All About the Vines...

Late April and I feel so far behind... growth on the vines seem normal, but the weeds and gophers are crazy. All this season's rain will make this an interesting vintage.

First things first, I need to take a first pass at suckering the vines. I usually sucker the Petite Sirah first and then the Zinfandel. (As a side, I'm working with a friend to document the growth cycle of the head-trained vine with the hope that we produce something educational for others.) After a couple of weeks I'll go back through and clean up loose ends (final suckering). Then, we need to weed, hoe the entire vineyard before the weeds become too strong, but not too early that we see another entirely new batch of weeds grow as soon as we finish the first pass. After that, it's on to tying the canes to the wire. Of course now the wire is higher, in over half the vineyard, and should prove to be easier to perform.

In between the above activities I'll need to spray the vineyard every two weeks. We'll use the hot days (hoping for more than last year) to rack and bottle the 09' vintage. OK, that's my to-do list... better get to work!

Wait a minute, I almost forgot - in our spare time we ship wine too! Call (805-474-8514) or email me (doug@toucanwines.com) with your order... or check out our website.

Fun Times, Hard Work...

I'm on break from working in the vineyard, so I figured I'd write a little update. This weekend is the first of many festivals we've signed up for this spring and summer, I always enjoy the customer response and feedback when pouring our latest releases.

Currently we're raising the one wire that we have in the vineyard to the highest point on each stake (picture). This one wire was installed to carry the drip line, however, its no longer the primary purpose. In fact, we really don't use the watering systems any more, but I do keep it working in the event we have several years of extreme drought. The one wire I referred to - we now use to tie-up the longer vines as the summer growth really kicks in. I know, its a hybrid head-trained style, and forced by the need to drive the rows to spray and mow the vineyard. The vines when tied higher oppose lower, keep the upright shape of the vine as the permanent arms grow.

Ordering wine from Toucan Wines couldn't be easier, I recommend that you simply call us at the winery at 805-474-8514... we can help you with your selection and make sure you're getting the best value! Visit our new Facebook page, and give us your LIKE !!

Spring Events, Tasting, Chores

It has been the wildest winter, but finally spring arrived and the vines have woken up welcoming the new season. The vineyard has never looked better and I'm excited to make grow and produce another vintage here on the central coast. We recently enjoyed a great tasting event in So. Cal. at the Vintage Shoppe in Manhattan Beach, we also enjoyed a wonderful weekend with family, and we've recently accomplished several chores around the farm. A few of those chores included servicing the tractor, mower, sprayer and other equipment, pulled a few weeds, and helped neighbors with fallen trees. Now that April is upon us, I'm getting excited about bottling the 2009 vintage, suckering the vineyard, and getting back to a couple of projects put off by the rains. Lund's shop (and our tasting location) has now closed, so for the time being tasting Toucan Wines will be limited to our special events and the wine festivals we attend. We've begun looking around for a new location to pour and sell our wines... let us know your thoughts! Another good time in April will be the Taste of Pismo, we'll be there pouring our award-winning wines and sharing stories with friends. To see our full list of events, please visit our events page or like our new Facebook page. Use these links to locate Toucan Wines by the bottle at fine restaurants and fine wine shops, and order directly from the winery and receive a 20% discount on any 12 bottles of Toucan Wines.