Looking back 5 years: Joan's story

Grand Opening day, 2007

Sept. 22, 2012 will be five years to the day that I first stood behind the tasting counter eagerly awaiting our first customers. I can still see the first vintage of our Estate Syrah at the end of the lineup. My first grape babies, from the grape vines I nurtured for three years, were in those bottles. I knew people would appreciate the great wine Tim made from those grapes. But when I looked at the bottles of that wine I saw so much more.

Emma helping, first planting day, 2003

It all started many years before. We purchased the land in 2001, began the infrastructure work in 2003 and started growing the grapes in 2004. The challenges for me were many, from learning how to grow grapes to setting up an agribusiness to trying to squeeze one more productive hour out of a day. There were many days of exhaustion, sore muscles and what sometimes seemed like too many problems to solve.

The rewards have far outweighed the challenges. This has been a family endeavor. My children, Kathryn and Ian, and my daughter-in-law, Rhian, have all given generously of their time and talents.  Sharing in this with them has been priceless. When I walk the vineyard or look around the tasting room, I am filled with a boundless pride. We all built this together.

Some of our friends and frequent bottlers:
Nikole, Matt, Mike and Steph (and Ella,
who was adopted at Canelo Hills)

Many other people have been part of our success. The other AZ grape growers and our friends have all helped out. One of the best things that came from the tasting room has been meeting so many wonderful people, many of whom over the past five years have become good friends, volunteering their time to help.

When you come in the weekend of Sept. 22-23 to join in our celebration, I will behind the same tasting counter. When I am filling your glass I will be pouring all the love and experiences of the last five years along with our wine.

COSTO - March 19 & 20

Canelo Hills Vineyard and Winery will be featured at COSTCO this Friday and Saturday. COSTCO has a wine program that periodically features local small production wineries as a way to interest their customers and highlight local products. "A Road Show" is what they call it. Shannon Reed from COSTCO wholesale in San Diego had done her homework by searching web sites, commented on the quality of ours (Thank you Kathryn) and was especially drawn to our mission to make wine from 100% Arizona grown grapes. Off I sent some wine samples and the wine tasters/buyers settled on the 2008 Chardonnay and 2008 Sunrise. This coming Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20, I will be at the COSTCO in Tucson on Grant Avenue, talking about my wines to the wine crowd who will hopefully take some home. I think these two wines are especially good with Spring meals and Easter dinner in particular. If you are a member come on down between 11-4, say hi, and pick up some Canelo Hills Wine.

The Last Quiz of 2009!

Here's your last chance to win a free tasting coupon in 2009. Who knows, maybe next year we'll change the rules so start guessing what this is a photo of. The correct guesses will all go into a hat and a winner drawn. Maybe we'll even select two winners as an end of year treat!

The word is spreading

A few weeks ago Terry Tang, a reporter from the Associated Press Bureau in Phoenix, made a trip to Soniota as background for her article on Arizona Wine. Although the article mentioned the northern Arizona wine scene, it really primarily featured the Sonoita/Elgin area. We got a nice mention. The last time I googled, the article had been picked up and published in print and internet based media all over North America. Check it out. Do a google (or your favorite search engine) search containing the following words: Terry Tang Canelo Hills Winery. It's a gas to watch the story spread. Have fun!!

Valentine Day Week-End

We had a great time this past week-end celebrating Valentine's Day in our tasting room. Many people came with their valentines.

Our dogs were very excited to meet Baby Allie.




Cherie and Jamie brought their whole family.












Cherie even went home with a beautiful valentine basket!








I am already anticipating next year's celebration.

New at Canelo Hills Vineyard and Winery!

Debra Fink, a Sonoita resident, has designed a full line of wine gift baskets for our tasting room. Love is in the air for the month of February. Stop by any week-end in February to purchase a basket for your Valentine. A Debra wine basket will warm the cockles of any loved one's heart! Come see for yourself!

Latest Winning Haiku!

Tony from Jamul, Ca wrote this winning haiku.

Sweet lips dance profound
Singing spirit leaps abound
My head swims at night.

Thanks, Tony! And, thanks to all of you who have contributed to our Haiku wall!

What's a Farmer To Do?

I have a few more weeks left before I go back into the vineyard to start the winter pruning. Tim does the wine-making, Kathryn does the marketing. So, what am I supposed to write in the blog when I have no farming to report? Nothing. I'll just post pictures from the past couple of months. The first is Tim pitching the grapes into the crusher/destemmer. The second is of the juice collecting in the tray after being squeezed by the press. I love watching the running juice and listening to it splashing into the tray. It seems like magic to me even though I know there was lots of work that went on before this. After all, it is the end result of my grape farming.
Oops! I guess I did find something to write about!

What Can I Say?

Tim challenged me to put this picture of Emma and me getting ready to take a walk over to visit Lisa Callaghan. I could say Emma is just there for the weight bearing part of my exercise routine. But, what the heck. This is what one becomes after the children leave home. Emma and I both enjoy it. And Lisa never laughs at us. At least not to our faces!

The Coyote Saga Continued

So, here's the deal. I patched the hole under the fence at the back of the vineyard while Tim closed the space under the gate. The coyote had been coming in the back, exiting out the front. Simple. So we thought. However, the very next day as I drove up to open the gate I noticed fresh coyote scat and some clawing under the gate. It looked like the coyote was able to get in but did not manage to dig under the gate to get back out. So, I went back to check on my patch job. These pictures show what happened. That darn coyote was able to dig the dirt and somehow move the large rocks I had put in the hole out of the way, clear on the other side of the fence!

I'll put up some pictures tomorrow on how Tim thinks he solved the problem once and for all.

We're Bottling!

The last couple of weeks have been busy for us. We are bottling the 2007 wines and crushing this year's harvest. We've had some return volunteers and some new ones helping. A couple of weeks ago Karla, Alicia, Mark and, of course, our daughter, Kathryn, bottled the Syrah. This past Sunday Casey and Amber Polivchak spent one of their rare days off bottling the Sangiovese. We finished that bottling early so they also labeled some Malvasia. Tim and I feel very fortunate to have so many wonderful people involved in the workings of our winery.

As I Wander

Here are some pictures I took while looking for the coyote trail in the vineyard. I marvel at the intricate beauty of nature. I must admit it's a little creepy to stick my hand on a spider web when opening and closing the gate. But the webs and spiders and the grouping of them are amazing. l have yet to find any manmade artwork more beautiful than Mother Nature's.

Coyote Tracking

I went on a successful hunting expedition yesterday. As I walked along the fence I found many trails through the field fence but by the size of them they could only have been used by small rodents, rabbits and quail. Then I came upon a larger trail that lead to a rather large hole dug under the fence! I'm pretty sure this is the hole Kent Callaghan had filled in a couple of weeks ago. This time I put several large boulders in the hole before filling it in with dirt. We'll see how long it keeps the coyotes out this time. We only need a few more weeks until the grapes come off the vines.


While walking the property I got distracted many times to take pictures of little creatures and flowers. I will post some of those tomorrow.

Monsoon Skies

I love watching the skies during the summer rainy season. As it appears to be winding down, I thought I'd share some photos of this season's cloudy skies with you.

Race Against Time

August is the time of year when the realities of farming challenge the Spring optimism. Now when I walk the rows of vines I can see the stresses on the vines; bird damage, wind damage, hail damage, and this damage. Something is stripping the lower grapes off my beautiful Syrah clusters! When I started out yesterday morning I wondered if it was raven or coyote damage. I've watched the ravens hopping up and down tearing at the clusters. They are quite comical to watch. However, I saw much more damage than a whole flock of ravens could have caused the further I walked along. Then I ran into, or rather, almost stepped on the evidence of what was eating the grapes. You'll have to read my next blog to see. I have to warn you, though, it is not for the faint of heart.