RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins!

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 2/22/2019 3:44:59 PM

PinotPhile

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I love looking at snow that is far far away. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 2/22/2019 8:00:46 PM

ChrisinCowiche

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quote:

ORIGINAL: PinotPhile

I love looking at snow that is far far away. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

We're forecasted for another 6-8 inches over next few days. It starting to feel like Alaska.

At least I know how to rose with grapes not fully ripe. Pinot will like it too.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 2/23/2019 10:46:16 AM

dsGris

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We could be in Flagstaff.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 2/23/2019 11:01:08 AM

Sourdough

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Firing up my pizza oven for pizza this afternoon. 71 degrees. A bit windy. But no snow on the ground or in the forecast! Winter wood fired pizza is one of the joys of Austin!

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/7/2019 4:30:32 PM

khmark7

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Any closer to bud break in Washington?

Finally seeing the beginning of spring in Chicago. Even with the warm weather not sure bud break will be very soon. Still likely late April.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/7/2019 4:37:35 PM

PinotPhile

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Wondering what varietals Chris has now in the "pipeline"....

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/8/2019 9:23:19 AM

ChrisinCowiche

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We went to Disneyland, California, and came home to a completely pruned and tied vineyard, green grass in the rows, and bud swell just really starting. We broke down and hired pros for pruning and tying as we just don't have 80 free hours in the next 2 weeks.

The Naches Heights Vineyard crews, that planted us originally, did an excellent job, and tied up a couple of rows worth of new growth Syrah that got frozen to ground a couple of years ago that had been languishing a bit due to our inattention/inability to manage it. Overall everything survived this winter and we are in good shape for a good crop. Still need to clean up some weeds/tumbleweeds and expect to start mowing in another week or two.

Still a week or two from break I think, our weather has stalled into a rainy pattern, which isn't really helping anything except for water table and snow pack in the mountains. I am expecting a challenging year from a heat units and ripeness perspective, but it is still early, and some ground can be made up.

I had at one time thought about expanding a few rows at least, but not happening this year, so same variety mix as before. We were very pleased with the Rose of Sangiovese, so that will likely be a targeted pick for 30-40 cases worth.

< Message edited by ChrisinSunnyside -- 4/8/2019 10:18:10 AM >

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/8/2019 10:37:33 AM

dsGris

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Hired help sure eases the load. The older I got the more the help sure looked good. I finally accepted being the coach which can be a hard adjustment. I remember another older contractor saying to a friend, "You think you can always do it better and faster, but they will get it done."

< Message edited by dsGris -- 4/8/2019 10:38:38 AM >

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/8/2019 1:06:42 PM

PinotPhile

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So Syrah, PN, Rose' of Sangiovese. For whites I believe a Riesling? Any others?

Thanks, Chris.

PP

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/8/2019 3:20:03 PM

ChrisinCowiche

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quote:

ORIGINAL: PinotPhile

So Syrah, PN, Rose' of Sangiovese. For whites I believe a Riesling? Any others?

Thanks, Chris.

PP

Hi PP, We tried to grow Riesling but it turned out to be Sangiovese (long story). White grapes we grow are Gewurztraminer, Viognier and Roussanne. Commercially for now likely only Gewurz because the others are small lots, 2 rows Viognier, 1 row Roussanne, used mostly for co-fermenting with Syrah. We eventually will plant more Viognier I hope as we like what we have seen in that as a standalone wine. Roussanne is a good wine too, but it isn't thriving as well in our vineyard for whatever reason, it got sun burned one year, whacked hard by frost the next. Oddly, maybe, our easiest variety to grow has been Pinot Noir. Maybe the clone, maybe where we planted it, probably mostly luck, but it has gotten a bit bigger crop each year, with growing too aggressively, and is easy to prune and pick compared to our others.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/8/2019 7:37:38 PM

penguinoid

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ChrisinSunnyside

quote:

ORIGINAL: PinotPhile

So Syrah, PN, Rose' of Sangiovese. For whites I believe a Riesling? Any others?

Thanks, Chris.

PP

Hi PP, We tried to grow Riesling but it turned out to be Sangiovese (long story). White grapes we grow are Gewurztraminer, Viognier and Roussanne. Commercially for now likely only Gewurz because the others are small lots, 2 rows Viognier, 1 row Roussanne, used mostly for co-fermenting with Syrah. We eventually will plant more Viognier I hope as we like what we have seen in that as a standalone wine. Roussanne is a good wine too, but it isn't thriving as well in our vineyard for whatever reason, it got sun burned one year, whacked hard by frost the next. Oddly, maybe, our easiest variety to grow has been Pinot Noir. Maybe the clone, maybe where we planted it, probably mostly luck, but it has gotten a bit bigger crop each year, with growing too aggressively, and is easy to prune and pick compared to our others.

Pity about the Roussanne, it can make a beautiful wine, especially with a bit of Marsanne. Unfortunately, I've heard they're both potentially difficult grapes to grow, and are prone to sunburn in particular. Of course, not all sites will be equally suited to them. Interesting to hear that the Pinot Noir is behaving itself!

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/9/2019 2:42:33 PM

PinotPhile

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ChrisinSunnyside

quote:

ORIGINAL: PinotPhile

So Syrah, PN, Rose' of Sangiovese. For whites I believe a Riesling? Any others?

Thanks, Chris.

PP

Hi PP, We tried to grow Riesling but it turned out to be Sangiovese (long story). White grapes we grow are Gewurztraminer, Viognier and Roussanne. Commercially for now likely only Gewurz because the others are small lots, 2 rows Viognier, 1 row Roussanne, used mostly for co-fermenting with Syrah. We eventually will plant more Viognier I hope as we like what we have seen in that as a standalone wine. Roussanne is a good wine too, but it isn't thriving as well in our vineyard for whatever reason, it got sun burned one year, whacked hard by frost the next. Oddly, maybe, our easiest variety to grow has been Pinot Noir. Maybe the clone, maybe where we planted it, probably mostly luck, but it has gotten a bit bigger crop each year, with growing too aggressively, and is easy to prune and pick compared to our others.

Thanks, Chris. Most interesting that PN of all grapes grows well for you. Typically very sensitive/finicky/touchy/choose your word.

Re: Viognier, once went to a trade tasting and met Greg Harrington of Gramercy. He noted that just 1% of Vio can add really solid aromatics to a Syrah. FWIW.

Cheers!

PP

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/9/2019 5:42:45 PM

khmark7

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PP - Chris does something magical with his Syrah....maybe it's the site selection, or magical pixie dust but i don't think his Syrah needs any Viognier at all. Still an interesting experiment.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/9/2019 7:50:28 PM

PinotPhile

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I'll take your word for it. Among those who will be lining up for his inaugural release.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/10/2019 3:42:53 AM

musedir

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Chris makes a mighty fine Sangiovese in those Goat Rocks.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/10/2019 7:38:24 AM

Sourdough

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I like your plan for working the vineyard while on vacation, Chris. Especially clrever given the bad weather you have had! Hope you have a great year. They are forecasting snow in the High Plains this weekend. A bit nervous for growers in the Panhandle of Texas!

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/11/2019 4:53:32 PM

ChrisinCowiche

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A few pictures I took this week. First the excellent life saving pruning job and the ultra green landscape.

Then a trip to pick up a few barrels from a near-by winery friend.

Yes, fruit warehouses are visible in the background of every picture taken from anywhere in the greater Yakima area. I realized how similar these two pictures were but the second one is about 5 miles south of us as the crow flies, a different set of vineyard, fruit warehouse, and ridgeline.

No, this is not how we inject Goat juice into the wine.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/12/2019 7:20:13 AM

khmark7

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Chris - the top photo does a good job displaying the slope of the vineyard. La La Cowiche?

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/12/2019 7:14:51 PM

brettlaurvick

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Chris - having grown up in Yakima, that might be the most green I can ever remember seeing. The only times I’ve been back in recent years have been white (December) and brown (July).

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 4/13/2019 12:00:21 AM

dsGris

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When I followed NASCAR and they raced Riverside in the Spring and it was green was quite a change from the fall.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 6/5/2019 3:24:29 PM

ChrisinCowiche

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Been a while since I updated here. Vineyard is coming along pretty well this spring in spite of my mostly ignoring it, or maybe because of that. I had some winter damage not noticed earlier in Sangio and Syrah, which means some retraining from base on those that did not sprout from cordon, but did from trunk, maybe 15% on each variety, and some Syrah that did not come back at all, in the clone at top of my Syrah block. Not too worried about it, but may plant to replace two-three Syrah rows up top with more Pinot, that frankly continues to astound with its ease and non contrary nature on top of our hill.

I have not inspected all rows since last weekend, 10 days ago, but I was able to get all rows mowed by riding mower and saw absolutely zero signs of powdery mildew despite some rains and dampness this spring. So I have not sprayed anything yet. May do a precautionary spray this weekend, as we are still having sporadic rain, which is unusual. I haven't irrigated yet either and that may get pushed further back even more. Dry farming? Not likely by the dog days of summer. Our heat units are dead on track with average for our AVA through first week of June. Solid after a late start.

Our days are getting close to longest of the year, and these two pictures were taken about 38 hours apart sunrise to sunset on the same day.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 6/5/2019 4:08:13 PM

khmark7

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I usually only see powdery mildew late season, but better safe than sorry this early in the season. Despite our rain the vines look good here.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 6/8/2019 1:01:45 AM

penguinoid

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Lovely photos, thanks for sharing! Clearly you have a good site for Pinot Noir (and the right clones?!).

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 6/18/2019 4:21:44 PM

ChrisinCowiche

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Irrigation main is repaired (I seem to find a way to break something every year) and we will start irrigating probably this week. Vines are in full bloom, fruit-set mode. We're meeting with a lawyer tomorrow about wine legalities and restructuring our nascent business. And our recent sunsets have been quite nice. This photo has a bit of odd reflections since it was taken looking out our bedroom window.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 6/18/2019 5:30:57 PM

khmark7

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You could have a worse view from the bedroom window....just saying.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 7/22/2019 2:46:49 PM

ChrisinCowiche

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Wow, dsGris pointed me to a short clip that explains the geology of the Goat Rocks lava flows better than I had ever seen. We are not featured in the video but the aerial orchard shots at 30 second mark are near Garettson Grade, and therefore Wilridge vineyard, (I'm pretty sure). musedir met a rattlesnake or two in those rocks.

The Naches Heights plateau sits on top of the Tieton Andesite columns shown and discussed.

nick on the rocks, season 2, episode 6 ancient volcanoes.

https://www.pbs.org/video/ancient-cascades-volcanoes-2y5ll5/

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 7/22/2019 3:43:25 PM

recotte

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ChrisinCowiche

Wow, dsGris pointed me to a short clip that explains the geology of the Goat Rocks lava flows better than I had ever seen. We are not featured in the video but the aerial orchard shots at 30 second mark are near Garettson Grade, and therefore Wilridge vineyard, (I'm pretty sure). musedir met a rattlesnake or two in those rocks.

The Naches Heights plateau sits on top of the Tieton Andesite columns shown and discussed.

nick on the rocks, season 2, episode 6 ancient volcanoes.

https://www.pbs.org/video/ancient-cascades-volcanoes-2y5ll5/

That video should come with a warning!

#GeologyPorn

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 10/20/2020 3:19:30 PM

ChrisinCowiche

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Resurrecting this thread to give a 2020 harvest report. After taking 2019 off, we did a selective harvest this year, and may do more, but if weather does what is predicted, we may be done for 2020.

Anyway, we picked about 500 pounds of Sangiovese for Rose on September 19, then pressed it off on the 20th. Brix was around 21 with pH at 3.0. This magenta color fades a bit after fermentation less opacity overall, and I'll do some trial to perhaps adjust final sweetness, but should be enough rose to last us a few years.

I made a small batch of Roussanne from our single row about 150 pounds of fruit. Ended up using some of it in the Syrah so will have maybe 2 cases when finished wine.

We got a steam juicer this year and played with it making some Viognier Juice, then later Syrah Juice. We drank then froze some of the viognier, adding some to the Syrah wine making. Canning about 40 pounds of the Syrah into quart jars gave us 9 jars we will use later to make jelly with our grandkids, or just as a sweet fruit drink. The steamer adds some water/condensate so the Syrah juice as canned is ~16 Brix from a starting point of 24.7.

Our main target this year was Syrah, but still a restrained goal of producing a single barrel along with the juice/jelly.

We picked this past Saturday, 10/17, at 24.7 Brix, 3.25 pH. We had a gorgeous day and picked about 1000 pounds total.

Barbilocks helped. Chiva "helped".

Syrah crushed on Sunday leaving about 20% as whole cluster, along with the bits of Viognier (maybe 1%) and Roussanne (~2%) co-ferments. Final batch size around 100 gallons in cold soak now. I'll warm it up with a space heater in next couple of days and see what happens natively.

< Message edited by ChrisinCowiche -- 10/20/2020 3:27:08 PM >

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 10/20/2020 3:33:51 PM

Old Doug

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Great post, Chris - so good to see.

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RE: Goat Rocks Vineyard - TRELLISSING Begins! - 10/20/2020 5:12:45 PM

fingers

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I remember that place! Nice pics and thanks for keeping us updated, Chris.
Please say hi to Barb

I’ll prolly want to try that Syrah, ahem..