June 16 - August
10, 2019 
June 16 - August
10, 2019  |
Tuesday June 18, 2019 We are here waiting for our labels today. Our bottles are going to be delivered on July 2. In three weeks, July 8 we will start bottling our 2018 10 month barrel aged wines. It will be fun because I can taste all the new wines. Friday June 21, 2019 I think strange things like Colorado, just now I had thought recently about being in Colorado, and I loved all times when I was there.......OK Like I have said this is My Diary. It is about what i think. It is mostly about me and of course the Winery is one of my Passions. But I am concerned about how I will deal with the future as I have said. Yesterday Pat and I went off to Santa Crruz near the coast in Monterey and had to turn back. I had forgot my Blood pressure pills and eye drops so we are here without the trip to Santa Cruz. We have rescheduled for next Wednesday and Thursday. The Dream Inn was nice enough to give us a rain check so next week So I am forgetting things, sure everyone forgets things especially when you are young and old. I am normal now, old! My body hurts at times so i need to move around, like making a great diner again tonight and my Pizza is the best, sorry, Brad.......Hey I am 76 now and I want to move on in my life.....................This diary helps me remember and capture things which will help in the Future..........tomorrow is another day Tuesday June 25, 2019 Summer is here so I like summer but prefer Spring because after June the days get shorter, but I will survive. Like I have said I am old now and Kate, Susie and Bryan were here this last weekend and they want to change our label. OK, I listened some what and decided they should do what they think Today we restained our deck which was installed last year in September. The stain put on before was not looking good so I ordered a new one. This is a water based stain and I read it may not show grey stains like the last one...........time will tell Cory our Cat is fine now, but like I say he is patient waiting for his next meal just like dogs. Kate, Susie and Bryan were here this weekend so they may disagree, they think Cats and Dogs think we are more important than food, I don't think so............. So Kate, Susie and Bryan, maybe want me to do a new label. I saw their suggestions and I agree it is nothing like mine. I am old Sunday June 30, 2019 Here it is Sunday. Pat and I had a nice trip down to Santa Cruz last Wednesday and Thursday. The weather was perfect with highs in the 70's and it was nice to hear the ocean waves for 48 hours with our door open all the time. I am back home preparing for the new week. We start bottling next week July 8 and the bottles are coming in tomorrow. The bottling line is out and ready to go. Wednesday July 3, 2019 I have been very busy because there is a problem with The WineGrowers. As I said the BID was a problem but now I found out the head of everything who is an employee, makes all the decisions and she is making more than most people in The City. I won't say what she makes but I think it can be researched because the WineGrowers are a not for profit organization, but many of us are questioning the forward thinking of this person in control, they want $500,000 more money!! I wonder who will make more money? So there is a vote now to decide who should be elected to the Board. I will go into more detail tomorrow I am not concerned if someone wants to see here as all of you know. I am an open book....... Thursday July 4, 2019 Many of us on the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley have gotten together to nominate 3 new board members. The head employee who makes a lot of money sent out her choices and gave the whole membership only one week and was due tomorrow. I requested with the help of many and sent requests to delay the vote. After many irate emails by the President, a winery owner, thus the head member, the employee who makes the decisions agreed to extend the deadline until next Friday, the 12th. She has the support of the present board to find a way to generate another $500,000. We have sent out a letter to all members to request the 3 new board members. We are concerned because we know who will count the votes. If you want to find out more you can Google search my diary. Bottling starts next Monday!!! Happy 4th!!! Tuesday July 9, 2019 Yesterday we bottled 285 cases of 2018 Dave's Cuvee. We are holding back 250 cases to bottle with a new label. We hope to sell to retailers here in Sonoma County. It should be on the shelves for $15 or so. So I tasted the 2018 Dave's Cuvee compared to the 2017 and Pat really liked the 2018 already so she is encouraged that we will have no trouble selling to retailers when it is in the new label later this year. I preferred the 2017 but I will try them again tonight. Today we bottled 141 cases of 2018 10 Month Aged Aca Modot and 188 cases of 2018 Zinfandel so it will be fun to taste them compared to the 2017 versions....... 8:30 Pm: I remember when my mother..............said I had to have tomatoes and I hated them and then I moved to Marin County. I loved the weather there and i discovered tomatoes again. It was warmer there so I could grow tomatoes with some favor, like some natural sugar!! I will make this short because I have to go up for Tennis............ Now I have discovered........little small tomatoes. I hope you have seen them AND now I love them!! I am now on to the tomato diet!! Low calories and acid, so you can't eat too many, yes I am trying to lose pounds now, it is easy........... Friday July 12, 2019 I have been busy and we went out to dinner on Wednesday with Cindi and Bill and great customers. Cindi of course used to run the tasting room. It was so much fun to catch up.......... so I have been delayed posting my results on our newly bottled 2018 10 Month Aged Wines. ...... I have a few notes and I will have more when I taste My Zin and Estate Cuvee tomorrow night. On Thursday night I tasted Block 4 which was bottled on Wednesday. I will say consistently the 2018 wines are good. I preferred the 2018 Block 4 and Dave's Cuvee tonight, Wednesday night I preferred the 2017 so obviously these new 2018 wines look really promising with age. Saturday July 13, 2019 Last night I tasted our newly bottled 2018 10 Month Aged Terre Melange. I was amazed at how smooth it was, very jammy but not as spicy as the Block 4. The Carignan had more spice than the Terre Melange, but not as smooth. In all three wines, Block 4, Terre Melange and Carignan, I preferred the 2018 just bottled Thursday compared to the 2017 10 Month Aged, but they were very close in quality. Remember I prefer young wines so some or most of you might prefer the 2017. Monday July 15, 2019 Over the weekend I decided to taste some of the 2018 wins and compare to themselves since I have decided the 2018 wines are very similar to the 2017 wines. So I tasted 2018 10 Month Carignan compared to Terre Melange and I really preferred the Terre Melange. Then I tried the My Zin compared to the Estate Cuvee. I was surprised to find that I preferred the Estate Cuvee, it seemed to be much smoother, but the My Zin went great with BBQ Chicken.........More tonight Saturday July 20, 2019 I have been working on a post about my Father's death by accident when I was 10 years old. I wanted document everything I remember, but I decided to not post it because it is too intense. Let's just say I have never recovered completely. Life goes on. This past week I have tasted a lot of our newly bottled 2018 10 Month wines and I am happy with the results. Most of the alcohols are down a little and we will try to lower them even more in this new Harvest coming up next month. We are also planning to make another low alcohol red and a 2019 sparkling wine. I have purchased a lot of Chardonnay wines recently. After all these years I am appreciating Chardonnay again. That was a wine I liked a lot in the 70's but then most wineries started leaving sugar in the wines and also a lot of oak. Recently I have purchased more balanced wines, especially wines from Argentina and South Africa. Pat and I usually have a glass of Chardonnay every evening, but I still like my sparkling wine also and have a glass of our red at dinner. 8:00 Pm: Pat said it is obvious, but I thought she was a head of me, because I think as she does, Conservatives?, is that the right word?, so maybe generic here, people in this Nation want to protect what they have. I sure am not feared about that, because I am nice to most people and I have Money BUT what about the people who have less............ OK, I should not go on now so i will just state the obvious again, Trump has supporters who do not want someone else coming in our country to take what they have!! Why do they think that? 9:00 Pm: It is hard for me, I would like to have all people in need to be happy. I am lucky to have money and be able to have what I want. How do I solve these people in their dilemma???? OK, this may be a mistake, but I love to make mistakes, because it makes me know I am not perfect.........yes I know none of us are perfect, but only we know what no one has: our inner thoughts about our body.......I know too much thought on my part? I will go up soon and finish my pie........................will it be good? I started? 8 peaches from our garden and we had put them out for customers today to take one or two or all, they were left.,. I am not a peach fan because I feel guilty eating Carbohydrates, they go right to my body. OH gee have I told you I am lifting weights?..........OK so I started with flour and sugar and then I could not find cornstarch so I used rice flour to make the peaches not so runny. I will go up soon for the Giants game and golf. I will only hope my pie goes well. I need another 30 minutes to see if I have a success, only time will tell. Monday July 29, 2019 OK, I went for a tasting at Ramey. I had seen Dave Ramey only one time before and he was at Matanzas Creek Winery as the Winemaker, many years ago. I brought in my Sauv Blanc a home winemaking sample, I was not a winery then, only a grower. Dave, had at least 30 wines out to taste and I never got a call back, not surprising, no one was interested in Sauv Blanc those days, everyone wanted Chardonnay. OK so on July 25, Thursday, I had an appointment with Ramey. I had had a few interesting Chardonnays that were from South Africa and Argentina and it got his attention. Pat and I have always liked Ramey's chardonnays. We tasted 7 wines I thought all of the Ramey wines were the best, 4 of them. His daughter was there. His two sons? and everyone there were so nice and we got to a great set up: So Dave Ramey said sit there!! At the head of the table. I assume they have done this before........still nice We sat down and I had 7 glasses filled with three I had brought and 4 great Ramey Chards............I spit !!!!! Tuesday July 30, 2019We have decided to make more sparkling wine and also a rose this year. All the fruit will probably come from our Pinot Noir grapes. According to the so called experts our weather here is too hot for quality Pinot Noir red wine. We do have several customers who like the style of our Pinot. The fruit from this section of our vineyard does produce a wine with more spice and darker color. So we are still going to make a barrel of Pinot Noir red wine which will produce about 25 cases. The section of Pinot Noir produces about 3 tons of grapes, one half a ton will go to the red wine. Years ago we took a lot of soil from a section close to Dry Creek Road. A pond now exists right up by Dry Creek Road. By taking this soil and filling a one acre area, it created two sections, one that was filled in which is richer and takes longer to ripen and another that is lower and ripens about two weeks earlier. We are looking for a sugar of 19% for the sparkling wine, 23% for the rose and 24-25% for the red wine. We should be able to harvest most of the fruit at the same time, but probably the grapes for the sparkling will be harvested first. We obviously will be taking sugar tests many times. Harvest in that area should be about the end of August. Since the lower thinner soil ripens earlier we could harvest at 19 % sugar in a week or so but we have decided this year to use this section for the Rose or Red wine. It also produces less fruit. Wednesday July 31, 2019 Cory the cat was lost for 4 weeks as I said before, go back and see if interested. He is annoying me again and is always asking for food!! He is back to his big belly. I feel sorry for him, after neutering he has no interest for a female, So why is he always dropping down in front of me?? Pat is finally agreeing, Cory likes food. Pat is off to Eastern Europe so I will be alone with Cory................ the only family member who lives with me OK, OK I am into politics!! Trump is an A..He does not know anything about things that are important, Like the constitution.........OK I do not want to get into this now because I have recorded the debate............. Thursday August 1, 2019 Cory was fine today with out Pat.......... Stone IPA costs about 1.50 a bottle so I like it late in the night for a few sips I will now go up for Giants games But first I have to say I was not impressed with Kamala. I had given her $200, mainly she was from California and was successful AND she had all of us in the last debate interested. I actually liked Warren, she is way to the left for me but hey I would be OK with health care for all of us SINCE I have it with Medicare. I had both my knees done recently and I did not get a bill. Catarino and all our employees, most Latinos can go to a place near here who will take them in if they have a medical problem........Now I have Kaiser for them but only if they have to go in for something serious. I can't take it anymore..........I just hope we get rid of our present President..............I could go on, patient, Dave............. Saturday August 3, 2019 Yes I can't take it anymore........ First draft I guess a Stone, Ruination IPA, it is almost 8 As most of you know there was another mass shooting by an assault weapon, but all who told us about the tragedy, talks about social media and metal health to prevent another mass death but no one is talking so far tonight about banning all assault weapons. The Republicans and Trump, will keep talking about mental health I fired many weapons in the Army so know how easy it is to fire multiple shots in a few seconds, the rifle hardly moves We are the only location on Earth that lets someone carry a Gun and thus even come in here, but dictators. But I agree there are many people out there who have mental heath problems, that is not the answer It is all about allowing guns........I can only hope Sunday August 4, 2019 BTW have I said I have started lifting weights and now I can touch my toes to clip my nails? We are getting close to Harvest. I went out yesterday and will go out with Catarino tomorrow to see ripening........ OK, almost everyone I know is not into what has happened in the last two days. I know most people have their heads in the sand like my Great Mother used to say. I am having trouble getting away from these assault weapons news stories So it is obvious, I hate to say in my life time we will still see many more killings, but I hope eventually after I am dead, WE somehow, have what we have to drive a car!! Yes, why do we not have a license and a test to have a gun, maybe to kill someone and we need to get a license because some people should not be driving a car........Why do we let anyone to have a gun and have the opportunity to kill anyone they please........I know There is only one possibility after I am gone......this is tough because I will not be around, no one should possess a gun unless they have been through a test and and can learn how to fire the Gun they are buying............................................................just like a car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tuesday August 6, 2019 We just did an inventory of wine and found another 30 cases of the 2010 vintage. That is the vintage that got a lot of burn from the high temperatures at harvest. The alcohols are high and I was not happy with th flavor so we stopped selling the wine. For three years we made a wine called DC Fusion which was a blend of those 2010 wines So we have decided to make another DC Fusion this year and I will have more to say about it soon........... 8:00:PM Santana is in San Francisco on November 12 ........ to my family later: So I see we need another ticket so I suggest we could sell our tickets now on row 5, but i assume the prices are going to go up soon? Hey you all know more than I,,,,,,,,,,,,,,..............about prices I would like to sit on the first row and I see there are seats available. I WILL buy tickets tomorrow so one or two of you want to sit with me on the first row........hey I could just buy one.......once the percussion starts, you will be in a dream like I was back on 1969, 1970. I may be ready to hear that up close again at 30 feet then at Fillmore West......it was all about percussion. It was like, making you happy Percussion: musical instruments played by
striking with the hand or with a handheld or
pedal-operated stick or beater, or by shaking,
including drums, cymbals, xylophones, gongs,
bells, and rattles.
Wednesday August 7, 2019 Well my Family does not want to join me on the first row. Pat said the percussion would not make her happy So I will not buy more tickets, Row 5 is close enough, I guess? I am reading an interesting book about a guy who can pick locks and hot wire cars. There is one mention of this guy hot wiring a Corvette. It reminded me of when I had my 1964 Corvette. The Corvette had a tachometer which measured the rotation of the engine shaft. There were two big gauges, one measuring the RPM, tachometer, and one which showed the speed. I was putting some miles on this Corvette including traveling to Wyoming a few times. I was concerned about the mileage especially when I would try to sell it eventually. I was amazed how easy it was to reach under the dash and find a place where the speedometer was connected. All I had to do was unscrew a connector and the speedometer would stop counting miles. I did not do it very often, but it was fun. The tachometer still worked so It was easy to estimate how fast I was traveling. I think around 3000 on the tachometer was about 70 miles an hour and say 2300 was around 50 miles per hour. I am sure there is no easy way to disconnect on these new Corvettes. Thursday August 8, 2019 I had a great meat reduction meal last night. I know it will be better for lunch today. So this dish I made last night was about: What do I have that I don't need anymore or what do I have too much of. So I looked in the frig and found a lot of lunch meats so I covered them in white wine and fresh tomatoes and cooked for hours. I then strained off the meats and saved the sauce. I have a new way to cook pasta: It is about bringing pasta to the right consistency and not cooking so long to dilute the flavor. So why is pasta cooked in water? I now put 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a pot with 8 ounces of pasta. I also put in seasoning and a few ounces of white wine. I then steam it for a few minutes and turn off the heat. In a few minutes all the moisture has evaporated and the pasta is perfect!! Of course then I put the reduction sauce over the pasta.Friday August 9, 2019 I have a big vine, planted in the last 10 years and it is vibrant and is ready to taste some young fruit, sure it will be tart, but fun....... So I go out and walk, because Cory, the cat is in my way I nudge him and he follows me. Maybe he is smart and is afraid of coyotes, but I still think he only wants me to go back in and give him some food, but he has all he needs so it is confusing to me and him, I guess. So I just came back and had a few nice tart berries, maybe ready in a month.......but I digress I go back on this computer to document this and Cory, the cat just follows me in and he of course goes over to his food dish. He is somewhat subtle, he walks away and now he is waiting for me to come in to the garage. Now................he has full access in the house and I see him up there also already. Look, I am 76 years old so this cat was sitting right out my office and I had to nudge him easily to move and he did not move so I had to nudge him a little more. Now I can move out of my office without tripping over a cat!!!!!!! Saturday August 10, 2019 Don't worry Cory did come up to the Movie Room so I guess he is fine. But like I said this cat wants someone, but it will not be me. He sits on our laps sometime but does not like petting. I am confused OK, Dave, me....... I try my best. OK, now up to see the Raiders first pre-season game and Nadal is on tonight. Pat is still in Bulgaria with her sister for another week. Hey tonight I had Short Ribs cooked a long time and then with I rich stock and sweet potatoes.......Time goes on |
| Dave For any comments or questions I encourage any of you to e-mail.....david@coffaro.com |
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