I want to tell you two very exciting things that happen during spring. The first is bud-break. For me bud break represents birth, life, youth, energy and beauty. At this time each vine starts growing and expressing itself through the shape and the color of its leaves and later on the fruit. Just like a human being, the vines communicate with you showing when they struggle, when they are healthy or when they are sick.

The second thing that happens in spring is my little yeast cells start waking up. When spring arrives and the global environment becomes friendly enough for them to start working again, they finish fermenting all the sugars that they had left when they went into hibernation at winter.  This has always has been quite an interesting subject for me because if realize that nature follows its own cycle and if you understand it, and measure it you will be able to maximize a potential that is much greater than mine. This is of course the potential of nature. This is my reasoning for naturally fermenting wines.

The older I get, the more I realize the team effort required to create, fashion and design a wine that reflects your passion.  It starts in the vineyard with all of the workers pruning, suckering, leafing and harvesting. It continues with the cellar workers putting in their hard work and sweat. It then finishes, of course, with blending and bottling. In my opinion, every single operation is key to make quality wine. When you are surrounded by the right people who understand your philosophy and work with respect to art, it makes the difference between producing a good wine and a great wine. To make a difference in the quality of wine you must be precise; therefore, you have a better chance of being successful. Of course there are always factors that you can not control, so that is why it is so important that the entire staff of a winery (from the cellar worker to the president) drive in a healthy and happy environment towards a common goal.

Quite tired from these long months of harvest, I had to go on Atlas Peak to see some potential vineyards for both Syrah and Petit Syrah for next year.  Arriving there, on a crisp and sunny day in December, I saw hundreds of acres of land with very few human touches. There was nothing in sight but vineyards and a couple of houses.  I started admiring the beauty of the place, and asked myself what is the role of a man like me and the influence on something so much bigger called nature? Usually man wants to leave behind memories, traces and legacies. Looking at this sheer beauty made me understand that the only thing I am concerned about leaving behind is beautiful wines that express the beauty of this untouched land.

There has been a lot of talk about this next blog… maybe too much talk.  This blog is not a rebel blog. This blog is AO bloody AO… I can’t believe the news today, Harvest has finally gone away.  Enough U2, back to reality.  It is not time for vacation yet, we still have to make the wine and ensure that it reflects our heart, passion and philosophy.

There were two things that truly struck me this past week.  The first, of course, was seeing the last grapes of our 2007 Harvest.  The second was the fact that the duckies needed to be fed (because their foster parents were out of town), and for the first time ever their Mother did not run to do it, but instead decided to work and feed them the next day.  To me, this was a sign that Chelsea finally let go of her little children, like a Mother watching her children go off to college.

For the last two months I had to comfort Chelsea, make her laugh and cheer her up everyday, because her babies were elsewhere.  Three weeks ago when she was told that the ducks could come back, her face lit up like a child in front of a Christmas tree.  Since then, with all of the different construction delays, my job has become much harder since she is crying even harder, trying to fill the pond with her tears.

5 Duckies, $15

1 Brand new pond, $20,000

Chelsea as their mother…Priceless

It is interesting to see different personalities by the answers they give you to a very simple question.  What should we name our Flagship red wine?  You always have the clown that is trying to find the names with humor (which are really never funny). You always have the pervert, who is sexually oriented and picks a name about sex, sensuality, and interaction.  You have the philosopher that gives you names so complicated that 90% of people would not understand it.  You have the neat freak who finds a name based on her phobias, fears, and neurosis.  You have the baseball player that talks about strikes, homeruns and Babe Ruth. You have the Wine Freak that is trying to find any name close to famous wines around the world.  And last but not least, you have the blonde that just has a blank look on her face.

But who am I to make fun of all these people, since I have no idea... Feel free to submit ideas and names.

When a little guy (me) faces some of the biggest challenges in his life, in three days, he must have a good sense of humor, a lot of sleep and good wines…

In three days, we started harvest on Wednesday by bringing in our Sauvignon Blanc, Thursday consisted of consentrating all of my senses for 5 hours under the scrutiny of the world’s most renown wine consultant Michel Rolland.  This was followed by 20 hours in a hospital while, granted I wasn’t pushing, but my wife was in order to give birth to our second son Alexandre...while I was coordinating more harvesting on my Blackberry.

Sounds like fun doesn't it?

Sorry for that big interruption… obviously my brain shut down during construction.   Construction is still going on, but my brain had to wake up because… guess what, Harvest started today.  You can not imagine how much easier life will be this year, since we will not have to perform a circus act hanging from the ceilings of our cellar to do punch downs. 

Our Sauvignon Blanc are the first grapes to come in for 2007 Harvest, today on the 22^nd.  They came in at 24.6 Brix, at 1.6 tons to the acre (the previous owner had and average of about 5.5 tons to the acre).  This put Robin, one of the owners, into a cold sweat.  You should have seen the look he gave me… 

   Let me tell you a little story of how I became Alpha Omega’s Mother Goose.  One beautiful day, Jean and Robin were sitting outside on the deck admiring our single duck.  In that moment they decided P.D. might be getting lonesome, so he needed friends.  A second later I heard the familiar sound of, “Chelsea,” screamed from Jean’s mouth.  He informed me of their great idea, and told me to take care of it.  I was a bit nervous about the intentions because of a European’s love for Duck Confit and Foie Gras.  So I said yes, but once I name them, there will be no eating them.

  Quite a bit of research was put into this decision.  We found a type of duck that does not fly, that looks similar to P.D. We then realized that the only way to get the ducklings was in groups of ten, because they must keep each other warm on their journey through snail mail.  I got all the supplies and knew they would stay their first weeks in my bathtub to keep them warm.

  All of the preparations were made, and then the one day old ducklings arrived.  We picked them up at the post office in a box with holes. They spent a bit of time at the winery before I took them home.  It only took a day to realize why ducks normally live outside; ducks are messy and need a lot of room.  It is amazing to see such small animals make such a big mess.

  I must say this has been a very fun experience. It has been fun to watch the little ducklings grow.  They are now just under two weeks old, and they have grown at an amazing rate and have developed into some really cute and funny characters.  I am still working on naming them, but I must say, they all look the same to me.  But don’t worry, the day I bring them to the winery, (even if their names change daily), all ten ducks will have a name.

By: Chelsea Bellows a.k.a. Mother Goose