second year French oak. The 06' Estate Petite Sirah is resting in 100% new American, Hungarian, and French oak.

3/22/07
We have bud break in our vineyard and typical spring weather at the moment - cooler nights and mild days. We're still 12 inches behind in our rain fall, but our fingers are crossed that late March and April bring more rain.

Kathy Marcks Hardesty was written a very nice review of our current release in this weeks San Luis Obispo New Times - check Kathy's blog and her weekly radio program on Grape Vine Radio.

Kathy's PickToucan Wines 2005 Zinfandel Arroyo Grande ValleyBy KATHY MARCKS HARDESTY
This delicious Zin is brilliant with aromas and flavors of bright red cherry, zingy raspberry, wild blackberry and spice with a lingering finish. Its bright acidity makes it a great choice for an array of dishes like grilled beef, or pasta dressed in a hearty meat or mushroom sauce. It's one of Arroyo Grande Valley 's newest wineries, where winemaker Doug Timewell planted his vineyard with cuttings from the prominent Benito Dusi Vineyard in Paso Robles. A good value at $32 for this special wine of limited production, buy it at Monterey St. Wine Co., Great Gatsby's, De Palo & Sons.

3/17/07
I had good fun pouring wine and meeting customers at Tastes of the Valleys last night. If you haven't visited the place, it's must in the Solvang area. Great place, great people, fun and easy-going. Highly Recommended!

I'll be back at Tastes of the Valleys on Friday June 8th - see you there!

3/13/07
As forecasted, we've been HOT - 96 degrees Sunday and 97 yesterday with cool nights around 40 degrees. The fruit trees are in bloom and the garden is getting planted. And of course we await bud-break in the vineyard.

3/10/07
I had fun with Kathy and Cliff today on "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" - please visit their web site and BLOG, and every Saturday at noon - give them a listen.

3/9/07
Hot summer-like days in the forecast and no rain - seems like spring passed us by. Work in the vineyard is at the usual late-winter stand still and the wines in barrels have all been racked and lay resting. We're busy working on household projects, tractor upgrades, and I'm beginning to think about the upcoming vintage. Each year we must estimate the size of the vintage and pre-order barrels. Barrel manufacturers have trained the wineries to order early; and pricing has jumped another 10-15% this year. Because we use of 70-80% new oak to age our wines - the barrel becomes one of the most expensive components of our wine making. The price of a quality barrel always amazes me - up to $1000 for a very good barrel and even more for the best ones. Here's some basic barrel information: One ton of grapes (2000 pounds), once crushed, fermented and pressed, will fill two standard 55 gallon barrels; each barrel yields about 23 cases (or 276 bottles) of wine; barrels can be used for many years in a winery, but the oak contributed by the barrel only benefits the wine in the first 18 - 36 months.

3/4/07
We're back to warmer days, very spring-like here on the central coast. The buds on the vines are starting to swell - so, it looks to be an early year. We've added a couple of events (listed above) and I have more to announce soon.

2/22/07
Finally a little rain arrived this morning. This precious liquid is in much demand in our part of the country and we treasure every drop. Yesterday we completed the first racking of the 2006 wines. Our 2006 Estate releases will be even smaller than our 2005, however we will be releasing another limited production Estate Petite Sirah from the 2006 vintage. Keep an eye open for the announcement of our own wine club which will launch later this year.

Next week you can find us at the Wine Bar & Shop, San Francisco. This wonderful wine bar is located at Two Embarcadero Center on the ground floor.. check it out!

Thank you to Laurie Daniel for writing about our latest release in her Local Wine Pick column for The Tribune. We appreciate your support!

2/21/07
Local Wine Picks, by Laurie Daniel Special to The Tribune
Tiny Toucan Wines in the Arroyo Grande Valley has followed up its promising debut, a 2004 zin, with its delicious new 2005 Estate Zinfandel ($32). The wine, which also contains some petite sirah, displays bright blackberry and black raspberry fruit, notes of tobacco and white pepper and some zippy acidity. It’s rich, mouth-filling and very well-balanced - not at all over the top or alcoholic. Only 300 cases were produced, so the wines may be a little hard to find, but retailers are listed at http://www.toucanwines.com/.

2/17/07
Crazy HOT over the past several days - 85 degrees today and still very little rain for the season (feels like summer). Looks to be an early spring and a drought year here on the central coast. What a roller-coaster year with record cold temps that damaged crops and broke-open pipes and in contrast hot days like today.
The vineyard work is now complete for the winter, the grass has greened-up a bit and we look forward to more rainfall (fingers crossed).

We sold out of our 2004 Petite Sirah here at the winery, but we still have a bit of our 2004 Estate Zinfandel in both regular sized bottles and in magnums. Our current release, the 2005 Estate Zinfandel, is also available in both sizes. Enjoy.

2/10/07
I had a great time pouring all three of our wines last night in San Luis Obispo at Monterey Street Wine Co. - thank you to all those who came out to enjoy the party.

2/6/07
We just finished picking up the cuttings from the vineyard, clearly this is the worst job on the farm and it takes us several days to complete. What a relief that's behind us for another year.

Talk with us live on March 10th @ Noon on the radio show "I heard It Through the Grapevine" with hosts Cliff Stepp and Kathy Marcks Hardesty. Enjoy the show live at: http://www.grapevineradio.net/

Local folks in Arroyo Grande can now find our 2005 Estate Zin at Lund's in the Village of Arroyo Grande.

2/3/07
Thanks to our friend Bob for taking this great photo of the old barn next-door to our vineyard and winery.

1/31/07
We had fun pouring our wines at ZAP - thanks to all who stopped at our table and enjoyed our Estate Zinfandels. Now find our 2005 Estate Zin at Tastes of the Valleys in Solvang.

We finally got a little rain and more seasonal weather. Pruning is done, but picking up the cuttings still has to be handled. In the winery, we just finished labeling the 2005 estate Zin. Next, racking and blending the 2006 wines.

1/26/07
These Two Can do it at Toucan Wines,
by Janis Switzer for The Tribune

"...Toucan Wines’ first release was 100 cases from the 2004 vintage, and the couple just released
300 cases from their 2005 vintage. Their goal is to make high-quality, handcrafted wines, and they say they’ve been very fortunate to have had such great acceptance so far."

1/20/07
REVIEW: 2005 Toucan Wine Estate Zinfandel, Arroyo Grande Valley
"This is a purple joy of a wine with classic Zin charms and a hint of something darker, which happens to be a dollop of Petite Sirah that lends dense color and meat to the wine. Lovely fresh raspberry and boysenberry fruit gushes up front and then you get some spicy notes and richness in the mid palate that leads to a long finish that has just the right amount of toasted oak goodness. This is a fine Zinfandel and really highlights its own unique terroir in its extra fullness, but with nice balance." Kerry Winslow, grapelive

1/18/07
It's still freezing here at night - we're experiencing lows in the high teens to low 20's. This year the cold forced our vines to go dormant earlier than in past years. I view this as a good thing, when pruning - the vines don't loose moisture from the cuts when fully dormant. The cold is just as good for the vineyard as Terrie's Cherry, Pear and Nectarine trees. On the other hand, the Navel Orange tree on top of the hill by our water tanks... it's a goner - frozen to the core.

1/15/07
Record cold, ice, but beautiful days. Work in the vineyard continues with pruning of our head-trained vines. We're also just finishing hand-labeling our 2005 Estate Zinfandel.

Just in time for the ZAP Festival - you'll be able to find our estate Zinfandel in the Bay area at the following locations:

Montclair Village Wines, Oakland
K&L Wine Merchants, San Francisco
D&M Wine and Liquor, San Francisco
Napa Valley Winery Exchange, San Francisco
Coach House, Cupertino

1/8/07
A dry winter so far, we're several inches below our average rainfall - the result is warm beautiful weather that makes it easy to work outside. But, a disaster for trees, plants, vines that may soon wake-up to the warmer climate - only to be shut back down by winter freezes. We've pruned about 1/3 of the vineyard; year-end paperwork and winery chores are taking most all my time.

1/1/07
Happy New Year to all our friends and family, we wish you all a healthy and fulfilling year. Pruning of the vineyard has begun. We started late last week and with the help of our friend Robert. Pruning and other vineyard prep will take us all of January and most of February to complete.