California dreaming on almond ranch
Mike and I met my granddaughters, Ainsley Rose, 14, and Charlotte, 11, in Vancouver recently and flew to San Francisco.
We rented a fancy Nissan Armada and drove to the northern tip of the Napa Valley to visit my little bro, Ted, and learned a lot about viticulture.
I remember when George and Trudy Heist established Gray Monk winery and when Stephen Cipes came to the Mission, so one would think I would know more by now than my preference for Pinot Noir.
I have now learned first-hand about deleafing, prepruning, trimming, hedging, wine transfer hoses, drones and mustard greens (Brassica spp.) as a ground cover to control pathogens and pests.
Grapevine people have equipment and parts that boggle the mind and a way of making hard work look easy with their Prune, Nurture, Harvest, Repeat philosophy.
When Ted retired, he bought an almond ranch, but recently realized his dream of a vineyard. He is not interested in tasting, a wine shop or marketing, he loves to work with the earth.
California is home to approximately half the 8,000 wineries in the U.S. And I was surprised many were small in scale compared to Rodney Strong or famous names like Kendall Jackson and Virginia Dare.
The Dunagan Vineyard is in Ukiah, population 16,000,with a charming ’50s look and feel. The Grace Hudson Museum features the magnificent work of Grace Carpenter Hudson, whose oil paintings of the Pomo Indians are a must-see.
Ted’s villa is more than 5,000 square feet and has a bocce court and heated pool. The property is 20 acres, 10 planted in Syrah vines. We could see the grape clusters darken almost daily in the hot sun.
The girls loved the Kawasaki Mule (Ranch Edition) and learned a lot about irrigation from a system that drips measured water onto the vines at specific times and fertilizes as well. No overhead spray in sight.
There are 30 eco-friendly bins that hold 1,000 pounds of grapes each standing at the ready for harvest. We toured the ravine, the well-fed pond (reservoir) and fed apples to the neighbour’s cows.
New vines are of the Cabernet Sauvignon variety, which is popular in today’s market. The spectacular trees at the vineyard are oak, madrona and olive.
Theresa Reichert in Potter Valley is the goto lady when the olives have been picked at peak perfection and placed in a shoulder harness, then dumped in a bucket and sent immediately for processing.
Theresa does the crushing and smashing, and the liquid goes into a Super Fustinox, then “decanters” for a month or longer until the cloudy oil is bottled and corked with a Black Plastic Bartop seal.
His first harvest was 600 pounds with a yield of 37 litres of oil which he was reassured would clear in time. The final product looks like liquid gold and is given away as gifts complete with the family 2016 Dunagan Vineyards Reserve label to family and friends.
The patio featured Ted’s evening barbecue of chicken and ribs (everything but salmon) and Kalene served the best cornbread of my life. I make mine from scratch and it is flat and heavy. Kalene’s was high and light, from a Krusteaz box.
She also served a Rice-a-Roni Herb and Butter side dish that was new to me. Maranatha California Almond Butter is spread on everything and the wine of choice is the food-friendly Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay Columbia Valley Vintage 2014.
We were surrounded by wasps, bees, hummingbirds, turkey vultures, wild turkeys, woodpeckers, doves and hawks.
The stars at night in the clear skies were an overhead spectre that overwhelms city slickers like us.
Ainsley Rose thanked our hosts and introduced Charlotte’s dance routine. Ainsley did a skit about a box and Charlotte did a card trick with Ted drawing the magic ace of spades. To close, each girl read a paragraph written about the experience.
Ainsley wrote, “Being in the Red Woods (nearby at Leggett) was AMAZING and that is only the beginning. Tell about how our SUV almost (but not quite) fit through the Chandelier Tree. We hiked up the trail and climbed tree trunks. Tell how the song was playing in the gift shop and what you got there. Tell how I was reminded by walking in the forest about the age of the redwoods (2,500 years) and what that means.”
Charlotte read, “It has been great so far. Ted and Kalene have a pool so I can swim. Ted can drive us in his Mule through the vineyards. It is so pretty. The second day we were there we went to the Bluebird Cafe for chocolate shakes and saw huge stuffed animals on the wall. I am so happy we are here!
Unpacking now and preparing for a visit from my Minnesota cousin who is planning to see the eclipse in Oregon before driving up to the Okanagan.
We plan to hike the Kettle Valley Railway, dine at the Kelowna Yacht Club and do a marathon wine tasting starting close to home at Summerhill Pyramid Winery and their famous 2016 Organic Riesling.
From St Paul, Kathy and Paul will be amazed at the beauty (and bounty) of our world. I am so proud to introduce them to our own Napa North.
Jeanette Dunagan is an Okanagan artist who has lived in Kelowna for more than 40 years. Her column appears every second week in the Okanagan Saturday. Email her at jd2399@telus.net.