More Snow Photos

We had fun yesterday driving around watching the snow squalls in the distance while Tim took photos of the snow.  Of course, by the end of the day there was very little snow left.  That is just about as perfect as a snow storm can get!

White Magic

The storm blew in last night - fearsome wind, cold air, driving snow and ice against the windows, but this morning we woke up to a spectacular scene and I just can't resist sharing some of the images. This sort of winter storm is ok for the vines - a little moisture, not brutally cold, but not the sort of weather that get's Joan out pruning. That'll have to wait until it warms up to the 70's later this week.

New Sprout

Amber and Casey Polivchak are regulars - tasters, visitors, bottlers, friends. A little less then a year ago when bottling the 2008 Sangiovese, Amber was conspicuously not sampling the wine. "Pregnant," she announced. These photos of 3 week old Lucy mark her first big outing and her first introduction to Canelo Hills. She feigned interest, but I sure she had her mind on other beverages and important pursuits. She is a cutie. Joan and I look forward to many more of her visits.

Happy Valentine Day!

 We had a special event Saturday evening to celebrate Valentine Day at Canelo Hills.  Kathryn gave
a concert of love songs with Brian O'Morrow on keyboard. 

 

 Kathryn's fiancee, Nathan Leaf, flew in from North Carolina to join her in the encore.


I saw lots of smiles and some tears in the audience.  People enjoyed the wine tasting and chocolate.

Hopefully, we can make this an annual event at Canelo Hills.

Colder than a . . . . .

This past week of single digit temperatures wrecked havoc in our part of the world. Water froze and busted pipes all over town. We lost water at the vineyard, winery and the house. On Friday Joan had the wisdom to realize there was not only a problem with frozen pipes, in terms of keeping us from opening due to no water, but there was also a problem when the ice melted and the fractured pipes started gushing. As she drove up to the winery, a stream was beginning to flow down the drive. Water poured out of the well house. Opening the door revealed an indoor swimming pool with a geyser roaring out of the un-impeded well head.






As she dashed into the spewing mess and waded through the water in an attempt to shut the water off, she became drenched in 40 degree water, only slightly warmer then the outside temperature. Wayne Tomasi came to the rescue and helped turn off the power and close the relevant valves. Soaked Joan? - well not a pretty picture:





Repairs will be accomplished by the weekend and we'll be open for business.