Ulises Valdez, Bartolomei Ranch Vineyard Manager

Ulises, our vineyard manager, who happens to be one of the most respected guys in the Russian River Valley, showed up too (which doesn’t usually happen during our harvest).  When Rod asked him why he’d shown up and why he was picking grapes (again, doesn’t happen), he said, “It’s the first day of harvest for us and we’re celebrating”, Rod and I celebrate everything.  Any chance for some champagne, a great dinner with the kids, a cake….  Rod said, “Oh, how are you celebrating?”.   Ulises said, “Man I’m PICKING GRAPES”.  Oh, that kind of celebrating…

 The weather was gorgeous, the kind of crystalline sunshine that makes everything gleam and photograph perfectly.

Megan, me and my husband Rod, sorting our Russian River Valley pinot noir at harvest

My kids, Rocco and Helen doing the real work- picking! Oh, wait, eating...

Megan, our Farmhouse sommelier, and No Name Winery (no,not the name of the winery) Winemaker, had already arrived with her Dad.  As an aside, I’d never met her dad, Ted, before- it was great to have him there with us!  If you read my first entry on our little project, you might remember that Megan comes from a restaurant family, her dad’s the chef/owner of Passionfish in Pacific Grove.  As another aside, if you did read that, would it have killed you to comment?  Anyway…

The weather was amazing, the crew was in action and the fruit flew off  the vines and into the bins, all gorgeous and purple and with very little sun damage (we’d worried that there was more).

Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, Clone 16, Jackson Clone

We only picked a ton (enough for about 60 cases of finished wine), so of course it wasn’t going to take long.   As the fruit came in, we sorted out any M.O.G (matter other than grapes) and the few clusters that did have sun damage, or sun burn, from a nasty heat spike a couple of weeks ago.  Once all of the fruit was into the half-ton picking bins, the crew loaded them up and hauled them over to C. Donatiello Winery, where we’re going to use their facility to make our wine.

Winemaker, Megan Glaab, sorting fruit

They spent the night in cold storage- just to make sure they were good and cold when it was time to process them.  Then, early Tuesday morning, the crew got back together, over at the winery, and the grapes were de-stemmed, sorted (to make sure nothing but pristine fruit went into the fermentation bin) and tucked into bins to cold soak.  The grapes will spend 5-7 days, just gently resting , while temperature control is used to hold off fermentation.   A juice panel went off to Vinquiry for analysis of acid and sugar, and so far, it’s all looking great.  Next step: Fermentation!

The Grape to Glass event is in its fifteenth year.  It’s really a unique event, showcasing not just our absolutely spectacular wineries and vineyards, but also our incredible farms, ranches and geography.  It’s a collaboration between all of our multi-generational farming and wine making  families, our local schools and farms and all of those who’ve more recently joined our community.  And it really is an incredible event.  So, you might be asking what I had to complain about?   I just think that sometimes an event needs some fresh eyes.  What’s worked for years can get a little tired and need some attention.  And, boy did this event get some fresh eyes this year!

This year's new Grape to Glass Logo

So, first thing after last year’s event, the Board of Directors decided to look for some fresh energy to get behind the whole event.  (No, I’m not on the board).  The super-creative team of Creative Furnace was brought on board to produce the Grape to Glass 2010.  They have a fantastic background, having worked with groups like Wine Brats to create really cutting edge, fun and sophisticated events. 

I won’t go into all of the details about what’s gone and what’s stayed, but I’ll tell you that I’m attending every bit of this weekend event this year.  Historically, the event has had a Friday night component.  It’s now an al fresco wine tasting and live outdoor concert by Nick Palance (If you haven’t heard of him, click the link and check him out- he’s being compared to Andrea Bocelli). 

Nick Palance, who will be preforming Friday evening

 Saturday’s events include a morning Kayak tour led by Guy Davis of Davis Family Winery and starting where the Russian River meets his vineyard, or a bike tour around the Russian River Valley, all leading to the famous Hog In the Fog BBQ.  The weekend ends with a fantastic vineyard brunch on Sunday. John and Duskie of Bovolo and Zazu Restaurant fame (can you say best salumi in the Russian River Valley- probably all of Sonoma and Napa Wine Countries) are now supplying the farm-fresh lunches those hungry athletes.  But, the Hog in the Fog event is what’s got me most interested.  Because now I”m behind the scenes. 

Chef/Owners Duskie Estes and John Stewart of Bovolo and Zazu

 The Hog in the Fog has always been about bringing guests in, from all over the US, to experience a real Russian River Valley Community BBQ.  It’s cooked and served by actual members of our community, who share their produce, time and family recipes.  Most of them are growers or winemakers and everyone brings out special bottles of their most prized wines to share.  Steve Dutton of Dutton Ranch and Dutton-Goldfield Winery is in charge of the NY Strip station- he provides the meat and his popular Dutton Family recipe.  Dutton Ranch also donates the organic Gravenstin apples for Pam Martinelli’s, of Martinelli Winery, famous Gravenstein apple pies (the Gravenstein is what the RRV is known for.  We’ve all grown them for generations and they’re just delicious).  Armand Azevedo, a prominent local grower, heads up the rest of the grill stations.   One change that we are making this year is a commitment to locally grown meat.  The pulled pork is coming from Gleason Ranch (theirs is a really great story of a family who is working to save the family farm and stay in agriculture), the grilled chicken is coming from Fulton Valley Farms and the beef is locally raised.  Another great change is that Mateo Granados (I could go on and on about him and his incredible farm-fresh Yucatan Cooking and secret restaurants…) is going to prepare all of the salads and side dishes for us.  He’s making a Yucatan-style bread salad and a bean and squash salad with a Meyer Lemon vinaigrette, which will be served family-style alongside a melon salad and some incredible sauces – Romesco and Roasted Tomato.  I’ve been in charge of sourcing the incredible list of produce that Mateo needs.  

Here’s the list of the organic produce we’re sourcing from our astounding neighbors:

200 pounds of heirloom tomatoes from Kelley Parsons

60 pounds of Romano Beans, 40 pounds of summer squash and 5 pounds of basil from Tierra Vegetables

20 pounds each of cucumbers, squash, carrots and beets from Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm (it’s my kids school and is probably the coolest school in the world.  Check it out)

10 pounds of red torpedo onions, cherry tomatoes, strawberries and herbs from Quivira Winery

50 pounds of eggplant and 20 pounds of beans from MIX Garden (Mick farms for Farmhouse, and some of this is coming off our ranch)

100 pounds of assorted melons from Love Farms

Artisan olive oil and pomegranate vinegar from The Dry Creek Olive Company

Doesn’t that just make you want to jump up and come out for the weekend?  Farmhouse is full (sorry).  But there are still tickets available for the event click here for a link to purchase tickets and find participating lodging.

Spring arrives with the Swainsons thrushes .  Their haunting flute-like calls serenade us in those cool evenings.  Spring means counting and identifying our new fawns, scores of mama quails followed by their scurrying chicks, baby rabbits everywhere and incredibly darling raccoon cubs (it’s so hard not to adore them, even knowing how truly awful they’re going to be in  a month or so).

Look at that little monster. He doesn't even care that I'm two feet away...

Last night, while we were sitting out on the porch, enjoying a glass of Scherrer rose, an all-time, summer-time  favorite- Late Summer arrived.  With a vengeance.  As the sun set, and the nest of Great Horned owls, up in the old pine above the vineyard, woke up, and the warmth of the day shifted abruptly to the cool of the evening, the summer chorus of cicadas and tree frogs started.  Just like that.  I know it doesn’t sound that exciting- but you really had to be there.    Out of nowhere, this cacophony of sound erupted from the creek and voila!  Summer’s here.

You know what makes it so exciting, right?  Blackberries.  Tomatoes.  Gravenstein apples.  Melons.  Corn.  Shell beans…. On and on.  When the cicadas and tree frogs come, so does our summer bounty.  The first berries are ripening as we speak.  The vines are heavy with our summer harvest and  we are ready!

Here they come...

Pooh and I have a lot in common.  More than I’ll actually get into here.  A whole lot of what passes as important, I can take or leave.  But honey, now that’s serious. 

Spring Honey, 2009

When I moved back onto the Ranch in 1997, the place was an absolute disaster.  Being an Italian family, feuds are in our blood.  We can’t seem to help it.  So, when  my great-grandmother died back in ‘78, the family couldn’t come to grips with what to do with the place.  She was the absolute glue that held everything together, and she was something really special (the memory of her and how she and my great-grandfather lived really does drive our vision for Farmhouse).  Well, when you can’t figure out what to do, and you’re a certain kind of Italian family, what do you do?  Talk about things, clear the air and come to a resolution?  Nope, you fall back on that old saying,  ”If you can’t stand the heat…” and you get the heck out of the kitchen and don’t look back. 

Until some little pain-in-the-neck in some future generation grows up and just won’t leave it alone.  That would be me.  Well, I mean really… You have this amazingly gorgeous property, in an absolutely heavenly location, with all of your family history just rotting away.  Wouldn’t you take on the elders and have a go at getting it kick started again?  Boy, did I not know what I was getting into…

But, here we are, 12 years later.  Talking about honey.  After we took care of some of the “bigger issues”, you know propped up the house, replanted the vineyard and dug out about one hundred million poison oak and blackberry plants, we started thinking, what next? 

Not being inclined towards farming ourselves- Rod and I love living on a working farm, participating and, well, reaping all of the benefis…but don’t have the time or actual inclination to do all the never-ending work associated with each individual endeavor- we started looking around for people in our community who are farmers without farmland.  And lo and behold, we’ve met an incredible, number of passionate, talented people who share our vision. 

One of the first brave participants in our little scheme came our way via some friends who have a gem of a  farm, right up the road.  Mark and Rob have a few acres, a lot of gophers and a great vision.  They have enough olive trees to make a little olive oil, enough grapes for a little wine and enough bees for … You get the picture.  When Rob brought me a jar of honey, I couldn’t believe it.  My oh so fastidious friend, out there in the full garb, with a little smoker, convincing a hive of angry bees to just “give it up”? 

Turns out they were just reaping the benefit of someone elses bravery.  He’d heard of a local bee keeper who was searching out prime locations to place bees.  Can you imagine?  How incredibly cool!  He brings the bees, cares for the bees, extracts the honey and then gives you some??  So my trees, vegetables and flowers get polinated, I don’t have to do any work and then I get honey from my own property?  We’ll you guessed it, I called them up that same afternoon.

Doug and Katia Vincent own a local business called Beekind.   And, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVaYD3e9KOA- here’s a video of them on YouTube.  They really are “all things bee”.  They have hives all over Sonoma County, sell honey, sell candles, teach bee keeping, specialze in dealing with swarms and are huge advocates and proponents for bees in general. 

Doug Vincent, see his funny hat?

It was through them that we first learned about the incredible and potentially catastrophic decline in world-wide bee populations.  (If you haven’t heard and would like to, helpthehoneybees.com is a great place to start).  We also learned the difference between commercial, heat pasteurized honey and real honey- the raw stuff that’s full of enzymes and not only tastes a thousand times better, but has medicinal and healing properties. 

The bees, like every other endeavor on the Ranch, have taught us so much and have opened our eyes to how perfectly interconnected our world really is.  Our kids are learning that the bees polinate the garden that grows our vegetables, the vineyard that produces the wine that makes Mom and Dad so happy… and the orchards that give us cider and applesauce and pie!  And then, at the end of each season, Doug comes out and puts on his funny outfit and gives them honey still in the comb and warm from the sun.  Not a bad scenario.

Doug just delivered our Late Spring Honey.  We don’t have a ton of it, but it’s unlike any honey we’ve produced yet.  Doug says that the late rains and the additional growth that came with them, account for the delightful cinnamon character in the honey.  Our spring honey is usualy lighter and more butterscotchy.  This one is really deep with great acidity- kind of like wine. 

We have some for sale, and we’re serving it at breakfast and in the restaurant.  So if you come and visit, you’ll surely see some.  We’ve taken a page out of Pooh’s book.  The honey pot doesn’t stay empty for long!

It’s been a terriffic adventure.  We got our first eggs on Christmas Day.  I was out behind the woodshed with Helen and Rocco (my kids) and looked down and saw an indention in the soil, right up against the building, and full of eggs!  We counted twenty four of them total.  We don’t knwo when they actually started laying- but we did appreciate Christmas surprise.  It had been cold enough that they were all still fresh and we made an incredible scramble for the whole family.

One year later, we have four of our original flock left.  We lost three in the usual ways, and have seriously evolved our chicken strategies to cope with our special selection of predators.  Out on the ranch, we have foxes, racoons, hawks, bobcats, you name it.  And they all like chicken!

Yesterday, we took a deep breath again and went down and picked up six new babies.  We’re watching Joe’s two-month-old chickens while they’re on vacation and thought if we’re babysitting his, let’s add some for ourselves. 

Our baby chicks on the left and Joe's on the right.

This year we’re a little more concerned with egg production and so went with two Pearl-White Leghorns (they’re supposedly not so nice, but great layers), they’re a lovely lemon-yellow baby, two Barred Rocks (again, super layers), one Americana (green eggs) and one Rhode Island Red (we still have one from last year and we like pairs). 

Helen, our 4-year-old, has fallen in love with the Americana and has named her Chocolate.  Poor Chocolate.  Being the beloved of a four-year-old girl isn’t always easy… And Rocco, our two-year-old son, is simply fascinated.

Rod constructed a new “baby coop” out of half pallets that had piled up in the wood shed, and so they are all happily housed on the back porch.  The Chicken Guy at Western Farms told me that two-month-olds and babies will be “perfectly happy” together.  Wrong.  So we employed an out of service baby gate to separate the two sections and everyone is happy!

Rocco and his "babychikins"

Helen and Chocolate

If you’re considering chickens of your own, they really are easy, they live happily in back yards, they don’t stink, and as my Grandmother said, “What’s not to love about chickens?  I feed them my scraps and they feed both my family and my garden”.