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Home / Blog / Archive by category 'Friends of the Vineyard'
Category Archives: Friends of the Vineyard
 Here at the estate winery, we have planted our 11 acres to Rhone varietals – Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, and Viognier. This decision was richly researched. Winemaker Greg Stach knew our vineyard needed to be replanted. He was considering replant ingto Rhone varietals since our climate and geography is very similar to that region in France. Then in spring 2006, he took a research trip to the Rhone region in France. This trip sealed the deal. He loved the Grenche, Syrah, Mourvedre, and Viognier and knew it was a great fit with our terroir. We started the replanting of our estate chardonnay shortly thereafter.
 Greg chose to partner with the Nursery at Tablas Creek Vineyard. They import cuttings of Rhone varietals from the well-known Chateau Beaucastel. Landmark purchased both the rootstock and budwood from Tablas Creek. At the estate, we planted the rootstock in the spring of 2007. Once … Read more »
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After a another cool, wet spring we worried that 2011 might be another tough vintage. Then about 3 weeks ago the temperature began to rise and the vines right along with it. We have seen significant growth this June, roughly 2 feet every 2 weeks. The estate vineyard looks healthy and primed for a banner year. Today I spent some time walking the rows, and wanted to share the experience with you. Hope you enjoy, and have a great Forth of July Weekend!
Cheers,
Mike Colhoun, Proprietor
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Bud Break
On March 15th the sheep left our vineyard after a month of hard work. One more week would’ve been ideal, but the vines were beginning to swell. Three days later the buds began to break. First to break was Grenache, followed by Syrah. The Counoise and Viognier were roughly 10 days behind. The last to break was Mourvedre which just started this week.
Bud Break ushers in a new growing season, and the start of frost watch. Vines in their dormant stage can withstand fairly low temperatures. However, once the vines show signs of life we must be protect them from sub-35 degree weather. Freezing temps are common in the Spring, typically occuring between 5-7am. When our vineyard weather station sounds the alarm, our cellar master rolls out of bed and activates the sprinkler system.
Pruning
This year we changed our pruning technique to a form of Cane … Read more »
| In 2007 we started a new exclusive society – Friends of the Vineyard. The society is centered around our newly replanted estate vineyard. When the estate vineyard began suffering from phylloxera, we were presented with an opportunity to make a change. After a few years of careful thought, planning, and research, we decided to replant the estate chardonnay to Rhône varietals. Our Winemaker Eric Stern and Associate Winemaker Greg Stach traveled to the Rhône Valley to learn more about this region’s wines and viticulture. They found that the area surrounding Châteauneuf-du-Pape shares a similar climate to Kenwood. This trip sealed the fate of the estate vineyard.Our estate vineyard has been planted to 65% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 13% Mourvèdre, 5% Counoise, and about 2% Viognier, just for a little added spice. These vines were sourced from Château de Beaucastel via Tablas Creek, a joint venture between wine importer Robert Haas and |
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