07-14 July Newsletter

Barberian Wine Club..
Boeger Winery
FEATURED WINES
July 2014
2011 Migliore
2012 Milagro
Aromas: Dried figs, black Greek olives, butter, vanilla, smoked ham,
oak
Palate: Smooth opening, medium-bodied, gentle tannins, soft finish
Aging Potential: Until 2021 Production: 191 cases
Blend: 56% Refosco, 19% Aglianico, 17% Charbono, 5% Barbera,
3% Cabernet Sauvignon
Cooperage & Aging: 29 months in American and French oak barrels
Wine Chemistry: Alcohol 13.8%, R.S. 0.014%, pH: 3.78, T.A. 5.7 g/L
Bottling Date: May 23, 2014
Aromas: Earth, cedar, anise, vanilla, blueberry, tobacco, oak, caramel,
black pepper
Palate: Crisp palate all around, nice finish and integrated, soft tannins
$20/club & $25/retail
Aging Potential: 2024 Production: 219 cases
Blend: 78% Graciano, 17% Tempranillo, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Cooperage & Aging: 17 months in American and French oak barrels
Wine Chemistry:
Alcohol 14.5%, R.S. 0.1%, pH: 3.3, T.A. 5.31 g/L
Bottling Date: May 23, 2014
$20/club & $25/retail
$14.40/club
New Land - Greg
(‘New Land’ reprinted from the October 2012 newsletter)
Some good things just come out of the blue, unexpectedly. About 2 months ago, our neighbor to the west, asked if we
would like to buy a portion of his family's ranch, about 17 acres contiguous to our vineyards at a price that was irresistible. I
had been looking at this plot of land for over 40 years; it was the site of one of the highest producing pear orchards in the
County in the 1950's, but subsequently removed from production by a dramatic disease that ravaged the whole State, called
pear decline. The land remained fallow growing brush and scrub oak and pasture for goats. It also included a formerly beautiful irrigation pond, now drained, where our kids grew up learning how to fish for bass and bluegills. But the land was still
fertile, and the pond could be restored, so the choice was obvious: buy the land and replant it to vineyard. Maybe even a
home site for Justin, Eileen, and Hazel. The land slopes gently to the southwest and includes a wonderful hilltop overlooking
Placerville. So now any spare time is spent on my old D2 bulldozer removing brush and mentally laying out the configuration
of the new vineyard. The biggest decision yet to be made is what to plant and I’m sure it will the focus of many a family
discussion over the next year.
Now, one year and several months later...
The new land has been brushed and cleared of trees and Justin had the pleasure of driving a D8 Caterpillar with 4’ ripper
shanks to crossrip the vineyard site. If he had the choice of another life pursuit, I think it would be a heavy equipment
operator. But... (continued on backside)
The New Vineyard
Negroamaro 1.5 acres & Primitivo 4.0 acres
The preparation for planting the new land seems to be a never-ending task. I keep seeing more and better ways of
designing it, and with every change comes the inevitable disagreement or considerations. One of the biggest areas of contention was in the very basic decision of which direction to plant the rows. Very simple one would think, but no, it's really a
complicated, multi-faceted problem. Justin initially wanted to plant them straight up and down the hill, North to South. His
argument was that it gave the longest continuous rows, not-withstanding the potential for erosion in the winter, and the
strain on the tractor going directly uphill half the time, and holding it back on the downhill run. No, he argued, our new 80hp
Kubotas wouldn't even notice the difference, and then we're not going to disk it, but plant a cover crop for erosion control.
But I said the men have to walk up and down this hill and we use other tractors besides the Kubotas that aren't as powerful.
And if you have to stop and get off, you're always on a steep slope. And what if, because of the drought, we can't use overhead
sprinklers to maintain the cover crop, and all we have is a piddly drip system that barely gives enough water to the vines, let
alone a grass cover you're trying to maintain. So, I suggest, what about cross-slope, say North-East to South West, the ideal
direction for sun exposure for trellised vines in the Northern hemisphere? Dr. Andy Walker from U. C. Davis has visited the site
and says this would be ideal in this respect.
Well, says Justin, if we do that, we'll have to space the rows farther apart and lose planted acres to accommodate for tractor
slippage going sideways on the steeper slopes. But, I say, think about the ease for the workers, working on the level, to say
nothing about being gentle on the tractors, not straining uphill. And with a few years of disking we will have created a gentle
natural terrace that will be easy on both men and equipment. Maybe, he says, but then I bet you want to put an avenue crossways up and down the hill, and I'll lose a half acre of land to this as well! Of course, I reply, but if you start into a row and the
sprayer runs dry, you don't have to back out or go 1/2 mile to the end of the row to even begin to return to the fill station.
Just go to the middle avenue. Same for harvesting with 1/2 ton bins, easy in and out and little travel time. But Dad, they'll only
lose 5 minutes without the avenue. Yes, I say, but add that up over the year and what do you have? A lot of lost hours and
frustrated drivers, to say nothing of the workers. And the bins have to be moved constantly during harvest, adjusting for the
speed of the pickers, plus replacing with empty ones when they're full. An access avenue in the middle provides a lot of flexibility and time saving. But Dad, we're losing vines! Yes, but would you rather lose your workers? So how about we ask Arturo
and Chuy who are going to be working this vineyard, and maybe ask Ron Mansfield, a friend, vineyard operator and consultant, their opinion? OK, reluctantly, he agrees.
I put Arturo and Chuy on Caterpillars with disks (see photo collage) and told them to disk the land as they felt would be
best and most comfortable for them, not telling them of our own opinions. And in the meantime to think about whether they
would want a middle access avenue. Well, to no one's surprise, except maybe Justin's, the rows were disked NE-SW and all
agreed that an avenue was needed for all the same reasons. And Ron Mansfield’s opinion? Same as Arturo's and Chuy's,
definitely an avenue was needed if the rows were over 400' long--and some of ours were 800'. Fortunately, Justin was there to
hear Ron's conclusion. He has a lot of respect for him, having worked in his vineyards and orchards in his youth. So the
decision was finally agreed upon to follow the desires of Chuy and Arturo, not to say my own.
So I think that on all other issues, I'm deferring to Justin's opinion. I may have prevailed on this, the largest issue, but only
time will tell if it was the right choice. (see photo collage of aerial photo of the land showing the final direction of the rows
and the central avenue, as well as the lengths of the rows and # of vines/block.) And this is just one example of the many
decisions that are continuing to be made. Others are the design of the irrigation system---how many blocks do we break it
into, and how many emitters per vine and how many gallons per hour? Same with the overhead sprinklers. Choice of variety
and rootstock? Fortunately we agreed upon Primitivo and Negro Amaro and Dr. Andy Walker suggested what he felt were the
best rootstocks for our soil and choice of variety. A deer fence still needs to be installed and the final trellis system designed,
but as I said, I'm going to let Justin have his say on these final projects---maybe with just a few suggestions from me, gently--if he asks. -Greg