Spring Weather Rocks... Wine Tasting... Vineyard Work

I had a great time at the Taste of Huntington Beach this past weekend and enjoyed the crowd, met new folks and many returning friends and customers. We previewed samples of the 2008 Carignane which was a big hit with the Huntington folks.

This weekend, being the first weekend of the month, you'll find Toucan Wines on the tasting bar all weekend at Monterey Street Wines in San Luis Obispo. You'll also find me pouring our wines at Lund's in the village of Arroyo Grande on Saturday 1-5pm.

I love this time of year - work in the vineyard has begun with suckering, gopher trapping, hoeing and other spring chores. The weather has been consistent lacking the usual spring heat wave or last year's late frost. The vines seemed to taking off a little earlier this year with the Petite Sirah leading the pack. I've already suckered the Petite vines and will be starting on the Zinfandel before the week is out. I forgot to mention mowing, three passes through the vineyard on the mower so far and another day of mowing is in store for me by next week.