Wet Weather has us Working in the Winery

We've reached about 11 inches of rain for the season, a great start for a region that usually doesn't see much of the wet stuff until January. The cold weather and rain forced us into the winery to look for projects, of which we have no shortage.

So, we're currently labeling the recently released Estate Toucanet. I had some time after harvest to label and packaged enough of the wine to support the release, allowing me to begin shipping - but we blew through that batch quickly.

The Estate Toucanet is perfect holiday gift and wonderful toasting wine for the season. Enjoy this dessert wine with friends and family.

Estate Toucanet Gets Thumbs Up from The Bernards Inn's Terri Baldwin

The Bernards Inn is a world-class hotel and fine dining destination in Bernardsville, New Jersey. The fine wine collection is the work of Wine Director/Sommelier Terri Baldwin, and has been awarded the "Best of Award of Excellence" from the Wine Spectator Magazine for the past eight years.

Terri has put together an amazing International list, including French first growth wines dating back to the 50's and California premier Cabernets dating into the 60's.

We're proud that Terri has selected Toucan Wines for her fine wine list, including both our 2005 Estate Zinfandel and our Estate Toucanet. Here's what Terri has to say:

Estate Toucanet: the beauty of this unique sweet dessert wine is the flavor and texture. When I tasted this wine, I was extremely pleased with all that it offered. Dark sweet fruits, raspberry, wild cherry, vanilla, mocha. Great for gift giving with its uniqueness, this wine will be sure to satisfy the sweet tooth after dinner or as a holiday toast. Not cloyingly sweet, the texture is elegant and smooth that will have you thirsting for more. This wine will also age incredibly well for 15+ years. The packaging of this wine is also elegant in a 500 ML bottle (16 oz) and boasts 5 Toucan birds on the label…. Terrie Baldwin

Winter Arrives with Rain and Cold... Last Event of 2009

On Monday, the second rain of the season brought another 1.5 inches adding to the 5.5 inches gifted at the end of our harvest. More rain is expected this weekend making this a great start for the season. Our first frosty nights arrived in October, but yesterday the temps dipped into the mid-20's leaving a blanket of frost that covered our entire valley.

Our very last special tasting event will be at Monterey Street Wine Co. in San Luis Obispo on the 18th (Friday) from 5 till close. Frankly, this will be more of a party, the venue is great and improving everyday, and the tasting will be a selection sparkling wines and Toucan Wines. They'll feature gourmet foods, wines to taste and wines by the glass. This will be the perfect chance to enjoy some great wine and select a few last minute holidays gifts.

Plus, I'll be pouring our wines at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande every Saturday from 1-5pm through the end of the year.

Vineyard and Home Projects, plus New Events...

Our December newsletter is now available, amazing how quickly this year flew by. Now that winter has arrived, were starting work on a new patio in back of our home with a fire pit and a retaining wall. We're also doing some changes in the vineyard. This winter we'll raise the drip line and wire, used for tying vines in summer, and shorten the drip line to water between the vines instead of on top of the vine.

The vineyard looks beautiful this time of year, as seen in this photograph taken this week. We've had one terrific rain storm that offered over 5 inches and our next rainfall is expected next week.

We also have a number of new events coming up - this Friday I'll be in Atascadero for the evening pouring outside of Endless Summer Jewelry as a part of the Wine and Art Walk in that town. On Friday the 18th, I'll be again at Monterey Street Wines in San Luis Obispo from 5-8pm - this is a great event and I encourage all locals to come and enjoy a good time and evening out. And of course every Saturday through the rest of the year I'll be pouring at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande.

Finally, we ask that you order your gifts of wine from Toucan Wines via the website or simply by called us directly.

Happy Holidays!

Wines for the Holidays...

Don't worry - I'll be pouring our latest releases as well and some library wines at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande every Saturday through the holidays. Currently available from the winery are the 05' and 06' Estate Zinfandel and our dessert wine Estate Toucanet.

Holiday gifts will be shipped from the winery to your friends and family and we even have a couple of magnums of Estate Zinfandel for special gifts.

Petite Sirah - Too Shy to Show at It's Own Party...

That's right - I've withdrawn the 2007 Estate Petite Sirah release and locked it back in the winery bottle cellar until it screams for release!

Yesterday, our release party at Lund's was a lot of fun and thanks to everyone who came to visit and try the wines - our 2004 and 2006 Estate Petite Sirah showed very well, as did the dessert wine Estate Toucanet and the Sunset Ridge Vineyards 07' Petite Sirah - but the Toucan Wines 07's Estate Petite Sirah was still very tightly wound and shy to unfold into the beautiful wine hiding behind the label. Frankly, it just didn't show up for the party!

As with all of our wines, I've tried to release them at a point that they can be enjoyed relatively immediately. But our Petite Sirah has a history of being a slow starter, beginning with our 2004. This first release of Petite Sirah, the 2004 vintage, is now in full bloom and drinking beautifully (as enjoyed yesterday). The 2006 was also released too early and was very closed upon release, and now just beginning to show it's inner beauty. Both of these wines are sold out at the winery, but our 2006 in available locally at a few fine wine shops and restaurants. Email me if you're looking for this wine in SLO county and take a look at our location guide on the website. You'll find our 06' Estate Petite Sirah in several fine restaurants in the NY/NJ areas as well.

So, the Toucan Wines 2007 Estate Petite Sirah will remain tucked away in the winery bottle cellar until sometime next year. If you enjoyed the wine yesterday and want to reserve your own supply - please email me directly and I'll hold your order until released (again). In the mean time, enjoy the other offerings from Toucan Wines including our 2006 Estate Zinfandel (a blend that includes 19% Estate Petite Sirah), our new sweet dessert wine - Estate Toucanet, and still available for the holidays is a limited amount of library wines - our 04' and 05' Estate Zinfandel.

Thank you for your continued support. I promise that eventually our 07' Estate Petite Sirah will reward each of us with it's inner beauty - but obviously on it's terms, in it's own time and only when it's ready.

Terrific Event and Another this Saturday...

We enjoyed a great wine pouring event at Monterey Street Wine Co. this past Friday evening. A terrific crowd showed up and the party was on. Five of our wines on the bar and every one was showing well, also joining me was Sunset Ridge Vineyards showing their 2007 Petite Sirah produced from estate fruit grown on their small family vineyard. Pictured is Patrick, owner of Monterey Street Wines and a picture of Darrel and me sitting at the MSW bar. Darrel is the vineyard manager of Sunset Ridge as well as other premium vineyards in the region.

Our next big event is this Saturday at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande. This is our 2007 Estate Petite Sirah release party - we'll be pouring new and older vintages of Toucan Wines Petite Sirah, we'll have some snacks, chocolate, a jewelry show of Margareta Lund's hand crafted artisan jewelry, and once again Sunset Ridge Vineyards will be joining me and pouring their Petite Sirah. Come see us from 1-6pm this Saturday!!

Estate Petite Sirah Release Party

On the 21st of this month we release our latest limited production estate wine, our 2007 Estate Petite Sirah. Only 35 case produced, you won't find this wine (or any of our wines for that matter) at Costco or Trader Joe's.

You will find his wine and me on Saturday the 21st at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande, I'll be pouring samples of this new release and older releases as well. Read all about our 2007 Estate Petite Sirah and after the 21st order online or find it at your local fine wine shop.

Also, take a look at our online slideshow featuring photos of our life on the farm and the wine making of Toucan Wines.

Events and Beautiful Weather...

This past weekend we poured our wines along side some great food at Woodstone Marketplace. We met new friends and shared a glass with several vineyard volunteers and friends who attended.

And we have some other exciting events coming up over the the next week and over the holidays, please take a look at our events page to see if you can join us in the coming weeks.

The weather has been mild and it truly is a beautiful fall here on the central coast of California. If vacationing in the area, please consider attending one of our tasting events and better get to know us.

Finally, if you have the need to send gifts this holiday season - consider a gift of Toucan Wines! We can ship to your friends and clients to your specifications even using your own holiday cards or notes. Contact us at the winery if we can help this holiday season.

Ten Questions with Lynn Diehl - asked of Doug Timewell of Toucan Wines

Lynn Diehl recently did a casual interview with me at the winery and the result published in a regional paper. See Lynn's other work supporting the local food and wine industry at The Tolosa Press and Wine Region News.

2009 Toucan Wines tucked away in barrels...

It's been a weird growing year - first the continuing draught and then just when we thought everything might be lost to heat, the weather and the fruit cooperated and turned out a lovely crop. Further, the weather then turned cold at night slowing down harvest (just a little) and definitely helping by cooling down the winery at night. As our harvest was coming to a natural end, the gift of 5.5 inches of rain put any hope for a second crop harvest to bed.

Overall our estate vineyard yield was down but the quality was there and that's what really counts. We sincerely thank all our friends, volunteers, family and supporters for all the help this year - another year where your help really counted!!

As you can see in this picture, the recent rain has already turned the vineyard green (at least for now).

First Rain of the Season...

On the central coast we are receiving our first real rain of the season, this storm will deliver as much as 6 inches of rain fall.

Fortunately, we spent yesterday morning pulling in the last of the ripe fruit from the our small estate vineyard. Overall quantity from our 3 1/2 in going to be down from previous vintages, but the quality is terrific.

Thank you to those who attended our Estate Toucanet release party at Lund's in Arroyo Grande. If you'd like to taste our latest releases, including our new Dessert Wine, see our Event schedule for an opportunity to taste our wine and say hello. Our next event is this Thursday in Pismo Beach...

Harvest has come all at once...

After our initial harvest of estate Petite Sirah, we held off thinking that harvest would be spread out over weeks and weeks. But, we're finding the fruit is perfectly ripe and the flavors are perfect. The only problem is... it's all ready (well just about). We've picked the majority (with the help of many friends) of the crop and tonight and tomorrow we're going in for more.

Toucanet Releases...

Our Estate Toucanet is the premier release of a wine produced from the desire to make an entirely estate based Porto styled dessert wine. This premier release is represented as a blend of three barrels from our 2007 vintage and one from our 2008 late harvested vintage - all of which have been fortified or Mutage with brandy spirits distilled from our 2006 Estate Zinfandel. As you can see, our premier release of Toucanet is the product of three great vintages from our estate vineyard and a wine made in the style of the finest age-worthy Porto dessert wines.

Select estate Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, harvested from our small vineyard, once crushed, was cold soaked pre-fermentation for several days. A slow fermentation with special yeast ended with the fortification of fine brandy - Mutage d' esprit. Aged in fine oak barrels for up to 22 months, Toucanet is an incredible and lovely sweet dessert styled wine that tastes of dark sweet fruits, deep raspberry liquor, wild cherry-vanilla, and hints of mocha. Presented in 500ml traditional Porto bottles and sporting our new image of five Toucans, this wine is ready to enjoy now and will hold for up to ten years with proper storage.

Order from the winery direct or one of our fine wine shops and restaurants.

Shipping Wine Again and Harvest Begins...

We’re back to shipping wine this week – the weather is cool and that means we’re shipping any outstanding orders and new orders received today and tomorrow morning – feel free to call me at the winery for available wines and visit the website http://www.toucanwines.com/order.htm

Yesterday we harvested the Estate Petite Sirah, our first crush of the season. The Estate Zinfandel is still a couple of weeks away from harvest - and were looking forward to a warming trend starting later this week. Thanks to all our volunteers who helped out this weekend!

Early September in the Vineyard and Winery...

Having survived the heat wave of late August, we're waiting for the Estate Zinfandel and Petite Sirah to come into full ripeness. We might be able to harvest a small quantity this weekend and then wait and see.

Last Friday, Terrie helped me rack the 08' wines and I must say they are very special - a vintage worth waiting for.

The first of the 08' wines to release will be 150 cases of the "Old Vine" Evangelho Vineyard Carignane - which I hope make available during the upcoming winter holidays. We'll be able to offer, from the 08' vintage, a typical sized offering of Estate Zinfandel - blending with 11% Estate Petite Sirah and currently resting in 80% new French and Hungarian oak barrels. I expect this wine to release in early 2011; And for our Petite Sirah lovers, a mere 24 cases of 08' Petite Sirah will be available, very similar in style to our 2006, the 08' Estate Petite Sirah will sure to please. Also from the 08' vintage, we'll bring back the Toucan Cuvee, up to 50 cases of the Toucan Cuvee will find it's way to our customers in 2010.

Toucanet Release Party in Arroyo Grande

On October 10th, from 1-7pm, we'll be celebrating the release of our Estate Toucanet. This wine was produced from the desire to make an entirely estate based Porto styled dessert wine.

Lund's in the Village of Arroyo Grande - Oct. 10th 1-7pm

Select estate Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, harvested from our small vineyard, once crushed, was cold soaked pre-fermentation for several days. A slow fermentation with special yeast ended with the fortification of fine brandy - Mutage d' esprit. Aged in fine oak barrels for up to 22 months, Toucanet is an incredible and lovely sweet dessert styled wine that tastes of dark sweet fruits, deep raspberry liquor, wild cherry-vanilla, and hints of mocha. Presented in 500ml traditional Porto bottles and sporting our new image of five Toucans, this wine is ready to enjoy now and will hold for up to ten years with proper storage.

A few magnums and a few standard sized 750ml bottles will be available to members of the Toucan Wines Club.


Produced:
302 (6 pack) cases of 500ml traditional bottles
24 bottles of 750ml traditional bottles
6 magnums 1500ml

August Newsletter

Here is our August newsletter for those not on our email list. We are announcing the Toucanet Release Party October 10th at Lund's in the Village of Arroyo Grande, specials, and other news. Find us on Facebook and of course please check in on our website to view special deals or new releases.

The weather has been colder than I'd hope for this summer, but a heat wave is coming later this week. I'm thinking late September for the first grapes from our state vineyard. We've been focused on getting ready for harvest, but we still have some work to do in the winery racking our 08' wines. I'm feeling good after knee surgery and getting stronger every day.

Hot Day on the Central Coast...

Today the heat arrived in force and the grapes are soaking it up. The LaBrea fire is growing out of control about forty miles south-east of us and the wind is kicked-up. Were all hoping CDF gets control soon! I'm enjoying a little time spent inside recovering from a little knee surgery and getting strong for harvest.

Last week we ran up to the bay area to fetch the grape-brandy (shown here in stainless steel storage) for this year's Toucanet. Our first release of Toucanet which spent up to 22 months in fine oak barrels will be available next month. Our brandy, distilled from our 2006 estate wine, in the initial release - is prepared by St. George Spirits, well known for their Hanger-One Vodka and more importantly the many fine products crafted at this artisan distillery.

The vineyard is netted and we await the ripening of our 2009 vintage.

Vineyard Netted and Ready for the Birds....

Well, we're not hoping for birds but we get our share. And yellowjackets too. It's that time of year and this time the netting was done with the help of the crew from the Huasna Valley Farm. These folks chipped in and made it all look simple - I drove the tractor and they did the rest!

Today, I worked with Terrie to fine tune the ends of the rows by adding bricks to pull back the nets from the fruit. Birds will team-up and weigh down the nets to get access to the ripe fruit. Those birds know every trick in the book - and were working to keep one step ahead. Yellowjacket traps are set, Terrie has about 12 traps that she keeps filled with cat or dog food. Seems to be working great right now.

A dry year and now very windy. Not hot, but mild and dry. Should be an outstanding year for our estate wines.

We also have a bunch of new pictures for the series "Where Did You Wear Your Toucan Wines Hat". This is a picture of Dave Smith, of St. George Spirits - this is the high-end distillery we use to produce brandy from our estate wines and for our Toucanet.

To view additional pictures, join us on Facebook - click here. To get your own Toucan Wines Hat, visit our website.

Nearly four weeks into July,,,

Here at Toucan Wines we've had some warm days and cool nights, typical for this time of year. It's been a dry growing season and the vines have produced an average sized crop of what I believe will prove to be outstanding quality. The vineyard is just about ready to net from bird damage, a final step which I hope to get done with a lot of help on August 2nd

This week we bottled our premier release of Toucanet, 300 six-pack cases of 500ml traditional Porto bottles will be released in early fall. Learn more about Toucanet by clicking here. This wine spent up to 22 months in 4 great barrels and the result is very special... you need to taste it for yourself!

Preparation for harvest has started with the ordering of fermentation materials and cleaning. Lots of details at this stage and we still have a few bigger projects to complete before harvest begins. Soon, I plan to rack all the 08' wines and settle on our barrel regiment for the 09' vintage.

Vineyard and Winery Update

With the vineyard tying done, the vineyard freshly mowed (hopefully for the last time this season) and having just sprayed -- I can turn my energy to the winery. Oh yea, I have some hoeing still to do :=(

Our vineyard is looking good and the crop appears to be normal or slightly larger than normal. Once the fruit turns, we'll walk through and crop-thin where needed. The mild, but dry, weather may extend the growing season unless we see warmer days in July. I worry this time of year about cluster burn from the sometimes 105 degree days we get during a heat wave.

In the winery, I have everything ready for bottling the Toucanet. The wine's been racked, samples went to the lab, Nitrogen tanks are filled, corks arrived, additional bottles and boxes arrived. Now it's just a matter getting the wine into bottles. The 08' wines are resting in barrels and developing nicely.

Tying and Thinning the Vineyard...

We're nearly down to the last acre of tying and thinning, it's been very warm the last two days and we're both dragging. The fruit looks great and I'm hopeful for a full crop of the highest quality. After several weeks of cooler weather, these couple of days take some getting used to.

Toucan Wines June 09' Newsletter

Here's our latest newsletter for your reading pleasure. Note in the newsletter the LAST CALL for Toucan Cuvee and Estate Petite Sirah.

The Wine List of Summit, NJ

In Summit, New Jersey, The Wine List of Summit is a fine wine shop where we met Neil and enjoyed sharing our story and wines. Here’s you’ll find both our estate Zinfandel and estate Petite Sirah.

Scalini Fedeli Ristorante, NJ

In north New Jersey several fine restaurants have discovered Toucan Wines. We shared a special visit with Mark of Scalini Fedeli Ristorante offering our estate Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and our 2006 Carignane, Arguably the finest Italian dining in New Jersey, you can imagine how excited I am to be so well represented.

Porter House New York, NYC

Also in NYC and new to us is Porter House New York on Columbus Circle, where the wine list is crafted by Sommelier, Brad Nugent who totally enjoyed and selected our estate Petite Sirah for this fine dining restaurant.

Club Metropolitan, NYC

Back from a quick visit to the east coast, meeting those in the restaurants and fine wine shops who carry our wines in both Manhattan and northern New Jersey – working with my distributor, David Vincent Selection, we made some great new placements – we found the wines very well received everywhere we poured. And, I was exciting to have the opportunity to share our wines with a number of fine establishments in northern Virginia. For those of you who know me well, you’ll know this gave me the chance to spend some special time with my daughters and grandson.

Of these new placements, one is the fabulous Club Metropolitan located in the Metropolitan Tower on 57th Street in NYC, a private fine dining club offering both our estate Zinfandel and estate Petite Sirah.

Wine Grotto in Montecito

A great wine shop, the Liquor and Wine Grotto, owned by Jess and Ingila (these are two of my favorite people) located in the Montecito Village and clearly the best selection of fine wines around. Both love the Toucan Wines 2005 Estate Zinfandel (Jess says it's his fav wine) and always keeps it in stock.

Lucky's Steakhouse

This fine steakhouse called Lucky's is located in Montecito, CA and now serves our 2006 Estate Zinfandel. A beautiful menu and great stop off hwy 101 when you're looking for fine dining.

Where did you wear your Toucan Wines Hat?

Amber Phillips, manager of Tastes of the Valleys, Solvang with her dogs and wearing her Toucan Wines Hat - Thanks Amber. Please send us your picture - WHERE DID YOU WEAR YOUR TOUCAN WINES HAT?

Visit Tastes of the Valleys in Solvang the #1 Wine Bar in town!

Toucan Wines Newsletter - May 2009

Here's our latest newsletter link - enjoy! Also, here's our latest picture of "Where did you wear your Toucan Wines Hat?" This is our friend and volunteer Robert at Piedmont Grocery in Oakland, CA. -- Thank you!

Where did you wear your Toucan Wines hat?

Where did you wear your Toucan Wines Hat? Send us your picture with you wearing your Toucan Wines hat and tell us where and when it was taken. This is a picture of Jim, a Toucan Wines customer, last week in Colle di Val d'Elsa, Italia--about 40 miles south of Florence. He bought a bottle of Colombaia---Chianti Colli Senesi D.O.C.G.

Wine Shop of the Month -- Morro Bay Wine Seller

Morro Bay Wine Seller is, as you might expect, located in Morro Bay on the Embarcadero. Proprietors John (shown here) and Chris offer a great selection of Central Coast and International wines, a great tasting bar, wine club, free parking, great people, and a terrific view of the bay.

A good selection of Toucan Wines is always in stock, you can find them on the web at: http://www.morrobaywineseller.com (the site is being updated right now) and call them at 805-772-8388

Benito Dusi Visit

Last week I was in Paso Robles and enjoyed a wonderful visit with Benito Dusi. His famous vineyard grows some of the best old vine Zinfandel in North County and the State.

The original planting of this vineyard was in 1923, those exact vines are the source for the budwood taken to grow the Toucan Wines Vineyard in the Arroyo Grande Valley (50 miles south of the Benito Dusi Vineyard).

Benito's fruit has for many years been sold to Ridge to produce the Ridge Paso Robles Zinfandel, and smaller amounts to a couple of smaller local producers. Back in the 80's and 90's Ridge produced a late harvest named Essence from the Benito Dusi Vineyard.

Good weather and lots to do...

We've enjoyed a few days of warm weather and still expect a few more. A little hot for this time of the year, but its good for the vines and the garden too.

We've been working on hoeing the vineyard and next I'll begin suckering the unwanted growth on each vine. I made two passes through the vineyard spraying catfish emulsion and I've now mowed the vineyard twice.

We had a very good time at the Taste of Huntington Beach event and met many new folks and now new customers -- I'm looking forward to our next event later this month in Newport Beach.

Remember we still offer $1 shipping and we still have a little 06' Estate Petite Sirah and the award winning 05' Estate Zinfandel ready to ship to customers.

Toucan Wines Slideshow and More

New on the Toucan Wines web site is a slide show page which I continuously update with our winery and vineyard pics.

Welcome to May, I'm working in the winery and staring out the winery window as the clouds move-in to present a slight chance of real rain. I just mowed the vineyard and weedwacked the frontage on Huasna Road. Sunday, I'll hand spray all the new shoots with Catfish emulsion to add needed micro-nutrients and help early development.

Frost and Heat - a Damaging Mix

Frost from the past two weeks has taken a toll on early leafing vines - mostly our estate Petite Sirah. A little damage on early Zinfandel too. This week we face the extreme heat that arrived Sunday and will last three days. This heat may burn young leafs and damage further the vines struggling to recover from frost damage. This is the first real frost damage to the vineyard in several years, last time we had only a few vines burned near the road - this year especially damaged were young re-plants of Petite Sirah that replaced the hard freeze of three years ago.

Warm Days Ahead...

Where did spring go, I'm enjoying the green? Maybe this will just be a heat wave, but were expecting some very warm weather. The vines will love it, 90's over the next few days will also give me a chance to catch-up on winery work, paper work and anything inside. We just finished siding the shed and once it cools down a bit, we'll get a fresh coat of paint on it.

Toucan Wines Club

Our Toucan Wines Club is a buyers program that rewards our customers who purchase three or more cases of Toucan Wines in any year (12 month period) directly from the winery. Enrollment is easy and the benefits include:

20% off all wine orders, and first access to:
Limited production wines
Over-sized bottles (magnums)
Under-sized bottles (splits)
Library wines which become available
Shipping at current rates - right now it's $1
Local delivery is included

Here's how it works: Complete the enrollment form and get it to us, you select the three times a year you want a case of wine shipped or delivered - we coordinate with you the exact wines you want in each case. It's pretty simple. Further, you may order additional wines throughout the year at the same 20% discount, just place those orders directly with us via email or phone.

Spring Activities

We've recently enjoyed a little rain and now very mild weather. The spring flowers are out and the valley is beautiful. We've been busy with landscaping projects and work on our tractor shed. Next in the vineyard is a hoeing project and then we'll be suckering the unwanted shoots.

Bud break at the Toucan Wines Vineyard

The first leaf of the vintage has popped our swelling buds. As always, it's the 86 east facing Zinfandel vines sloped toward our water tanks that break bud first. This section is quickly followed by vines on top of the hill where thinner soils make growing a challenge, and next by the Petite Sirah.

Happy Spring

Warm weather, still hoping for rain

We've had a warm couple of days, and I'm still hoping for rain this weekend - but the chance has been reduced to 40%. It's really a beautiful time of year with the green grassy hills and the tree leafing out. When you come to the central coast, please stop into Lund's on Saturday to taste our wines.

If you enjoy Facebook, please join us - our group is Toucan Wines and here you'll find updates, events and even special offers.

In the Vineyard...

Waiting for bud-break, but we're in no hurry! The vineyard is pruned, cuttings removed, we mowed and weed-whacked, now it's time to focus on other projects. In 2008 bud-break was on 3/14 and in 2007 bud-break was on 3/25, I'd prefer later to avoid frost damage -- just last night we suffered from a heavy frost and that's not good for young growth.

Kathy's Pick

KATHY'S PICK - March 5, 2009

Toucan Wines 2006 Zinfandel Arroyo Grande Valley

This darkly-hued wine offers intense notes of blackberries, boysenberries, and black cherries that are rich and ripe, almost jammy notes but kept in balance by its natural acidity. Although it’s drinkable now, you’ll be rewarded by cellaring it three to six years. A good choice for barbecued ribs or steaks, meat, and cheese pizza, or penne pasta with sausage and mushrooms. Only $34 at Lund’s in Arroyo Grande or online at toucanwines.com. Read the New Times San Luis Obispo - http://www.newtimesslo.com/food-wine/