Sideways Wine Club + Toucan Wines Carignane

Welcome Sideways Wine Club members - your recent Maya's Selection shipment of 2006 Toucan Wines Carignane is sure to please - see our Wine page for full details on this wine and info on other current releases. To order more Carignane, please feel free to contact the Sideways Wine Club for your club pricing.

Suckering, Suckering, Suckering

Yes, it's the time of year when each little vine needs special attention to remove extra growth. Particularly the Petite Sirah vines that always grow a little wild. This is the first of two suckering passes through the vineyard.

The process is simple but requires some thought - I remove unwanted shoots that grow from buds formed in odd locations on the truck; I remove those growing the wrong direction; and those creating an excess that will crowd the others as the rest grow up. Really, it's one of the best jobs in the vineyard. Especially when the weather is great and with a little music playing in my ear. That said, it's bending and stooping - so at the moment I'm inside taking a break and justifying that with a note to you ;-)

Wine Pouring, Customers, HOT Weekend

One of my real joys in this industry is interacting with folks tasting our wine. I meet some very cool people, for example this weekend I visited with a couple from S. CA, who had tasted our wine at Tastes of the Valley in Solvang. They went out of their way to find me at Lund's this past Saturday.

And it was HOT this weekend 100 degrees Sunday.

Warm and Sunny Central Coast

We had a couple of nights of frost on the roofs - that took a toll on a few younger vines. But over all our weather has been typical for the season - but a little dry. The wind has been gusting and today a heat wave has settled in. It must be 85 outside today and the claim is 90's on Saturday. All of this means that the grapes are right on schedule and most all 3,000 vines seem to be taking well to this years climate.

Local Wine Picks - The Tribune

The Tribune, San Luis Obispo
LOCAL WINEPICKS...

Sometimes wine drinkers simply want a change of pace from the usual cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay. This county’s wineries and vineyards offer plenty of choices that are a little different. My picks this week focus on two hearty reds, as well as a racy sauvignon blanc.

Toucan Wines 2006 Carignane $28
Toucan, best known for its zinfandel, is in Arroyo Grande, but the grapes for this wine come from Evangelho Vineyard up north in Contra Costa County. The vines were planted in the 1890s and yield a very small crop. These old vines have provided the fruit for a wonderful wine that’s full of character. It’s ripe and full-bodied, with dark fruit, white pepper, a slight floral note, firm tannins and a long, persistent finish.

Windy and Sunny Day

4/6 You just got to love perfect days in the low 70's with a bit of a breeze. The vines are growing fast now that most have broken buds. Funny how the newly planted replacment vines and the vines on the very top of the ridge always pop out first. The picture shown here is from May of last year - only the vines I mentioned (on top) have this much growth.

Maybe the last rain

The most recent attempt of Mother Nature to wet the ground wasn't much of a wetting. I'm sure this will end up being a very dry year and we're getting ready.

I'm doing a few small, well deferred, tasks in the vineyard and we've starting a few small addition projects to sheds.

Thanks to everyone helping us launch our latest release - our 2006 Toucan Cuvee.

And thanks to everyone who continues to read our newsletter and writes to be with comments. Please share our newsletter or release letters with others by forwarding - see the bottom of the letter for a forwarding link.

2006 Toucan Cuvee Released

4/1/08 -- 2006 Toucan Cuvee is now available - at $24/bottle a great value!

Our 2006 Toucan Cuvee is a beautifully balanced blend of 55% Estate Zinfandel and 9% Estate Petite Sirah, plus 36% of Old Vine Carignane from the Evangelho Vineyard.

Both our estate Zinfandel and estate Petite Sirah wines spent the year in mostly new French, Hungarian, and American barrels before blending. Our 2006 Carignane made from rare old-vine Carignane grapes grown in Contra Costa County also spend a year in fine oak barrels.

To compile this blend, I selected three barrels of Estate Zinfandel from the seven barrels produced, two barrels of Carignane from five produced, and added a half-barrel of estate Petite Sirah. Once blended the Cuvee aged another 4 months in fine oak barrels (a total of 16 months in oak) prior to bottling.

A beautiful deep ruby color; forward black cherry and ripe fruits, vanilla toast, and a bit of spice on the nose; tastes of black raspberry/cherry, and earthy notes. This is a very balanced wine offering a lush full-mouth feel and some good complexity. Having spent sixteen months in fine oak barrels, this wine has mellowed nicely and will continue to develop in the bottle over the next year or two. Drink now or lay down.

The 2006 Toucan Cuvee was bottled on February 28, 2008 with alcohol of 13.9% and only 128 cases were produced. Customers will soon find this wine in mostly restaurants and tasting bars, but it's also available directly from the winery. Click on the ORDER link at the top of this page to have our Toucan Cuvee delivered.

Harvest 2007 Video

I'm adding back a few links that were on our previous site.
I you missed viewing our Harvest 2007 Video
well, check it out!

Wow it's been HOT! No Rain?

3/25/08

Where's the Spring rains? We seems to be stuck in a heat wave that won't stop. It's not all bad of course, walking on the beach is wonderful and living in shorts and a t-shirt can't be all bad. But the vineyards needs it's water.

Bud break is everywhere in the vineyard - in some places the vines are at 5th leaf. We're busy working on projects outside and about to mow the vineyard for the first time this season. All is well in the winery - still waiting on ML to finish and then racking.