Introducing Spritzer

You might remember that in our July e-newsletter we announced the first-ever Name My Tractor Contest. We needed a name for my mother's new little tractor, which she got when my father decided she needed one more her size.


We had some great suggestions, including Tilly, Sol, Poco Rojo, and Big Red. But the winning name, submitted by Felicia, is Spritzer. Felicia wins a bottle of Canelo Hills wine. Next time you're visiting the tasting room, you can see how Spritzer compares to the old blue tractor. Which makes me think, maybe the old blue tractor needs a name too...

More barrel tasting photos

As promised yesterday, here are a few photos from our earlier barrel tasting on July 24. It was a great evening of wine, too.

Across the tasting room, guests taste and discuss our '09 reds

Right now we have a LOT of different tasty wines in the barrels

Tim uses a winemaker's tool, the wine thief, to extract wine from the barrels

Winemaker Tim shares his assessment of one of the new wines

Beautiful Sonoita skies over the vineyard as the evening comes to a close

Too bad we have to wait another year for our summer barrel tastings to return. If you missed them this year, be on the lookout for announcements next spring about our July and August 2011 (yes, 2011) barrel tasting evenings. We even have some new ideas for next year!

A Great Run - the Great AZ Grape Stomp

Saturday morning was the first 5K race in the Great Arizona Grape Stomp, a series of 4 races in Arizona Wine Country sponsored by the AWGA. It was a beautiful Sonoita morning and a fun, well-planned event full of good spirits. My father beat his predicted running time by 10 minutes, and my mother, Charlie, and I, well...we got in walking under an hour!

The Canelo Hill Raisers: (L-R) Joan, Tim, Kathryn, David, Staci, Sharon, Kevin, Jayson and Fran

We had an awesome team of Canelo Hill Raisers for the race. Old friends Linda, David, Staci, Sharon & Kevin ran and walked with us, and we met Fran and Jayson for the first time and were glad to have them on our team. The team hung out at the winery post-race for muffins and mimosas made with my father's Sparkling Nebbiolo Rosé, a well-deserved treat.

After the race, Todd Bostock of Dos Cabezas WineWorks came over - we were in competition for the best team time. Without even seeing the official race results, he and my father conceded to each other (is that possible?). A bottle of bubbly was at stake, so everyone won.

More photos from race day are below. We're looking forward to next year! And encourage you to register for one of the 3 races still left in this year's Great AZ Grape Stomp.

Todd, Kelly, and Griffin Bostock of Dos Cabezas before the race

Our teammate Linda Wood of Square Top Ranch Alpacas and Joan chat while walking

Canelo Hill Raisers Kevin and Sharon, who seriously improved our team time

Kelly Bostock and the AWGA's Executive Director Rhonni Moffitt

The race stretches long down Elgin Road on a beautiful summer morning

Dogs and wine go well together

We Muellers love dogs as much as we love wine, so why not bring them together for an afternoon and encourage visitors to bring their dogs to Canelo Hills?

We did just that last Saturday for our Dog-Friendly Vineyard Party. The Santa Cruz Humane Society was there with a bunch of friendly dogs available for adoption, and George Rosberg of Digital Muzzle Photography took some beautiful photographs of people and their dogs.

Dogs romped, people tasted our wines, everyone came on a vineyard & winery tour, and we even had a dog contest with winners in categories such as Hairiest Dog, Prettiest Eyes, and Longest Tail (had to get out the measuring tape for that one).

I couldn't have pulled off the event without Karla helping to manage the happy chaos, and Fred running the tasting table with the help of Desiree, Jana, and Donn. Thanks, all!

We'll just have to do it again next year...

Summer Storms

We had a fierce storm Saturday night that dumped .75" of rain. By the looks of some of the grape clusters it also dropped hail. As a grape farmer I shouldn't like the storms but I still marvel at the energy and the beauty.

Keri Jelks- Wine and Farm Festival Artist

Keri Jelks has been a rancher and active community member of Sonoita for over 30 Years. Keri enjoys painting in her studio and in nature where the wind, air and birds surround her. Having received her degree in creative writing Keri also loves to write.

A returning artist to Canelo Hills Vineyard and Winery 's Wine and Farm Festival, Keri will be selling her simply delicious cookbook, "Yum-Yum," which is chock full of her best recipes as well as her exquisite paintings. She will also have Giclee prints of her animal paintings, note cards portraying landscapes and animals, and an item hot off the press, her unique birthday calendar featuring domestic and wild animals.

It's Pruning Time!

Tim and I are back in the vineyard. The winter pruning has begun. It feels good. As I work up and down the rows trying to pick the spurs that will produce the best fruit for the 2008 harvest I get very excited with visions of beautiful green shoots and big, thick clusters of grapes. I can't wait for the earth to warm up and the vines to start their swelling. This is the most hopeful time of year, before nature reminds me that she is the one who will be in control of the outcome of this year's harvest. Still, I can't wait!

Certificate of Appreciation

Last Saturday we were visited by Steve Fletcher and Donna Boe from the Sierra Vista Natural Foods Cooperative. They presented us with a certificate of appreciation for having donated wine for their gourmet wine dinner that was held at Casa Adobe restaurant to raise money for their cause. Tim and I are supporters of sustainable and local products and wish the organization great luck in their adventure. Also, much thanks to customers Tom and Marylin Garcia for taking this wonderful picture.

Help!

This past week-end my two usual tasting room partners, Tim and Kathryn, were not available. Friday I managed until the end of the day when the tasting room was busy and a case of wine needed to go out the door. In walked our friends, Ann and Ron, fellow grape growers, who were more than willing to help out. Saturday Nathan, who has been a volunteer since the second season of planting, again came through and worked the tasting room. Actually, he is so good I went and sat down for a while! Once again, I am thankful for all the wonderful folks I know.

The grapes are harvested!

Whew! The past week has been a busy one. Tim and I had planned to spend the week-end labeling our wine and getting the building ready for our Sept 22 Grand Opening. Then Tropical Storm Henriette threatened both our vineyard in Sonoita and our grape suppliers' vineyards in Willcox. We all made a quick decision to get most of the grapes off the vines. So, Tim and I had several long days, from before sunrise to after sunset, picking, destemming and crushing. The winery now smells of fermenting grapes but Tim will write more about that as he is the wine maker. As the farmer in the family, it is a good feeling to have the grapes in bins. Now I can get back to preparing for the opening.

Vineyard Workers

As I walked up the vineyard rows Saturday to take pictures of the sun setting I noticed this spider busily at work building its web. That made me reflect on all the living critters at work in the vineyard and made me once again appreciate how complicated nature is and how interdependent we all are on each other.

One Month Until Opening!

Our Grand Opening is in one month and we are busy getting ready. All the wine Tim made last fall, the Syrah, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Malvasia, Cabernet Sauvignon and the Riesling is in bottles and will be available for tasting. The labels are in and the glasses have been delivered (actually, they are sitting next door on Callaghan's porch until Tim and I can get over there to fetch them). Last week-end Ian and Rhain visited from New York City and consulted on designing the tasting area. Tim and I are working on that. Kathryn and I are planning a fun event starting with a blog scavenger hunt. The first item to find will appear on our web site soon. So check back in the next day or two to start collecting the answers.

Farm dogs

I can't say our dogs are the hardest working of vineyard dogs but they sure are the most adorable, don't you agree? Lisa, next door at Callaghan's and Sarah, up the road a piece at Rancho Rossa may disagree but I'm going to stick my neck out here a little and claim that little Emma and ol' Cassie are the most adorable vineyard dogs this side of the Canelos!

Vineyard Work

What goes on in the vineyard in the early summer? Lots! Grape vines are not creepers. They start running up and along the wires much faster than workers can keep up! This picture shows Kathryn selecting one shoot to tie up on the bamboo pole. The vines are our second year Cabernet Sauvignon. They will be trained up the pole and along the wire. Unfortunately, second year grapes are too young to crop. We will have to wait until next year to make Cab. wine. Patience in a virtue for grape growers. I am learning.

Wine and Farm Festival, April28

I had a hard time working in the vineyard yesterday. There were many phone calls interrupting me. A reporter from Mesa called to interview me for an article, people called for information about the festival, and vendors called and e-mailed about the set-up. The festival is only one and one half weeks away! Everything is falling into place. Now I am wondering if we can count on the weather. That wind has been blowing hard these days!