Friday, April 26, 2013

California Part 4: Tablas Creek Vineyard

This is my family's Vineyard in Paso Robles.  It is an incredible place, and every time I go there I am more and more awed by the scope and style of the project, the amazing integrity behind the farming and winemaking, and just the sheer beauty of the place.  The photos above and directly below are of the new additional property that was just purchased, which is yet to be planted with vines.  It's a great place to try to launch rocks into space (if you're 3).





















These photos were taken a few weeks ago, and I'm sure the vineyard is looking quite different now.  When we were there the vines were just starting to come out of their winter dormancy. In the vineyard they were in the beginning stages of mowing the spring cover crop, so you'll notice that some of the rows have been mowed, and some not.

We are moving towards biodynamic farming, part of which is creating a diverse ecosystem within the vineyard.  These little cuties below are helping out with that, as well as helping to disperse natural fertilizer around the vineyard as they help keep down the greenery between the vines.












































This donkey's name is Fiona, and she's a guard donkey.  She and her other donkey friend keep coyotes and other predators away from the sheep and alpacas.  They are in a little enclosure that gets moved around regularly once they have munched down all of their fodder, and before they start munching on vines.















































I have really only glossed over the tip of the iceberg of interesting things about Tablas Creek, so please click here if you want to go deeper I was just out wandering through the vines and couldn't resist taking photos of the amazing scenery.  And if vineyards and winemaking interest you in general, check out my brother's award winning blog (#shamelessfamilybragging). It is a great place to frequent for regular thought provoking and informative wine related articles spanning such topics as details of viticulture, wine business and policy, tasting notes, and many other subjects that effect daily life on a vineyard.

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