Sign in Subscribe

Topic

Pretty Pictures

A collection of 349 posts

The Greening of the Vineyard

Our rain is coming, later than we'd expected it, but no less welcome. This past weekend's storm dumped about 2 inches on the vineyard, and although we're still behind our typical winter's pace, the cover crops are vibrantly green, the creeks are

Winter Rain in Paso Robles

This winter, so far, has been cold and dry. We've had three consecutive weeks (ending this weekend) where temperatures dropped into the mid-20s or colder, including several nights down around 10. This is no problem for the vineyard, which benefits from being forced into total dormancy. But,

Paso Robles Weather Musings

Today, as I was driving in to work (I live in town) I started thinking about how poorly understood the Paso Robles climate (and the diversity within the climate) is. This lack of understanding, shared by writers, growers, and the general public alike, results in a generalization of Paso Robles

Pressing Off Mourvedre

As we bring the grapes from the last few sections of the vineyard into the cellar, we make space in our tanks by pressing off some lots that were more precocious. With the beautiful weather we've been having, this sometimes makes for some nice scenes. The shot below

Autumn at Tablas Creek

Well, fall is here. We're into a cycle of weather where we come near a frost at night (we've actually dropped below freezing a couple of times) and then rise up into the 70s and 80s during the day. It's Paso Robles at its

A great shot of ripening Mourvedre

You think these grapes aren't sweet? Yellowjackets and honeybees have a feast on ripe grapes as harvest approaches (Mourvedre in this photo). Thanks to Chandler Smiley for the picture.

Cover Crops in the Vineyard

Each winter, we plant our vineyard with a cover crop. This mix of peas, oats and vetch keeps erosion to a minimum, provides a habitat for beneficial insects, and contributes nutrients to the organic vineyard. In the winter, this cover crop is mostly green, dominated by the oats and vetch.

Snow in Paso Robles!

Update 2/9/2009: We have had our next snow (3 years, almost to the day, later). You can view photos and read descriptions at https://tablascreek.wpcomstaging.com/2009/02/snow-in-the-vineyard Every 5 years or so, it does snow in Paso Robles. This weekend, we got

Olive Harvest

The last vineyard event of the year is typically our olive harvest. The mission olive trees that line our vineyard roads were planted primarily as decoration, but they produce olives that are good both for oil production and for curing and eating. We plan to do both this year. Right