Happy Holidays from Toucan Wines

Sunday Morning Frost

We woke to a cold morning with frost everywhere - our third or forth good freeze this season.

A Little Rain is Nice!

Finally a real rain has arrived to soften the soil and to help bring out the ground cover - let's hope fall is here to stay for a while. The first seasonal rain was immediately followed by hot sunny weather and any ground cover that sprouted dried right out.

We've been tending the new wines, but now it's time to rack last year's vintage and do the final blend. We'll rack and position the barrels in the barrel room for bottling starting early next year.

Reminder: our $1/shipping offer is good through 12/15/08 - please don't miss out!

Happy Thanksgiving

Special $1 Shipping NOW Expanded for the Holidays

Now you can order any 6 or 12 bottles of our wine (or mixed case order) and get $1 shipping to the states we ship to through 12/15/08. Those states include: CA, FL, IA, IL, MN, MO, NC, NM, and WI.

Order using the Buy Now buttons on the web site or use our order form, or call us directly. This great deal ends after December 15th, so order your wines now!

Terrie's Barrel Stave Candle Holders

Terrie's barrel stave candle holders are now available to order from our web site and shipped in the 48 contiguous states. Terrie selects the perfect sized stave, sands, drills, stains and waxes each one. Includes five glass candle holders with candles.

Netting a Big Job

This afternoon we finally got all the netting back into bags and stowed away until next year. This is always a big job for Terrie and me. This year we really stuck with it and after four part days got it done. And it's a good feeling to have this behind us, it means that we have little to do in the vineyard until pruning in late winter.

Sunset in the Vineyard

Fall Has Arrived

The last of the 08' vintage is slowly fermenting in the cellar. It's only been a couple of weeks but I missed the perfume of the yeasty Raspberry/Blackberry brew.

We have started pulling nets from the vineyard (a slow and dirty job), but over the last couple of days rain has slowed progress.

We love the first rain of the season. It cleans up the dust and gets the hills growing again. This was a perfect drizzle, not a big down pour that always causes erosion.

Another Toucan Harvest Complete

With some good help this weekend we finished picking the last of our estate vineyard. The last bin of grapes turned out super sweet and with dark color.

It always feels good to have the harvest behind us, now we'll remove nets and give the vineyard a needed drink. After this last batch of wine is barreled down, we'll start a few fall projects on the farm.

2008 Vintage Images

Here's the 2008 Vintage Images movie, thanks to all our volunteers this season for all your hard work, doing a great job, and then coming back for more!

Look New Toucans

The current Toucan image on our label won't be going away anytime soon, but here's a sneak preview at the next label image. After many years both on our home winemaker and our commercial wine label the two Toucans image has been ever present. The new label look will make it's premier on the port styled wine we made in 2007 from both estate Zinfandel and estate Petite Sirah using brandy distilled from 2006 estate Zinfandel.

Harvest Party, Birthday, Good Times

This past weekend we enjoyed our annual harvest party for friends, family and all those who volunteered in the vineyard this year. Great weather offered up a cool evening which we enjoyed by the fire pit along with great food and desserts. Terrie also surprised me with a cake to celebrate my birthday - thank you to the ladies who baked it!

A warm thank you to everyone who came to enjoy the day and the weekend. We appreciate the long drive from the Bay Area and from the L.A. area to spend a little time in the country.

New Landscaping for the Winery

Terrie gets all the credit for building a dry creek and getting the winery landscaping looking beautiful for fall. The dry creek was built between the winery and and our home in a natural location for water flow. During heavy rains this area always runs with water - so the idea to help it's path should work well. Jake looks on wondering what all the fuss is about.

Huasna Oil Signs

Here's a short video of signs located along Huasna Road. These signs reflect the opinion of the community faced potential oil production in the Huasna Valley.

Barrel Hoist Installed

After many months in the making we just installed a barrel hoist and the rails in the barrel room. The hoist rides on steel rails and is designed to lift empty barrels which we can now stack three-high is our small winery. This great tool will save our backs from the heavy lifting with a safe lifting solution. Thanks to Bob and Josh for the design, welding, parts and install!

Barrel Repair, Frost, and Bottles

Our barrel cooper made a special trip from Napa to repair a French oak barrel that had developed some end-grain leaking. That was a very interesting process to watch; the great service and craftsmanship saved me from removing the wine I had just placed in that barrel.

We had the first frost of the season last night. Sadly meaning that our tomato crop and berries from the garden are about finished for the year.

Yesterday our bottles for older wines still in barrels arrived. If you thought the winery was full before... well it's really full now. Our 07' estate Zinfandel and estate Petite Sirah bottle style is unchanged for the next vintage and this delivery included the traditional Port style bottles we will be using for our estate port (yet to be named).

Wrapping up for the season

The process or art of wine making, at least the initial and critical stages, are wrapping up for us at Toucan Wines for another season.

A final pressing tomorrow and one more harvest of second crop later this fall will be the last effort for the year. We'll move to racking, bottling, cleaning and storing away the equipment we only use during harvest. In the vineyard we're waiting for second crop and then we'll remove the nets and again wait for the right time to begin pruning.

We enjoyed a brief rain yesterday and now a little wind mixed with pleasant sunshine is making for a perfect Sunday afternoon. Warm days are in the forecast as we move into the most beautiful time of year on the central coast of California.

2008 Petite Sirah Fermenting

2008 Petite Sirah - our small production of estate Petite Sirah (in these two bins) will produce a little over 2 barrels. Most of which we'll blend with the 08' estate Zinfandel to produce our premium blend - the estate Zinfandel (this vintage will produce about 300 cases of estate Zin) and maybe 25 cases of estate Petite Sirah.

Pressing Estate Zinfandel

Today was the first day in quite a while that wasn't HOT. We took our time and enjoyed a much needed sleep-in.

We've been so busy with harvest and tasting events - Friday in Solvang and Saturday at Lund's, after picking Syrah in the morning.



We did get it together today and pressed another three barrels of Estate Zin. This is going to be a very nice vintage for our Estate wines.

Petite Sirah the Last Fruit in 2008

We harvested the last of the Toucan Vineyard on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the Petite Sirah came into the winery looking great and perfect numbers. The only fruit left is struggling second crop and a few clusters forgotten on the vines. We'll make a pass through and get these grapes soon.

Wine Volcano and Harvest

Our latest little video on YouTube is Wine Volcano - take a look! Harvest again this past weekend was perfect and great fruit as expected. We've picked pretty much the last of the Estate Zinfandel and this coming week we'll tackle the Estate Petite Sirah. Thanks to all the volunteers for helping!

Pressing the Wines and New Barrels

We pressed the first wines of the vintage after a few days off harvesting. Starting tomorrow were back in the vineyard cleaning off the remaining Zinfandel and hopefully next week taking the Petite Sirah. Everything is going well, so far so good, all the equipment is working great and the fruit is coming in just right.

It's an interesting year - strange weather all year, but more interesting to me is the the lack of birds attacking the fruit. And the lack of yellow jackets at this time of year - they were heavy in early summer and I was worried - but they seem to have left of died off.

Also the lack of fruit fly and ladybugs this year is very odd - maybe the strange weather disrupted the insect development cycle. Not that I'm wishing for more fruit fly - but more ladybugs would have been nice.

Fermentation, Picking, and Sleep

Picking Sunday and yesterday went very well. Four of us on each day took our time searching for only the ripest fruit and the results have been great. The sugars are strong, the color is deep and the flavors beautiful.

The pace has allowed for good nights sleep so far, but the middle of the night punch downs start today.

We'll pick again tomorrow and Saturday (and enjoying a taco party with my folks in town) and take a break allowing the fruit to continue down the path of ripening fully. I'll use this time to catch-up on the winemaking, and press the Carignane just before picking again next weekend (out of towner sleep-over weekend).

I'm really slammed for space this year with extra barrels, and bins filling with must - I've had to kick out tables, bottles and anything else that took floor space.

Toucan Wines Zin Harvest

Harvest began here on the Toucan farm this past Sunday. The first Zinfandel fruit came into the winery looking great and the sugars and flavors are terrific.

This week we'll be harvesting nearly everyday to get the vineyard picked at the perfect ripeness.

24 Hours of Carignane

12:30am Friday, Sept. 5th starts the 24 hour Carignane road trip. Two guys, one truck and trailer and 5,ooo lb of old vine Carignane.

Little sleep, XM radio and hundreds of miles to drive - it's the middle of night towing a flat bed and driving in Bob's Luxury-Truck. We arrive in Oakley at 5:30 in the morning and weigh in at the local scale and grab a quick bite and coffee at the only place open - micky-d's.

Picking starts on time but our picking slot is delayed, so I use the time to clean bins while Bob snaps a few shots of the old vines in the Evangelho vineyard. The fruit finally comes out of the field and it looks great. Once loaded and the 6 bins are tied down - were maybe an hour and a half behind my schedule. In route back toward 101 south we cleverly use the delay to our favor and stop in Dublin for BBQ at an old favorite of mine Armadillo Willies. We arrive just as they open.

Back on the road and after a few miles we do a driver switch. Now I'm behind the wheel of the Lux-Truck pulling the fruit to make the next Toucan Wines Carignane. Looking back I notice what seems to be grapes flying off the trailer. Turned out to be what was left of a trailer tire. I pull over, fortunate that the other tire held the weight on this loaded 9000 lb trailer, facing another delay at getting these grapes safely in the winery.

On the side of the road in Gilroy, 100 degrees outside, and after a run-around from a local towing service we hook-up with Bruce's Tire who get to us in 10 minutes, replaces the tire, checks the pressure all around - putting us back on the road. Of course it didn't hurt that Bob had high-speed Internet access and a computer in the Lux-Truck to find the right resource.

Bob's back behind the wheel, XM Radio, and we're jamming to get to the nearest dry-ice store before closing. Arriving back at the Toucan farm we unload the bins and noticed one of the other tires on the trailer was starting to separate and had gone flat. That was our second lucky break.

We crushed the fruit (with the kind help of neighbor Paul and Terrie of course), and cleaned up the mess of leafs, fruit pieces, and bins.

Once finished for the night and a beer in my hand I was able to look back at one of the craziest 24 hours in recent memory.

A big thank you to Bob for joining me on wine-train trip, his Lux-Truck, trailer, Internet from the road, and a successful 24 hours of Carignane.

Also thank you to Paul for hanging with us way into the evening to get the crush finished.

These pictures taken by Bob are 120 year old Zinfandel vines in the Evangelho vineyard.

September: Harvest Time

Harvest season is here and the picking has started all over the central coast. Our weather has been perfect for ripening grapes over the last week. We're dry and very warm and the fruit is nearly ready for harvest.

We're working on the last minute prep as harvest is nearly here. Terrie is recoating the press with a food grade epoxy, I tore apart the destemmer and cleaned it top to bottom, all the bins, and tools have been cleaned. The new barrels, yeasts, nutrients are all here waiting and I think we're ready to go.

Yesterday the rails for our barrel hoist system arrived and today we'll power spray those and paint them before installation. This hoist will enable a three barrel height in our barrel room - necessary as we leave our wines longer in barrel.

This time of year is perfect for celebrating harvest and the long year of work in the vineyard. This photo taken by a guest while I talk with our dinner guests about the vineyard and it's progress. Above, the netted vineyard stands out over the back drop of our home. Thanks Morley for the pictures.

Overall the vineyard looks good and the crop is developing nicely. Harvest will be the key, we'll work through the vineyard with several passes to capture only the ripest fruit.

Weird weather, harvest begins on the Central Coast...

I'm on break from shuffling case goods around to make room for more barrels in the barrel room.

The weird weather, over the past couple of weeks, has brought humid days and even a little rain. It's started to feel like fall (and we're still in August), cooler nights and morning fog are the norm these past several nights. The long warm days never materialized with the exception of the two seasonal heat waves. The days have been warm but not hot - just very pleasant. This will extend the growing season and pay us back with high quality.

Our harvest is still on track for late September and October, but earlier this week Edna Valley began harvesting Pinot Noir and later this week Zinfandel will be harvested in Paso Robles.

Winemaking Preparation

Planning is a funny thing, some folks do it at the last minute while others plan the details long in advance - I think I'm somewhere in between.

Winemaking definitely requires some advanced thought. Barrels are often ordered in the spring to capture early order discounts, while specialty yeasts are ordered before they sell out. And other supplies need to be in stock before the grapes are ready. If grapes are purchased that relationship requires plenty of advanced communication.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful barrel connection with Demptos and love their barrels and the first of our barrels have just arrived. Also, today yeasts arrived and next week I'll gather the remaining supplies from a local lab. I'm building great anticipation for this year's harvest and have every hope for a stellar year from our estate vineyard.

Allow me a brief sales note - we've sold out of 2006 Carignane and we're just about sold out of 2006 Petite Sirah, we still have a little of our award-winning 2005 Estate Zinfandel and more of the 2006 Toucan Cuvee. Please look for our wines at these fine restaurants and wine shops, and know that you are always welcome to call me here at the winery for availability info and to

order directly from us.

Our only bottled and unreleased wine, the 2006 Estate Zinfandel (very limited with 123 cases produced) will release later this year. Our 2007 wines will remain in barrel through harvest and estate bottled this winter.

It's all about the wait...

We've done everything we could - we pruned and pulled the cuttings, we treated for wintering spores, we carefully suckered every vine, we mowed and kept the vineyard clean, we sprayed to avoid mildew, leaf pulled, trimmed heavy growth, weeded, and now that we've seen color - we netted.

What a relief, now the hard part - the wait. For the next 6-8 weeks I'll worry, second guess what I could have done different, and what I should do next year. Here's hoping for the best!

Samantha (Sam) - our first farm dog

Samantha 2001-2008

She lived a great dog's life on the farm.

July has us hopping

We spent the first part of July cleaning out weeds from the vineyard, I can really get obsessed with this duty. We just finished three days of leaf removal and thinning, the result of heavy growth on the last few vines in every rows. Today I mowed for the last time this year in preparation for netting.

The weather has been nice, but windy - in the 80's and a little humid (for the California coast). This past weekend we poured at the Central Coast Wine Classic - always a good time. And the 27th of the month we pour at A Taste of Camarillo.

The vineyard is looking good but one section has suffered from shattered clusters. maybe the result will be a light harvest. This was likely the result of several days of frost during spring bloom. Fingers are crossed that the weather holds out and we enjoy another great harvest.

Getting things done in July

We're getting the normal warm weather with a little wind. The closest fire is the Gap fire in Goleta about 90 miles away. We've seen some haze from this fire and we smell some smoke depending on the direction of the wind. Friends in town mentioned they see a little ash on their cars in the morning. We always worry about fire this time of year, in our small canyon we only have one way out and escape could be dangerous. This coming week will bring another heat wave to the central coast - let's hope fire fighters can make progress before then.

The vines are looking good, growth is slowing in the vines and the grasses have mostly gone to straw. July will include some hoeing in the vineyard, a final mowing, and prep for netting in early August. In the winery we'll be working to install a lift system in the barrel room and begin servicing equipment in preparation for harvest in September.

Record heat now behind us

Very, very hot weather in the 105-111 degree range for five days damaged vine leafs and burned a few clusters. The nights seemed more like N. County in the 70's. I can't remember such intense heat with no relief. Typical of Central Coast weather, we're now in a cooler period of fog and breezy days offering cool days and cold nights.

We stayed inside those five days of blistering heat. We worked on painting the winery and paperwork. Our new air conditioner did a great job in the heat keeping the wines at a perfect storage temperature.

Hot Zinfandel Weather

We expected the heat to arrive earlier this week, today it caught up with us. At 1 pm it was 103 in the shade both dry and windy. I think the vines like some heat but this must have been a shock to the system. I was out at 6 am working in the vineyard and as soon as the sun came up I could feel the impact of what was to come - a burning warm, a feeling on your skin that a hot day is in the making.

We're working inside this afternoon, I'm doing paperwork and looking into new bottles and cork options, while Terrie's painting a wall in the winery a new shade of green.

The Vineyard's Ready for Summer

We made our third pass through the vineyard and finished this weekend. We finished thinning some rather heavy growth for this time of year and tying the last of the loose vines. I've done the second to last mowing for the year, weed-whacked the roadway, and now we're set for summer. The weather has been alarmingly mild, but a heat wave is approaching, as a result the vines have really taken off with the milder weather.

Our next vineyard work will be one last pass to clear any over-growth obstructing the output from our sprayer and to determine if second crop should be removed. We'll also hoe the vineyard one last time before netting.

The wines are selling well and by the way - our 2006 Toucan Cuvee is drinking beautifully. If you haven't got yours, consider stocking up before it's gone. We only made 128 cases.

Toucan Wines in New York & New Jersey

Toucan Wines is now distributed in the greater New York and New Jersey areas, and newly available at The Four Seasons and Le Cirque in New York and Scalini Fedeli, Chatham NJ. For a list of other fine restaurants and fine wine shops who carry Toucan Wines - click here.

Welcome to our east coast friends and I hope you'll enjoy our limited production wines. Feel free to email me here at the winery to say hello.

Working the Vineyard

We are exhausted having finished the second pass of suckering and thinning the vineyard and tying the vines. This is a big job behind us and took two and half weeks. We also hoed the vineyard as we worked through saving a whole other pass.

The days have been mild if not a little cold, but warmer days are forecast for the weekend. The vineyard is flowering and a few advanced vines have set fruit. The growing season is coming along nicely - everything looks great (fingers crossed). The new Petite Sirah replacements are growing nicely, of course, they get hand watered every third day.

From near record heat to cold...

I worry about the weather a lot - when irregular I'm concerned for our grapes and of course the climate drives the work needed in the vineyard. Whether it's thinning the extra growth from excess rain or leaf pulling to expose the fruit to air and sun - to spraying for mildew the result of cold and damp days and nights. This new cold spell we're in seems to me like winter, with it's sprinkles, fog, low clouds, cool windy days... weird.

We had fun pouring this weekend at the Arroyo Grande strawberry festival - thanks to those who stopped by to try our wine and enjoy the food and shops at the festival.

California Heat Wave 100 degrees and counting

Well it's only about 88 degrees in the shade right now, but yesterday was good and HOT and today and this weekend it's expected to bake and reach well over 100! The vines love it! Except for the young vines we just planted, those I'm hand watering every other day to keep them alive.

We just finished racking the 07 wines, the Estate Port, the Estate Zin and Petite Sirah are all coming along nicely. And we're doing some early preparation for this year's harvest. We have our barrel order placed, I'm looking into new bottles, and alternate suppliers for some materials.

Next in the vineyard I'll make a second pass to sucker unwanted growth and to tie vines that might get caught-up in the tractor when mowing. So, if you're driving by the vineyard wave at the farmer in the hat.

BBQ Chicken Sandwich & Toucan '06 Cuvee

I need to pass along this link to the Sideways Wine Club Blog offering a chicken recipe I think you'll enjoy along with our Toucan Cuvee. Thanks to David for providing it. The Sideways Wine Club has offered our wines to their members and we welcome those readers. Also, when in Solvang please visit Taste of the Valleys - a great wine bar that's cozy and always a good time.

Wild, Wild, Arroyo Grande Valley

We're often reminded of how far from town we really live -- when you need milk and the store is 20 minutes away or when the power goes down for several days. We're not remote and we may have many luxuries, but this is "the country".

But nothing could be more awakening then waking up yesterday morning to a mountain lion standing at your kitchen door. Well, that's what happen to our neighbor - fortunately he took several great pictures of the mother lion and her two cubs. Last night we went over to see the lions (having not had our fill from the National Zoo last week). And just as the sun was setting the mother was eating on the Deer remains from her kill Saturday and what a treat it was to watch. Again, our neighbor took some great pictures.

And this morning another reminder, outside our bedroom window, we spotted one of the Lynx (similar to a Bobcat) in the field next door. This beautiful animal is nice enough to hunt the gophers and other small mammals living in the field.

(family picture taken Saturday)

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.

Welcome Spring

Happy spring! I love this time of year, everything is green, smells great, and the temps seem perfect. I just returned from a couple of days in Southern California - I met some wonderful folks and introduced our wine to a numbers of new locations. I mention in this month's newsletter MAGNUMS. And that yes, we do bottle a few - but not every vintage and not every wine. We have just one 6 pack of magnums left of our 2004 Estate Zinfandel and two six packs left of our 2005 Estate Zinfandel. These are the only ones bottled until the 2007 vintage.

First Signs of the 2008 Vintage

Well it's finally here, the first buds have shown their stuff in the Toucan Wines Vineyard. It's always the Petite Sirah that pops out first then the youngest vines (replacement vines for those we loss to a hard-freeze and gophers). The weather has been nice, warm, and dry - we've been hoping for more rain but it just doesn't seem to be materializing this year.

Now that the first leaves have popped out, the growth will be fast, soon we'll be suckering the unwanted growth, trapping gophers, mowing the grass in the rows, and spraying to detour any mildew spoors.

Just a reminder - Saturday afternoon 1-5 pm I pour a couple of our current releases at Lund's located in the village of Arroyo Grande. Please stop in and say hello and taste our new wines. Also, to locate our restaurants and retail shops selling Toucan Wines - visit our retail page.

New Web Site Look for the Toucan

I'm hoping our new site look and feel offers our customers a better experience. The big change is of course the Blogger.com page (thanks to Robert for the recommendation!) - it'll add some interactive fun to the site. Enjoy!

Amazing Central Coast and Toucan Cuvee

3/13/08
The weather has been amazing here on the Central Coast, I'm starting to see buds swell in the vineyard and all the vineyard preparation for spring is complete. This really is the most wonderful time of year, the green colors, the rest brisk air in the evenings, even the sunsets seems particularly special in March.

We recently bottled and labeled 126 cases of the 2006 Toucan Wines "Toucan Cuvee" - Our 2006 Toucan Cuvee is a blend of 55% Estate Zinfandel and 9% Estate Petite Sirah, plus 36% of Old Vine Carignane from the Evangelho Vineyard. I plan to release this wine in the next couple months.

January and February of 2008

2/24/08
We've enjoyed a mix of sun and rain these past few days. The grass is finally growing in the vineyard turning the ground from brown to green and the rain has saturated the soils. I look forward to a mild spring and working in the vineyard when the sun comes out again.

2/19/08
Today were both working in the winery to complete the labeling of the 2006 Toucan Wines Estate Zinfandel. Only 124 cases of this wine was produced, tiny when compared to the 300 cases of the award-winning 2005 Estate Zinfandel.

2/9/08
We finished pruning this morning and picking up the cuttings. As a few of our volunteers know, picking up the cuttings is a lot of work. This year Terrie did nearly all the picking-up of the cuttings.

2/6/08
Please take the time to check out VINOGRAPHY.COM and Alder's take on the ZAP festival including his scoring of our 05' Zinfandel and yet to be released 06' wines. If you haven't discovered Vinography, (you're in for a treat) it's simply the best written wine blog on the planet. And if you missed Vinography's Toucan Wines review from last year - please check it out

OK, enough self-promotion and mutual love - it's 9:30 in the morning and time to prune some vines.

2/1/08
February is here and it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Still pruning and cleaning-up from the rains and wind we've had over the past several weeks. We had a good time at ZAP and welcome our new customers from that event. We also had a great time with friends in the bay area - thanks to Robert for putting us up and to Helen and James for cooking the wonderful meals!!

1/23/08
We're back from 10 days in Maui -- More rain this week is doing it's job soaking the vineyard and filling our wells. We're expecting rain for the next five days... we better breakout the Kayaks.

We've begun pruning, but the rain has slowed us down a bit. All is well here on the farm, the wines are coming along very nicely and we're about to start some winter time racking of the 07' vintage and final bottling of the 06' wines. It's always nice to be home, I'm looking forward to getting a lot done this winter.

1/2/08


HAPPY 75TH BIRTHDAY - BENITO DUSI



1/1/08

HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR
from Toucan Wines