Winemaker's Diary for Week 39-40 2020

7+

Pat and I had a nice Ratatouille for tonight and I put in some Impossible Beef. I prefer Beyond Beef, but this dish needed more
veggies, Pat said it was too much fake meat.

We had many come in today looking for a tasting and Jessie did a great job. We did have to send a group away that was many was just looking for tasting here. We have it set up at outside to make sure all three tables are a part........

We will probably start Harvest again on Tuesday, but as I said it is a puzzle so I have to think about the possibilities

Raiders tomorrow........................

Now 7:15

Nice sunset tonight right now......no smoke and nice red ...........

Monday September 28, 2020

7+

Another Raider game, this time they lost.

Market today looked OK for my TSLA trade of 85 shares so I sold 10 shares at a nice profit.

SSSSOO we did many sugar tests today and we will be through by Friday. We have about 12 tons at the most to harvest for a total of about 75 tons. Last year we had the same amount, but we have many young vines coming in and the Old Vines have been less for several years..........SO do we put more fertilizer on them next year??? To:

Give perspective: Most new vineyards produce 7 or more tons to the acre.....our old vines produce less than 3. I think our new plantings which are producing nice, but we keep them down to less than the average, are fine. I want to make the best wine we can and it starts in the vineyard.......I love what I do.......

I woke up at 4:40 our time worrying about all the new fires in Santa Rosa and in Napa County. I need to look at some Tennis and of course NFL tonight and an IPA.........

So I got on the scale this morning, like I said I want to lose some weight, even though as you see on our main page I am the same weight now............. I think I looked OK back then at the same weight of 222. I know all statistics say I am over weight.......well back then I looked up the wrist of Holyfield and I confirmed I have big bones So no one in the health industry takes into consideration some one like me. OH, well what about Boxers, any Heavyweight would be considered too over weight.

My observation when I looked into the mirror this after noon and saw a big belly and I am down to 220 today So should I think about sit ups, Pat says with my back, no way......but I will google tomorrow and see if I have any options to get rid of this flab...........

Wednesday September 30, 2020

7+

so I found some exercises for my flab, down to 218, still with flab still..........

I was distracted yesterday. As some of you know I have said I am center to the left in politics.

OK, it is hard for any of us who respects the presidency. Like I have said before I would wish for any Republican President here in the office. Trump has embarrassed all of us and the World!!

I do not like some things that environmentalists have done to. I love the Stock Market so most liberals can not identify? I hate the restrictions on us here who want to remove some trees and brush? I know I do not know much about that but I have heard from some people who have tried to protect their property in the past and there are questions............

OK, most of you want to know about the harvest and I can say we will be over by Friday. Today We have brought in Mourvedre and Syrah for Terre Melange and some Peloursin. Tomorrow we will harvest Tannat,

Tomorrow we will bring in Alvarelhao, Souzao and Tannat with a little Aglianico for our Escuro. Also tomorrow we will harvest our new cab with the rest of our Cab Franc.......Into Aca.......Friday...Montepulciano. It has been our last variety which is ready. Also we have to pick up two small vines we have: Nebiola and the rest of our Aglianico and Barbera.......It will be over!!

Thursday October 1, 2020

7+

OK Pat and I like a new sparkling Water. Salvador, one of our great warriors, said try this!! It is Soleil Grapefruit. Pat tried it and so we are hooked.......So Pat and I ventured out to pick up some more and also some Sicilian Food at Baci, excellent!! While out we confirmed this is the worst smoke we have ever seen. It is still way off 25 miles from us but there is no wind, great for the fire fighters, but not good for us because it is just not moving and covering all of Sonoma County

I made a mistake today. I got really upset with Catarina, maybe my best friend now. I mentioned yesterday to blend the Cabernet grapes since they were new. I should have understood, he thinks Cabernet Franc is the same as Cabernet Sauvignon and can be blended together at harvest. The feds want us to be accurate when we state what is in our Aca Modot blend. Will they check it, never, but I want to document as best I can what is in my wines. That is why we are the only winery who states what percentage of grape varieties are in our wine.....on the label.......Ridge? These are varieties which should be weighed separate. Varieties which are going into our wines should be accurate. I should not have got upset with Catarino, I just know he knows what is in each bin so we estimated and I am fine now. Catarino has a great computer in has head...::......he knows what is in each bin. So Do I do not know for certainty how much Cabernet Franc Grapes will be in the Aca Modot blend? I should just get over it ........Catarino is always trying to please me and do what I want. He did not know I wanted them separate.........long story

We have only one more day of Harvest and it will be Nebiola, Aglianico, Barbera and Montepulciano. These grapes will go into Italiano.

Friday October 2, 2020

4:30 Pm

I was up until midnight last night shocked that Trump had tested positive. After little sleep I was down in the office at 5am to see what would happen to the Market and I will have more later to say about the last day of our Harvest.

I just want to say, I wish our President a fast recovery, but now seeing he is in the hospital, it will take some time.

7+

So Catarino and I are best friends again

OK, had a nice burger tonight. We had down in the freezer? so I saw a Bison and Ground Lamb. It is nice but in the future, I like fake burgers..........not like fake news

It is hard for me tonight. As most of you know I think Trump has been a big problem for the United States. I am worried he might get sympathy from Republicans, and I hope not Democrats. This is interesting and I will be glued for days.......

Dogfish IPA 90.......I need it

In the last two days we harvested everything left out in the vineyard: Aglianico, Tannat, and Alvarelhao, Souzao.

And today we finished.....Today we harvest the rest of Aglianico and.................

Tomorrow IS Another Day

Saturday October 3, 2020

As you may have noticed, I didn't even finish all I wanted to say last night.

Here is what we harvested yesterday and the day before: On Thursday we harvested the Aglianico, Tannat, and Alvarelhao, Souzao, a total of close to two tons which will be added to our Escuro blend with some Lagrein harvested earlier this year. Also that day we harvested our new Cabernet and the Cabernet Franc, a total of 1.5 tons which will be mixed with Merlot to help make our Aca Modot blend. For each ton of grapes harvested 68 cases are bottled.

Yesterday we finished fruit to go into our Italiano Style. That was Montepulciano, Barbera, Aglianico and a small amount of Nebiola. The total was a little less than two tons. For both days all our sugar totals were excellent being enough to make alcohols about 15% or a little less. Now we have another 10 days of fermenting and pressing.

After that we will finish disgorging our new sparkling Pinot for 2019. In November we will start blending all the wines. It will be fun.

7+

Pat and I had a great BBQ chicken up top over dripping down on nice white Sweet potatoes. It keeps me going and now Pizza tomorrow............

It is hard for me to see Trump in the hospital, so some say why? He is our president and it is concerning!! Who is in control now????

Now I have heard another QB is positive so what happens with the NFL?

So Pat and I will go up for a movie soon..........we need an escape................

	Sunday September 20, 2020 8,....... NFL Soon Today we got in some more sugar tests and I was actually surprised how low Petite Sirah was, at 24.5, I want 26 so we are doing another test on Tuesday. Otherwise we are ready to harvest Petite Verdot tomorrow and Aglianico on Tuesday. The weather people have been wrong for here. They only look at Healdsburg weather station a Davis which has been 5 degrees lower than here in Geyserville. Geyserville does not have a certified site for weather, sure I suppose I could get involved and mention my Davis Weather which is the same they are using for Healdsburg, maybe next year? So everyday we have been in the 90's....... We have Mourvedre, Montepulciano, Tannat and Carignan which will be ready soon. I am watching weather reports and we may have high temps starting week of Sept 27......Patience? Pat and I go married on September 29 and again, will not be going away....... I don't want to get into Politics, most of you know what I think....... The Market is open tomorrow, my time at 6:30 Am so I have to be up early for another day........... Tuesday September 22, 2020 7+ I had some nice dinner tonight, Scallops and Broccoli........I am going on a much less Carbs diet so this dinner meets what I want. My weight is 224 right when I got married, but my gut has sagged and i need to get down to 218 or lower so NO carbs they do not help me, but it is still about Calories, so I will count........ I was into the Raiders yesterday so I had too much IPA to post. They won, surprise Now the market!! Tesla had their Battery day finally........I thought I was off into THE Future when I will not be around anymore.......so much energy and hopefully vision......, So the stock was up early in the presentation and went down later SO I have started to buy for trades. It was all about the Future way off in the next decades and I believe it will happen but right now TSLA has to prove it and they are not making enough money now. BUT I will still be buying more stock as TSLA goes down. So I have to get up early......... We harvested Aglianico today and I guess Catarino's computer in his head was wrong. We only had 25 sugar over all so he has left some for next week........... Oh Next week? Too much info. There is a prediction that we will have well over 100 degrees, days starting on Saturday. We are watering ahead and we suspect all our fruit will be in by the end of next week........Catarino keeps mentioning: He wants a vacation.......I love him........One only this year, his miscalculation in his head, he is amazing...................................... Wednesday September 23, 2020 Here is an interesting chart stating U.S. deaths over the past and estimates for this year. Data from an exellent analysis website which you might want to read. We do every day. https://electoral-vote.com. Chart link: https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2020/Pres/Maps/Sep23.html#item-1 7+ OK, I have to go up and see the second half again, because I was consuming too much IPA the other night when the Raiders were playing++....... But I was not happy our Aglianico yesterday came in too low in sugar, so I guess we will only make 50 cases again, not a problem since I am the one who likes it the most. I have to agree, it is intense...... We harvested the rest of our Petite Sirah today and it was variable. Catarino brought in a bunch like last years which shrivels up into harsh tart grapes and is low in sugar. I have to decided what to do now but it is much better than Aglianico, maybe 25+ sugar overall and raisins. TSLA, better known as Tesla. The stock as usual after the event went down today so I am buying more for a trade again. I should make several thousand dollars as usual, but maybe it will go down more than I think so I have a lot of cash left in my Schwab account. I am in 40% cash because I am cautious and still expect the market will go down for awhile. Months ago I did do a trade in Disney and Starbucks and sold a few days ago and I have sold most of my Cruise and Airline stocks on trades, but I am looking to buy more of everything, if Biden gets elected................remember when a Democrat is in office, the stock market goes up big.......just look at Clinton and Obama........ Thursday September 24, 2020 8 I had a great crab salad to night so I am real happy. ..............IPA soon, sure I had some nice Aglianico Today was another interesting day, so what is different We tried some Carignan today and it came in lower than we want so we will wait for this big heat wave which will give us 100+ So my TSLA trade is in evaluation..........My average cost for a new short term trade is 390 so it is at 394 now so we will see what happens when I get up tomorrow..........this morning I bought more at 357.....buy low sell high.....I can only hope. I have faith in Elon..... OK, the big problem today was taking in grapes from this New guy. I will never buy grapes again.......... IPA now.......Stone Scorpion Bowl, what does that mean. Here is just the start of much more on the label........."If this ale has been handed to your hands, it has survived an exotic journey.................. I might as well get into more trouble. I will only mention his first name: Sedge So Sedge and I had an agreement to bring me in 26 Brix, or as I like to say..........% sugar He told me he had the sugar, I could go on but he did not come through. He is new.........he bought this vineyard only 2 years ago so he is not learned much. He has this nice vineyard and I think a house. I have not been there......................... Catarino and Jose have been over to the vineyard and said it was on a steep slop and there was too much water irrigating on the vines. The sugar was under what I want, but we will deal with it and I will pay him his price, but like Pat says::::"why are you buying grapes......you are never happy..................... I sure hope Tomorrow is another day Friday September 25, 2020 7 OK it is 7.......I forgot the time, so I thought I was late and found out soon I was early for dinner....maybe I need new glasses, not. I just saw Catalina leaving and I thought it was after 5......... No excuse.........Pat and I usually sit down for dinner between 6:30 and 7 so tonight is fine since I forgot I missed an NFL game last night........... OK, my TSLA trade is looking fine And the low sugar fruit from my new Cab I bought is looking a little higher in sugar We are not harvesting the last fruit until next week, ........It is supposed to be over 100 degrees here until next Friday, so one week. It is getting dark again, I hate it when the sun goes down so early.....but I love Harvest this time of year and then there is Thanksgiving and Christmas which I have always enjoyed........SO is my Family getting together?......It is hard now....... So Scorpion again, only two sips? Now close to 7, but early so I am going to post something Pat would not like::::: So A customer took the time to say my wine was BAD....... Her is my response::: Sorry, it is a different wine and has a lot of acid so I can assure even if heated up the acid would prevail. The wine will last for 20 years, but not what you want. I prefer more oak and this wine was mistakenly blended in the whole blend without keeping my Oaked wine separate. If you do not like OAK that could be the problem, I ca assure you the wine is good and I can assure you the will not be oak in the wine this year........Thanks for you input,,,,,,,,,,,........But i really would like what you meant is was bad??? >>>>>Hello, Just tried a bottle of the 2019 Luminaire and unfortunately it was bad. It had somehow turned, perhaps from heat when in transit? Please advise. Sorry Pat, don't read........ My soon to send response....... Sorry, it is a different wine and has a lot of acid so I can assure even if heated up the acid would prevail. The wine will last for 20 years, but not what you want. I prefer more oak and this wine was mistakenly blended in the whole blend without keeping my Oaked wine separate. If you do not like OAK that could be the problem, I can assure you the wine is good and I can assure you the wine will not have oak this year........Thanks for your input,,,,,,,,,,,........But i really would like what you meant by it was bad??? Saturday September 26, 2020 7+ Pat and I had a nice Ratatouille for tonight and I put in some Impossible Beef. I prefer Beyond Beef, but this dish needed more veggies, Pat said it was too much fake meat. We had many come in today looking for a tasting and Jessie did a great job. We did have to send a group away that was many was just looking for tasting here. We have it set up at outside to make sure all three tables are a part........ We will probably start Harvest again on Tuesday, but as I said it is a puzzle so I have to think about the possibilities Raiders tomorrow........................ Now 7:15 Nice sunset tonight right now......no smoke and nice red ........... Monday September 28, 2020 7+ Another Raider game, this time they lost. Market today looked OK for my TSLA trade of 85 shares so I sold 10 shares at a nice profit. SSSSOO we did many sugar tests today and we will be through by Friday. We have about 12 tons at the most to harvest for a total of about 75 tons. Last year we had the same amount, but we have many young vines coming in and the Old Vines have been less for several years..........SO do we put more fertilizer on them next year??? To: Give perspective: Most new vineyards produce 7 or more tons to the acre.....our old vines produce less than 3. I think our new plantings which are producing nice, but we keep them down to less than the average, are fine. I want to make the best wine we can and it starts in the vineyard.......I love what I do....... I woke up at 4:40 our time worrying about all the new fires in Santa Rosa and in Napa County. I need to look at some Tennis and of course NFL tonight and an IPA......... So I got on the scale this morning, like I said I want to lose some weight, even though as you see on our main page I am the same weight now............. I think I looked OK back then at the same weight of 222. I know all statistics say I am over weight.......well back then I looked up the wrist of Holyfield and I confirmed I have big bones So no one in the health industry takes into consideration some one like me. OH, well what about Boxers, any Heavyweight would be considered too over weight. My observation when I looked into the mirror this after noon and saw a big belly and I am down to 220 today So should I think about sit ups, Pat says with my back, no way......but I will google tomorrow and see if I have any options to get rid of this flab........... Wednesday September 30, 2020 7+ so I found some exercises for my flab, down to 218, still with flab still.......... I was distracted yesterday. As some of you know I have said I am center to the left in politics. OK, it is hard for any of us who respects the presidency. Like I have said before I would wish for any Republican President here in the office. Trump has embarrassed all of us and the World!! I do not like some things that environmentalists have done to. I love the Stock Market so most liberals can not identify? I hate the restrictions on us here who want to remove some trees and brush? I know I do not know much about that but I have heard from some people who have tried to protect their property in the past and there are questions............ OK, most of you want to know about the harvest and I can say we will be over by Friday. Today We have brought in Mourvedre and Syrah for Terre Melange and some Peloursin. Tomorrow we will harvest Tannat, Tomorrow we will bring in Alvarelhao, Souzao and Tannat with a little Aglianico for our Escuro. Also tomorrow we will harvest our new cab with the rest of our Cab Franc.......Into Aca.......Friday...Montepulciano. It has been our last variety which is ready. Also we have to pick up two small vines we have: Nebiola and the rest of our Aglianico and Barbera.......It will be over!! Thursday October 1, 2020 7+ OK Pat and I like a new sparkling Water. Salvador, one of our great warriors, said try this!! It is Soleil Grapefruit. Pat tried it and so we are hooked.......So Pat and I ventured out to pick up some more and also some Sicilian Food at Baci, excellent!! While out we confirmed this is the worst smoke we have ever seen. It is still way off 25 miles from us but there is no wind, great for the fire fighters, but not good for us because it is just not moving and covering all of Sonoma County I made a mistake today. I got really upset with Catarina, maybe my best friend now. I mentioned yesterday to blend the Cabernet grapes since they were new. I should have understood, he thinks Cabernet Franc is the same as Cabernet Sauvignon and can be blended together at harvest. The feds want us to be accurate when we state what is in our Aca Modot blend. Will they check it, never, but I want to document as best I can what is in my wines. That is why we are the only winery who states what percentage of grape varieties are in our wine.....on the label.......Ridge? These are varieties which should be weighed separate. Varieties which are going into our wines should be accurate. I should not have got upset with Catarino, I just know he knows what is in each bin so we estimated and I am fine now. Catarino has a great computer in has head...::......he knows what is in each bin. So Do I do not know for certainty how much Cabernet Franc Grapes will be in the Aca Modot blend? I should just get over it ........Catarino is always trying to please me and do what I want. He did not know I wanted them separate.........long story We have only one more day of Harvest and it will be Nebiola, Aglianico, Barbera and Montepulciano. These grapes will go into Italiano. Friday October 2, 2020 4:30 Pm I was up until midnight last night shocked that Trump had tested positive. After little sleep I was down in the office at 5am to see what would happen to the Market and I will have more later to say about the last day of our Harvest. I just want to say, I wish our President a fast recovery, but now seeing he is in the hospital, it will take some time. 7+ So Catarino and I are best friends again OK, had a nice burger tonight. We had down in the freezer? so I saw a Bison and Ground Lamb. It is nice but in the future, I like fake burgers..........not like fake news It is hard for me tonight. As most of you know I think Trump has been a big problem for the United States. I am worried he might get sympathy from Republicans, and I hope not Democrats. This is interesting and I will be glued for days....... Dogfish IPA 90.......I need it In the last two days we harvested everything left out in the vineyard: Aglianico, Tannat, and Alvarelhao, Souzao. And today we finished.....Today we harvest the rest of Aglianico and................. Tomorrow IS Another Day Saturday October 3, 2020 As you may have noticed, I didn't even finish all I wanted to say last night. Here is what we harvested yesterday and the day before: On Thursday we harvested the Aglianico, Tannat, and Alvarelhao, Souzao, a total of close to two tons which will be added to our Escuro blend with some Lagrein harvested earlier this year. Also that day we harvested our new Cabernet and the Cabernet Franc, a total of 1.5 tons which will be mixed with Merlot to help make our Aca Modot blend. For each ton of grapes harvested 68 cases are bottled. Yesterday we finished fruit to go into our Italiano Style. That was Montepulciano, Barbera, Aglianico and a small amount of Nebiola. The total was a little less than two tons. For both days all our sugar totals were excellent being enough to make alcohols about 15% or a little less. Now we have another 10 days of fermenting and pressing. After that we will finish disgorging our new sparkling Pinot for 2019. In November we will start blending all the wines. It will be fun. 7+ Pat and I had a great BBQ chicken up top over dripping down on nice white Sweet potatoes. It keeps me going and now Pizza tomorrow............ It is hard for me to see Trump in the hospital, so some say why? He is our president and it is concerning!! Who is in control now???? Now I have heard another QB is positive so what happens with the NFL? So Pat and I will go up for a movie soon..........we need an escape................
	Dave For any comments or questions I encourage any of you to e-mail.....david@coffaro.com
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