The weather was perfect and the birds were chirping and the people were munching, sipping and staring through binoculars. Yes, Bird Day at Schlumberger was once again a total blast! And best of all, together we helped to raise much-needed funds for the fine folks at the Sonoma County Bird Rescue Center. And now for the photos…

Kent, Wendy & Doug prep goodies for the Big Event...

A birder birding in the garden

Birding can be a thirsty activity. Winemaker Brunson sets things right

Turkey Vulture with Rescue Center handler.

Mela shows off a very Great Horned Owl.

Very cool Osprey.

This is what's in the nesting boxes in our vineyards -- the Barn Owl.

Who can say she's not beautiful?

Check out the eyes on this tiny raptor -- the Merlin.

So there you have it.  And if you missed it, don’t fear — the next big event in the Worms to Wine Series. Critter Day at Schlumberger, takes place on Saturday June 15 from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM. We’ll be featuring all of the creatures, great and small, that contribute to our sustainable farming practices on the Estate. Details will be coming soon so check back…

tony

Armed with binoculars, a Coors Light I got from the Vineyard guys and two hours of time to kill before the Big Event, I headed off on a reconnaissance mission. The evening was spectacular. The birds and the bees were going off with that “first good sunny day after a long cold, wet spell” happiness. All was very well in the vineyards of Michel-Schlumberger.

But then I heard it and it sent a little tingle up my spine.

I had listened to that very same sound many times, just hours before in fact, on the site I found on the internet. I already knew the call well, of course, but I needed to be positively sure. And standing on the hill overlooking the lake in the syrah block, I was sure. It was the call of the Bullfrog. And the Bullfrog and I had an important date in two hours time…

American Bullfrog. Deceptively cute...

Although the American Bullfrog is found throughout most of California they are not natives to The Golden State. To be exact, their home range is pretty much from the edge of Canada south to the Rio Grande River in Texas, and from the East Coast all the way west to New Mexico and Colorado.

Bullfrog devours a tree frog

And this transplant is not necessarily a welcome one.  The non-native American Bullfrog is probably responsible for some of the decline of many native species, including frogs, turtles, snakes, and waterfowl. In short, Bullfrogs are big and tough and they eat anything they can they stuff down there throats. Literally. Documented prey includes rodents, small turtles, snakes, birds, and even bats. And, oh yes, they eat a lot of frogs. Especially frogs smaller than them, like the California Red-Legged Frog.

The California Red-Legged Frog is truly a California frog – it is found in no other state. And unlike the Bullfrog, it is listed as a Threatened Species by U.S. Fish & Wildlife. It is estimated that this species has disappeared from 70% of its original range and is now only found in about 238 streams or drainages in 23 counties of California. Although the most serious threats to this frog are loss of habitat from urbanization and agriculture and exposure to pesticides, the voracious Bullfrog certainly isn’t helping matters.

The beautiful and noble California Red-Legged Frog

And here’s where Natasha Dvorak enters the picture. Natasha is a local frog expert and lover of M-S wines. I met her at Fish Day a few weeks back and when conversation turned from steelhead trout to frogs I had to admit my complete ignorance of pretty much anything amphibian. Maybe it was the cabernet we were sipping but somehow it didn’t seem that odd at the time when she suggested that maybe we should suit up in waders and tromp around Lake Schlumberger in the middle of the night with headlamps, binoculars and dip nets to search for Red-Legged Frogs. Sure, why not? After another glass of wine a date was set.

Yes, folks — we were going Frogging.

But that was weeks ago. And tonight’s the night. And now it’s nearly 8:00 PM and I’m sitting at the computer after completing my recon and hearing the Bullfrog and in a few minutes I’ll be meeting up with Natasha and two other intrepid volunteers to brave the bullying Bullfrogs and search for our little local hero the California Red-Legged Frog. It’s peak mating season for frogs so they should be extra feisty tonight.

I feel like Marlin Perkins. Or, more accurately — Jim. Anyway, gotta go. Stay tuned to find out what went down…

Tony

P.S. To hear the spine-chilling call of the American Bullfrog click here. If you’ve got the nerve…

Now THAT'S a Bullfrog!

This was not your typical winery event. In fact, it didn’t really seem like an “event” at all – more like a buncha really nice folks simply hanging out together, sipping amazing wine, wandering around on a beautiful day looking at birds and learning about steelhead trout and salmon and the creeks in which they spawn.

In short, our first annual Fish Day was a great way to kick off the 2010 Michel-Schlumberger Worms to Wine Nature Series. We were blessed with great weather, plenty of HUGE steelhead trout, and two outstanding human beings as tour guides — Ranger Michael Carroll and Elliott Doss of California Fish and Game.

For those who missed it, here’s what went down…

Ranger Michael greets guests at the hatchery.

Checking out massive steelhead trout heading upstream, feverish to spawn...

Our intrepid guide, Ranger Michael.

A good 12 pounder.

Inside the hatchery.

Fellow ranger takes some measurements and records the results.

Then it was back to the Estate for wine and sunshine.

Fish expert Elliott Doss assembling guests to walk Wine Creek.

Elliott showing off his restoration work on Wine Creek.

Looking for steelhead -- we found some little ones!

Finishing off the fine morning with snacks, conversation and a personal tasting of Mike Brunson's favorite wines.

There you have it — Fish Day 2010! A portion of the proceeds from this event is going to Friends of Lake Sonoma. NOW is a great time to visit the hatchery (and it’s perfect for kids, too).  Get out there and help out our piscine pals.

And mark those calendars for the next event in the Worms to Wine Nature Series. We will be hosting my very favorite winery event of the year, Bird Day, on Saturday April 17. Stay tuned for details…

Bass Wishes and Sanddabbly Yours,

tony

p.s.   And a special message for those of you who attended the event – the chicken is O.K.!!!

You can feel it in the air. The excitement is as thick as this morning’s fog in Dry Creek Valley. Yes, folks, we are merely days away from the kick-off of our new (and exciting) Worms to Wine Nature Series at Michel-Schlumberger. In case you haven’t heard yet, this year we will present to you six fun, filling and educational events that highlight various aspects of our organic and sustainable farming practices. The series kicks off with Fish Day at Schlumberger from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Saturday March 20.

Last week Brunson, Wendy and I paid a quick visit to the Lake Sonoma Fish Hatchery to hash out some details (actually, we really just wanted to get away from our desks for awhile). Ranger Michael Carroll literally greeted us at the door with open arms. Michael is one of those preciously rare types that is simply so friendly and cool and knowledgeable that you can’t help but feel at peace with the world when you’re around him. This guy could take you on a tour of a feedlot and you’d still be smiling the whole time.

So it had been a few years since I’d been to the hatchery and they’ve really done some cool improvements in the meantime. Ranger Michael started by strolling us along the small creek which links Dry Creek to the hatchery raceways. Numerous HUGE steelhead trout were paired up in the shallow creek, ready to spawn and perfectly visible from the walkway above. Simply breathtaking. Especially considering the view of the ponds around the hatchery grounds that buzzed with the activity of all sorts of waterfowl (I especially was enamoured with the incredibly beautiful wood ducks). And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better Michael glanced up and pointed to the sky where a bald eagle soared in lazy circles. Wow.

Inside the hatchery was just as amazing. I’ll spare you the details (you’ll soon see for yourself) but I will say that we were treated to plenty of face-to-face introductions with every one of the Steelhead life stages from egg to 15 pounder.

Anyway, the warm up tour was fun but frankly I’m itching for game day. So here’s the official scoop:

12:45 to 1:00 PM: All guests please meet at the Lake Sonoma Hatchery parking lot to check in.

1:00 to 2:00 PM: Hatchery tour with Ranger Michael Carroll. Following the tour, guests will drive to Michel-Schlumberger (about a 12 minute drive south of the hatchery).

2:30 to 3:00 PM: Walk, talk and sip along recently-restored Wine Creek with Winemaker Mike Brunson and fish expert Elliott Doss of California Fish and Game.

3:15 to 4:00 PM: Personal Cellar tasting of Mike’s favorite wines with snacks and pleasant conversation.

Event price is $20 and a portion of Fish Day proceeds goes to The Friends of Lake Sonoma – a non-profit organization whose purpose is to serve and support the interpretive and visitor service programs at Lake Sonoma. RSVPs for this event are nice but are not required. To RSVP or for questions or more details please contact our staff at #433-7427. Oh, and please plan on dressing warmly with comfortable walking shoes.

There you have it. I will see you there!

tony

MS courtyard in the winter

To the common passerby, it may appear that most winegrowers do things exactly the same way as everyone else. Once you start to gain just a bit of viticultural knowledge, you start to realize that there are some differences. The more you learn, the more you realize that every farmer does things a little differently than the next. What are the driving forces behind these decisions that farmers make? It could be the site. It could be tradition. It could be economics. It could be an experimental block. It could be to encourage vigor. It could be to limit vigor. It could be to address a nutrient deficiency…the list is endless and in most cases, it’s a combination of all of the above. All I can tell you is why we do things the way we do. There is no right or wrong…just different (and in some cases toxic…see Tony’s post on Monsanto). I wanted to start the year with a little list of some of the things that we do differently and why we do them. Here goes:

1. We don’t burn our clippings- Most burn days fall on the most beautiful days of the winter. You start the day in awe and then at 9am the fires start and next thing you know, it’s hazy and gray. We keep our clippings and then chip them into our compost pile where they add much needed nutrients to the pile. It also forces us to turn our piles, which is critical to the success of the compost.
2. We don’t use herbicides- we use Olde English Southdown Baby Doll Sheep and handwork to address our weeds. In fact, in most cases we actually encourage undervine growth. The competition from the grasses reduces the vigor of vines. For example, Syrah is known to be very vigorous. Even when planted on vigor limiting rootstocks, it can go off. A little cover crop under the vine can slow things down a bit and provide vital cover and stability for our soils during the heavy downpours that we’re known to get here on the Westside of Dry Creek Valley.
3. Permanent cover crops- As stated above, it can help with vine balance and erosion control. In addition, we have permanent cover crop to ensure that the water that runs off of this ranch is clean and doesn’t dump loads of sediment into Wine Creek. We’ve worked very hard to restore our portion of Wine Creek (with help from Dept. Fish and Game, Trout Unlimited, Fish Friendly Farming and CA Conservation Corps) and have seen our efforts rewarded with increased Salmonid spottings. Permanent Cover Crops also contribute a slow release of nutrients into the soil and allow all the critters in the soil to establish a colony that will help over the long term. In much of our soils, you can’t take a shovelful of our soil without scooping out  2-5 worms…it’s loaded. That’s a good sign of healthy soil and healthy soil structure. Nice.

Why do we do these things? Because we believe that this is the best farming system for these ranches and our people. It supports balance in not only the vines, but both ranches as well. We are happy to move sheep or use a shovel or hoe, instead of driving a tractor spraying herbicides. We are happy to chip our clippings and reuse them, instead of burning them. Everyone knows burning stuff can be fun, but on a large scale, it just doesn’t make sense for us. All in all, we believe that this is the best system for our people, our ranches and ultimately our wines. Here’s to 2010!

Alright folks, I’ve got some really good news this week. I’m very proud and excited to announce a brand-spanking new program at Michel-Schlumberger for 2010 – the Worms to Wine Nature Series. We’ll be hosting six fun and informative nature-related events that showcase various elements of our organic and sustainable farming practices at our Estate. We’re still working out details but in the meantime here’s a special sneak preview (remember – you heard it here first…):

MARCH: Fish Day at Schlumberger

Celebrating all things fishy, we’ll start the afternoon with a personal tour of the fish hatchery at Lake Sonoma with Ranger Michael Carroll. It’s a very cool place — we’ll meet spawning salmon and steelhead trout up close and personal. Following the tour we’ll head back to Michel-Schlumberger for a walk and talk with Winemaker Brunson along fish friendly and recently restored Wine Creek. Finally, we’ll cap it off with some really great wine and food around the fireplace inside the Estate.

APRIL: Bird Day at Schlumberger

This annual fundraiser for The Bird Rescue Center of Sonoma County is one of my very favorite events of the year. We’ve moved the event to Spring in 2010 to take advantage of the migratory species that pass through our region. Expect bird walks led by local experts, spotting scopes and feeder demos, and Audubon Society displays. The event will culminate with a fun and educational show and tell of various big raptors by the folks from the Bird Rescue Center. And if we’re lucky we’ll get Brunson to cook up those incredible garden veggie topped pizzas again!

MAY: Critter Day at Schlumberger

It takes a lot of great animals to make great wine. Come out and meet the unsung heroes of Michel-Schlumberger – our English Babydoll sheep (with a shearing demonstration), heritage chickens and a brand new pair of goats! We’ll show you how we use these animals as part of our sustainable farming system. And it’s not just the furry and feathery critters that will be on display. We’ll tour the organic veggie garden and check out the bugs, both good and bad, and learn how we help them to help us. And Jacques Schlumberger will be on hand to show folks our honey bee garden and show off our hives. Heck, you can even meet our vineyard dogs, Marvin and Peanut.

JUNE: Bee Day at Schlumberger

With the recent and alarming decline in honey bees worldwide, NOW is the time to take action and show serious support for our buzzy buddies who do more for the health of the Earth than you can possibly imagine. Look forward to an afternoon of Bee and Veggie Garden tours, demonstration hives, an observation hive, a honey extraction demonstration, honey tasting, talks by local experts and practical information on what you can do to help the bees. I highly encourage you to bee there…

JULY: Oysterama

This event proves that learning can be healthy, fun and filling. This popular event features a Nature Walk around Tomales Bay followed by a picnic feast of fresh oysters (half shell and BBQ) paired with our outstanding wines. Need I say more?

AUGUST: Stargazer’s Dinner

We’ll spend an evening feasting and sipping to a spectacular slide show presentation by a local astronomer. Then we’ll wander on up to the lake to gaze out into the heavens through some seriously pro telescopes. Nighttime at Lake Schlumberger under a blanket of stars and planets is something you simply have to experience in your lifetime. Really.

So there you have it. I’ll post details and dates as they come available. In the meantime, drink good wine.

Naturally Yours,

Tony

Bird Rescue Center handler shows off a Great Horned Owl

Wow – talk about an OUTSTANDING event! I hope you were there because, if not, you missed the event of the season. This past Saturday we hosted Bird Day at Schlumberger – a fundraiser for the Bird Rescue Center of Sonoma County. With the super-human assistance of about 15 volunteers we were able to pull off something that was both educational and entertaining.

The action started at 9:00 AM when three local bird experts armed with binoculars, a vineyard map and coffee and breakfast treats (supplied by Downtown Bakery in Healdsburg) began leading walks around our spectacular bird-filled estate. Meanwhile, Wild Birds Unlimited of Santa Rosa had scopes set up to check out and chat about the multitude of birds on our feeders. As the birders returned they were quite pleased to find plates full of pizzas and bruschetta topped with goodies from the organic garden made by Winemaker (and chef) Mike Brunson. And, of course, there were some killer wines poured for all (and an old-school lemonade stand run by Mike’s kids, Taylor and Zack).

Red-Tailed Hawk

The highlight of the day was a presentation by the Bird Rescue Center. Four volunteer handlers busted out some incredible raptors for a fun and informative show & tell. These folks know their birds and were delighted to share their knowledge with the enthralled crowd. Who knew that the Western Screech Owl doesn’t actually screech? Or that a barn owl can actually hear the heartbeat of a mouse from a distance? Or that a turkey vulture is really an incredibly beautiful bird when you get to see one up close, eye to eye?

Some vital statistics for the day:

Total attendance: 147 (including a great turnout of kids!)

Total bird walks: 11

Total bird species identified: 25

Number of pizzas consumed: 48

Raptors displayed by Bird Rescue handlers: 6 (Kestrel, Merlin, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Western Screech Owl, Great-horned Owl, Barn Owl).

Percentage of happy and enlightened guests: 100

Total raised for the Bird Rescue Center: $605

Barn Owl. Very cool.

Those are some pretty impressive numbers. And in light of the success of Bird Day we have already started to plan a whole series of Nature-related activities for next year. Stay tuned for even more cool, fun, informative and thirst quenching events in 2010. In the meantime, check out the website for a list of what else is going down at Schlumberger for the remainder of the year.

Happy Harvest!

Tony

So it all started with a little crow. I was walking my whippets (Devo & Jimi) around the neighborhoods of Santa Rosa when we were stopped in our tracks by a group of large and raucous crows in the trees above, caw-caw-cawing up a blue streak at us. After a few more steps I saw what all the commotion was about – a baby crow sitting along the edge of the sidewalk, obviously unable to fly. I quickly turned around and led my dogs away (Jimi, I reckoned, might have trouble differentiating a little crow from a little squeaky toy).

I honestly didn’t really know what to do next. But I knew that if I did nothing, the crow would certainly end up an easy cat’s meal. Once I got the dogs home I turned to the trusty phone book. I called the City for advice. They told me the crow was not dangerous to the general public and, therefore, was not their problem. They directed me to The Bird Rescue Center. Wow, I thought. I never knew such an organization existed in Sonoma County. Now I was getting somewhere.

The lady on the phone at Bird Rescue was very helpful. She informed me that the crow was almost certainly a fledgling that had left the nest too early. She said that they had many crows at the facility in the same condition and that they were usually able to nurse the baby birds back to health and release them back into the wild. Very cool, I thought. Then she instructed me to “secure” the bird in a pillow case and bring it to the Center immediately. I have to admit I was a bit taken aback. Surely (and stupidly) I thought that  there must be a team of kind-hearted bird rescue volunteers who had nothing better to do than drive around at a moment’s notice and pick up injured birds and nurse them back to health and not get paid a dime for it. Right? I was, of course, wrong.

So I grabbed a pillow case and drove back to the baby crow and “secured” it. Then I drove the little guy (or gal) out to the edge of town to the Bird Rescue Center. Two very nice ladies were waiting for me and they whisked the crow away for examination and care. Impressed and interested, I returned to the Center a week later for an open house. There were all sorts of cool birds on display — hawks, owls, falcons, osprey and vultures, as well as smaller songbirds. Trained volunteers took the birds out of the cages one by one to show them off. It was a very happy and caring place. And the most amazing thing? Nobody was making any money doing this – they were simply doing good.

So I wrote out a check and became a member and met Mary Ellen, the Community Education Coordinator for the Center. The next thing you know we’ve got the crazy/brilliant idea of hosting a bird education event at Michel-Schlumberger to raise money for Bird Rescue.

With that overblown introduction I am very proud to announce Saturday September 5 as Bird Day at Schlumberger. This is gonna be one of the greatest events of all time. Details are still being worked out but here are the basics:

9:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Tim Stewart, expert bird guy and proprietor of Wild Birds Unlimited in Santa Rosa, will be on hand with spotting scopes and binoculars to identify and chat about the numerous bird species gracing the grounds and vineyards of Michel-Schlumberger. A group of expert birders will lead short bird walks around the vineyards, lake and creek of the property. Coffee, tea and homemade zucchini bread will be provided for sustenance.

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Winemaker Mike Brunson will serve up homemade pizzas topped with heirloom tomatoes, peppers, garlic and basil from our organic garden. World class wines will be poured, of course, along with a lemonade stand run by Mike’s kids, Taylor and Zack.

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
The fine folks from Bird Rescue will give a show-and-tell with some big raptors. And I mean BIG. And we’re not talking about a buncha photos and some feathers – These folks will be walking around with the birds on arm. This is your chance to meet some hawks, owls, falcons and other raptors up close and very personal, and learn firsthand about their natural history.

Seriously, is this cool or what?!? And it’s one of the precious few kid-friendly events you’ll find at a winery. As you can probably tell I’m very excited about this event. You will be, too. Mark those calendars!

Peace and birds,

Tony

…I love the annual Michel-Schlumberger Wine Bench Picnic even more. I already know that you do too. Or you would if you haven’t been able to attend one of our club picnics before. These undemanding, but famous gatherings are always held on a Saturday in early June, when the air starts cool in the morning and warms to a temperature just right for plenty of delicious, distinctive Benchland Wine, fine food, and plenty of friendly conversation that hovers on a human scale. 

On the morning before our picnic last Saturday, I was at home in bed watching through the window as a Swallowtail butterfly dried its wings in the early morning sun. The wings glinted and were shockingly beautiful. It was the second one I’d seen in as many days. It may have emerged from its chrysalis around dawn – about the time I began rolling out of mine. A swallowtail’s caterpillar stage favors the gauzy diet of the bronze anise that grows to eyeball height under my bedroom window. I eat anise too, though I enjoy other foods as well.

By 10 A.M. the Swallowtail fluttered about and became airborne. Whoops. Let’s try that again. Wow! Now off it went, last seen flitting northwest at great speed; it had brilliant yellow and black wings dotted with blue and a dash of red – nice and racy. I saddled up my rig and took off after it, soon mingling with a bunch of critters, winged or otherwise, heading to the 17th annual Wine Bench Picnic out at Michel-Schlumberger.

Heavy clouds began to break apart and lilt into the late forenoon sky, exposing a crowd of us being pulled down Wine Creek Road by anticipated pleasure and a big dose of tradition: Mike’s excellent wines, Tony’s natural carnival show of beneficial vineyard critters and myriad insects, sleek kayaks on the lake, lots of savory snacks, and big platters of baked chicken and a heap of lamb chops. This year, a tent full of music played by Carlos Herrera pumped out toe tapping, fiery tinged notes at the edge of the Estate’s robust organic garden where butterflies hovered about. I went looking for mine as the music welcomed us through the open gate.

Even better, Jacques and Barbara Schlumberger, who hosted us for lunch under the big oak tree, presided beforehand over a busy display of resident honeybees, bee keeping implements, and tastes of honey fresh from the comb. Jacques and Barbara have, for several years, been international advocates for the protection of honeybees and keep a large number of hives both at Michel-Schlumberger and at their home ranch (each guest went home with a prized gift of honey from their hives). The Melissa Garden, Barbara’s organic flower garden habitat for pollinators near their house is now well-known. Her flower garden tips are being applied to the beautiful bee-garden just inside the winery entrance. The flowering plants and shrubs provide food and nectar to a thousand winged insects that help keep our world healthy and balanced. The plants also enhance the banks of the restored Wine Creek that flows nearby.     

The Wine Bench is a club, for sure, that provides lots of great tastes of our vineyard throughout the year. But the picnic has evolved over the years into a personal bond that draws members from across the country, and even off-shore. This year was quite a mix: new friends, old ones, a few Texans, Ohioans, a man from Philadelphia, City folk, mountaineers and two from Costa Rican mingled easily with the day. Everyone was smiling.

Not long into the lunch, even Healdsburgundians and Southern Californians found their conversational stride. And here and there, a winery staffer chatted while pouring one of seventeen wines offered up to celebrate this year’s seventeenth annual: Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Blanc, Cabernet Franc, Coteaux Savages, and succulent aged Reserves were just some the hits of the day. The picnic was a sweet, lazy time and a perfect break from the crazy, oversized lives that we almost all have to live to maintain our toehold on the fast moving world just outside the winery gate, which, if I’m not mistaken, is where we will be waiting for you next year for the Annual Eighteenth.

Jerry Craven

Barrel Tasting Weekend sponsored by the Russian River Wine Road is one of the best parties on Earth!  The event takes place over 2 consecutive weekends and always is a huge hit with wine lovers.  This year was certainly no exception.  And in Dry Creek Valley, where there is a virtual sea of Zinfandel, Michel-Schlumberger offers a Bordeaux-style experience unlike any in the area.

This year, as guests arrived, they were first directed through the barrel room (it IS barrel weekend after all!) for tastes of two stunning wines.  Our 2007 Cabernet Franc — a wine we do not normally bottle by itself – but are offering an amazing Futures offer:  $20/bottle when purchased in case quantities (or $26/bottle when purchase 6 bottles).  This wine tasted absolutely glorious from the barrel.  When it comes out in about a year, if there is any left (!), it will be 40/bottle — clearly Futures are they way to go.

The second wine tasted was the 2006 Deux Terres — our ‘best of the best’ Bordeaux-style blend from the Estate.  In 2006, the foundation of this wine was our Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon (from high on the saddle of the vineyard at the top of the Estate) and sprinkled with equal doses of Petit Verdot, Malbec, Merlot, Carmenere & Cabernet Franc.  Again, Futures are the way to go as this wine will be released in a year for $100/bottle.  We are offering our signature wine for $50/bottle on Futures for a one case (or more!) purchase, and $65/bottle for a half case (6 bottles). 

Interested in still getting in on Futures?  Click here:  Michel-Schlumberger Futures

After this mystical experience in the barrel room, folks moved into our second barrel room for tastes of our 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 Pinot Noir and 2006 ‘La Brume’ Chardonnay — each paired with local artisan cheeses. 

Back out into the courtyard, guests walked by our ‘Worms to Wine’ display — a tangible taste of our organic vineyard practices and a nice little bit of education about the Estate wine-growing philosophy. 

Finally, the ‘Stash Sale’.  Our tasting parlor was converted to a tasting & buying frenzy of old vintages being sold at blow out, rock bottom, ‘economic stimulus package’ prices.  That was a lot of fun watching people realize that the wine they were tasting was not $70 per bottle, but $70…per case!!  The hand cart was kept busy constantly wheeling out 3 & 4 case purchases.

If you were here for Barrel Tasting Weekend, thanks so much.  If you missed it, click on the video below to get a little flavor for the fun.  But next year — don’t miss it!  Next up:  Passport Weekend - April 25-26.  Hope to see you up at the Estate!

Click here to view the embedded video.

This past weekend we hosted our Annual Library Cabernet Dinner at the winery. As usual at Michel-Schlumberger Events, almost everyone who sat with us at dinner-were old friends and wine club members….. and the few who were new to our winery or to this event became one of these two things by the end of the evening.

We started out with some 2004 ‘Deux Terres’ Cabernet by the fireplace while we munched on delicious nibbles from Chloe’s French Catering Co. (not only amazing caterers but also very old and dear friends of this winery and now everyone who works here!).

Then-we headed to the cellar with Mike for a 2006 ‘Deux Terres’ cab sample right out of the barrel.  If you’ve done this before you’ll appreciate how amazing it is to taste a wine while it’s still taking on all of those characteristics you will come to see in it in the bottle someday.  It was especially nice to taste this special, small production reserve wine which, when produced will only be about 200 cases or less.

After our cellar stop-we headed on to the dining room where our tables were set, candles were lit, and servers were beginning to pour the wine (another library reserve cab-the 95!).  We all sat down-and chattered amongst ourselves at two long dining tables-each hosted by Jacques and Barbara Schlumberger or Mike Brunson (winemaker) and Chris Traverso (wine club manager). Being the event coordinator-I’ll just leave myself out here . We were all pretending to be patient but at this point our appetites were whetted by what we had already tasted during our reception and we were ready to do some serious wining and dining…..

Here’s what we ate (and more importantly drank):

Selection of Passed Appetizers
Gougeres Roquefort
Cabernet glazed shaved beef & Mezzo Secco mini panini
Parmesan & caramelized leek tartine
2004 Deux Terres Cabernet Sauvignon

1st Course

Savory potato & red yuri squash tarlette with seared duck breast, toasted walnuts & huckleberry glaze on a bed of wilted frisee & petite lardon

1995 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

2nd course

Peppercorn laced rack of lamb with farro & wild mushroom flan
Roasted Cheddar cauliflower
Cabernet drizzle

1998 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

3rd course

Duo of local farmstead cheeses & petite salade

2000 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Dessert Course

Seckel pear crème brulee & blood orange chocolate mousse

Needless to say, we were all very happy at the end of the evening. Slightly flushed and stuffed-yes but happy. We do this every year and I highly recommend this type of event to any real Cab fans out here. Of course If you can’t wait a whole year, you can check out the barrage of fun options we have coming up this year at the winery:
http://www.michelschlumberger.com/events

It’s 2009!  Looking back on 2008 at Michel-Schlumberger I realize how much has happened here during the past year.  

In the past year we’ve hosted guests here at the winery for luncheons and dinners on 20 different occassions. 

 We’ve participated in 3 different annual weekend long Russian River Wine Road Events  (http://www.wineroad.com), during which we saw close to a thousand people each weekend!

We had our weekly Friday night courtyard music series on 20 Friday evenings between May and October.

We threw 3 wine release parties, 3 open houses, 2 Cellar Stash Sales, and 2 off-site winery events (a cruise and a hike/picnic).

These don’t include the various off-site tastings I and the rest of the MS Team poured at:  Sonoma Showcase Weekend, Pick of the Vine, SF Chronicle Wine Tasting, Copia’s Winery of the Week series, Rhone Rangers and the list goes on….

…or the various national events our 2 vp’s of sales and winemaker have been part of around the country:  Taste of Vail, the James Beard Dinner in NYC, Macarthur’s Annual California Barrel Tasting in DC, the Nantucket Wine Festival,  Sonoma in the City (SF), and more. 

What’s my point?  We see a LOT of people, pour a LOT of wine, and spread a LOT of fun around.  Our wine club members make up more than 1/2 of the folks at most of our winery events- that means they’ve caught on……..  With Michel-Schlumberger there’s never a dull moment.  And there’s much, much more in store in 2009 — stay tuned!

Going into our 5th week of harvest luncheons this season, we are no strangers to festivity here at Michel-Schlumberger. For a small estate winery – we offer a lot of opportunities for folks to come and spend time with us in lots of different settings. As a hospitality manager, I often wonder which of our events are people’s favorites? And more than that, what are people’s favorite types of events in general?

Question: What is your favorite Michel-Schlumberger winery event that you’ve ever attended (if you haven’t been to one of ours, than tell us about another small winery’s event that you had a lot of fun at)? Where was it? Why was it your favorite? Was it the food? the ambiance? the people? the mood?  I’d love to hear your thoughts — feel free to comment…and feel free to contact me with your ideas for great wine events we can stage high on the hill above Dry Creek Valley at Michel-Schlumberger!

Steve Pile

Last Friday was the first significant rain we’ve had this season.  It was nice to finally see some moisture in the sky.  We had to scramble a bit for our Friday Night Music and move the festivities into the salon. Steve Pile played and he put on a great show.  One of the benefits of the indoor action was the salon was transformed into more of a cozy wine bar. We brought the couches in and rearranged the funiture a bit.  Our “bar” was moved into the kitchen like old times and everyone who’d been here before remembered the good old days of tasting in there. We liked the salon lay out so much we’re keeping the setup.   My question is to you is what type of music is most condusive to wine enjoyment. I know what I like and I think Steve Pile fits the bill well but I wanna know what you prefer.

Pictures of our harvest luncheons last week:

Tony, Mike, and I with our Canadian Harvest Luncheon guests

Friday’s luncheon

A starry evening at our Stargazer’s Winemaker Dinner

We all had so much fun last week, now we’re ready to do it again-with 3 more luncheons this week (we can still take a few more people on these…..).  Join us and be a star!  Click here: Michel-Schlumberger Harvest Luncheon or call us at 800.447.3060 for reservations.

Stargazing may seem a bit like a romantic past time, but it’s a great theme for a evening event if, like us you’re out where few city lights impede the breathtaking views of the skies on a September night above the vineyards.

Last year we had our 1st annual Stargazer’s Winemaker Dinner at the estate.  It was a great evening of a delectable 4 course meal with stellar (no pun intended) wines we specially selected for the event.  After dinner we headed out for a walk out onto the moon and starlit estate and in the vineyards with our trained astronomer host, Mike Brunson-our winemaker, and Jacques Schlumberger.  The skies were something unbelievable to behold out in such a remote location.  We pointed out constellations, caught multiple shooting stars whizzing by, and enjoyed the rare quiet calmness that comes in the evening after everyone has left the winery for the day.  

People liked the event so much last year-we decided to make it an annual event.  Saturday, Sept 27th is the date this month.  We’ll be meeting in the winery courtyard at 6pm for wines, appetizers, and conversation.  Our winemaker will be there, wearing his usual gleeful and mischievous grin and happy to answer everyone’s questions about this year’s harvest with his usual eloquence, patience, and humor.  Anyone who’d like to join us or to find out more can give me a call (707)433-7427.  You don’t even have to have a date-just bring yourself.  Juliana, Mike & I will keep you company!

James Taylor is singing ‘The frost is on the pumpkin & the hay is in the barn’ as I write this and it really puts me in the mood for
Fall.  It hasn’t really hit wine country yet, and most likely won’t for several weeks, but singing this little diddy always get me in the mood for harvest…and harvest is here and going strong.  

Crush at Michel-Schlumberger also signals the start our annual Harvest Luncheon Series — one of the greatest experiences & traditions in wine country. 

At 11:00 a.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through October 11, guests arrive for a behind the scenes tour of the Estate.  Crush is in full tilt, so as part of the experience, guest often get to taste grapes fresh off the vine just before they begin their transformational journey into wine, or grab a splash of free-run juice just squeezed and headed for the barrels.  It is sublime.

After taking in the cornucopia of fruit smells fermenting in the cellar and maybe even joining in on a punch-down of fermenting Syrah, Cabernet or Malbec, the guests meander out to the tables set up under the 400+ year old oak tree protecting the organic vegetable & herb garden.  With glass in hand, we all sit down to a magnificent meal prepared by a host of local Sonoma chefs & paired with plenty of fine Michel-Schlumberger wines born in the vineyards just a few yards away from the table.  Hearty fare, engaging conversation, camaraderie, and great wines all in the middle of harvest nestled in one of the most beautiful locations in all wine country – what’s not to like!  Everything is fresh, everything is local — it is the essence of all things good about life in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley.

These luncheons sell out very, very fast — mainly to those who have experienced these feasts in the past and come back year after year after year.  This year, make the Michel-Schlumberger Harvest Luncheon your tradition and experience food & wine nirvana for yourself.  Call us at 1-800-447-3060 or click on the highlighted text – Harvest Luncheon – for reservations.  Just $65 per person - bring your friends, a hearty appetite, and your favorite stories to share.

We are pleased to be participating in Twitter Taste Live 3 next Thursday, September 18 at 7pm EDT / 4pm PDT. Our friends at Bin Ends Wine selected us as the first American winery to participate after two very successful tastings of European wines this summer.

It’s easy for you to participate along with co-host and wine blogger Sonadora of Wannabe Wino. Just pick up one or more of the wines to be tasted before the event. Bin Ends Wine has a special pack on sale or look for the wines at your local wine store. Join the conversation on Twitter on September 18th at  7pm EDT / 4pm PDT and share your tasting notes. You’ll also want to follow several participants from the list on the Twitter Taste Live website.

The wines to be tasted are our 2006 La Brume Chardonnay, the 2005 Estate Syrah, our 2004 Estate Merlot and the 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. For those in the Dry Creek Valley area, join us at the winery and taste along with me in our salon. I’ll also be Twittering along with the rest of the participants from across America.

Hope to see you in person or virtually next week and tell all your friends to join us, too!

Harvest is a great time to visit Michel-Schlumberger.  And to encourage our online friends to venture out off the beaten track in Dry Creek Valley, we have a special promotion. From now until the end of October, our Vertical Tasting or Green Tour is free to anyone who mentions they heard about it online. Just call 800.447.3060 to make an appointment and tell us where you heard about it… here on the blog, on Facebook, Twitter, Pownce or Friendfeed.

The Vertical Tasting showcases our reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from vintages 1998, 1999 and 2000. One of the wonderful things about having Estate wines is that all the fruit comes only from our estate.  As a result, you really get to taste true vintage differences. What was happening in 1998 (cold, rainy), 1999 (long, long, long, cool season), & 2000 (vibrant, complex vintage) and how did that environment impact the wines?  Taste the absolute art of the winemaker, the essence of our terroir, and the subtleties of vintage in this tasting of the best wines our Estate can produce.  This is a guided tasting that allows you to compare and contrast these wines side-by-side in our tasting salon. We usually charge $25 per person for this tasting but it’s free to our online friends for the rest of this season.

Our Green Tour was featured in Sunset magazine this year and is given at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Enjoy this extraordinary in-depth tour of our eco-friendly Estate learning about our organic garden, abundant wildlife, Wine Creek restoration, sustainable winegrowing and more. Stroll to the top of our benchland vineyards to take in the breathtaking vista of Dry Creek Valley, our serene lake and the blocks of our different varietals. The tour ends at a hillside table, with a panoramic view, and enjoy a guided tasting of our award winning Estate wines including our new Deux Terres Cabernet. While you’re sipping this reserve wine you can behold the very block of the vineyard that produced the grapes for this extraordinary blend. This tour is a $30 value, again free to our online friends.

We’re hoping to see several of our online friends here as we continue harvest. Just give us a call at 800.447.3060 to make your reservation and mention you heard about it here. One free tour or tasting per visit, please.  Come see what everyone is talking about!

Brooke at the Showcase

Something happens in wine country when Harvest begins…..We are all waiting and looking forward to the moment when the first grapes begin to come in and the smell of fermenting fruit and yeast fills our nose.  In Dry Creek, full grape trucks become common sights in front of us on our commutes down the back-country roads.  Full bins, vineyard workers picking fruit, and vineyard dogs running wildly back and forth barking out orders is a typical yet seemingly chaotic late summer/early Fall scene.  

The harvest of the fruit isn’t the only thing happening though…..September and October in wine country each year promise to be what many consider the most exciting months of the year for a variety of reasons.  Take a look at an event calendar for this area sometime (wineroad.com or healdsburg.com are great for the smaller local winery stuff).  Wow.  I can never believe how many different and amazing things are going on around here.  Things that I probably won’t ever make it to …..since I’m too busy planning stuff for our guests at Michel-Schlumberger!

This last weekend we headed off to the Sonoma Showcase Weekend at MacMurray Ranch to show some of our wines along with many many other Sonoma County wineries and restaurants/caterers.  The winery was  also packed full of guests starting with (as per usual) Friday music and then a weekend of tours, cheese tastings, reserve tastings, and large groups who’ve chosen us as one of their preferred spots (thankyou!) to stop.  I just finished loading the menu for our Stargazer’s dinner later this month-so if anyone’s  curious…….. let me know.  We’ve also got the Harvest Luncheon’s starting in less than 2 weeks!  I think we may as well all set up our beds in our offices for the next 2 months.

Four Hundred plus wineries packed into the Grand Pavilion at Fort Mason in San Francisco a week ago Sunday and Monday to pour wines for and connect with wine loving consumers, retailers & restaurateurs at the Family Winemakers tasting.  I’ve poured at these events for I don’t know how many years now and ask myself why do we do this?  How can anyone attending possibly remember anything they’ve tasted and does it really help Michel-Schlumberger get some recognition?

I took a break to mender around, mingle with people I know in the industry, and see what the other wineries were doing to break through the clutter.  I was in awe.  Of the 400+ wineries, there were at least 100 (200?) I’d never heard of before…and I’m sure they’d never heard of Michel-Schlumberger before either.  But all of them were enthusiastically engaging the people, and the people were enthusiastically engaged.  I was inspired.

But the real epiphony came in the ‘L’s’ (we were alphabetically placed).  I looked up and saw none other than Heidi Peterson Barrett and her husband Bo Barrett pouring wines (both days by the way) at La Sirena.  If you don’t know who these people are — Heidi is the ultimate ‘cult’ winemaker — producer of Screaming Eagle, Grace Family Vineyards, Paradigm and many other ’unobtainable’ wines.  She is not a rock star by a long shot — very down to earth – but she is truly wine royalty.  And her husband, Bo, is the owner & co-founder (with his Dad) of Chateau Montelena (recently sold to Chateau Cos d’Estournel & is the central figure in the new movie Bottle Shock).  Bo maybe could be a rock star.

This is when it hit me – we are all in this business together, and together, we are all trying simply to connect with people to tell them our stories, taste our wines, and get them to like us.  It doesn’t matter if we are ‘stars’ in the industry or starving artists — when it comes right down to it, we’re all in this together – a family with a common mission to spread the good word of wine.

Collectively we’ve grown consumption in U.S. from 1.6 gallons or so per adult in the 60′s to right around 3 gallons per adult today.  Collectively we’ve introduced varietal wine by the glass in restaurants of every level making it an accepted part of dining.  Collectively we’ve changed the American culture!  And collectively we are a family – we may have different names, and clearly have different personalities, but we are all related.  And families stick together.

Ultimately, collectively, we are changing the world.  And if it is by connecting with consumer one at a time at events like Family Winemakers, then so be it – it is our mission.  That is why I’ll be back at the Family Winemaker event again next year, and the year after.  And the family grows…and grows.

Bay Cruise Guests

Saturday morning:  9am.  I see I have a missed call so I return it.  It’ s one of our guests for the Bay Cruise Event we’ve got down in Sausalito later this afternoon.  I missed him yesterday with my email directions so I try to explain it over the phone while blow drying my hair and moisturizing-all the while plotting how on earth I’m going to get a dress for my 10 year reunion at some point in the day between event errands, event setup, work phonecalls and the 3 hour drive on the 101/580/99 towards my home town:  *****  (this information is confidential!). 

Shoot!  I remember I completely forgot about the camera for the event, and make a quick phone call to Judd to ask him to bring his so we can make sure to get all of the event’ s happenings on film…….

Wine openers-check.  Wine-check.  Glasses-check.  flowers?   Wait a minute-is there water to drink on a boat?  What if there’s not?  I’d better get some! 

OK-so my bags are packed for my weekend out of town.  My event box is packed with all essential event items.  Directions are in hand (with a 1/2 hour detour to Nordstrom’s planned to get a reunion dress)-and my hands free device is connected and ready to go.  I’m off!

flowers-check.  water-check.  Reunion dress-check (If I keep the tags on I can return this right?)

Arrival at the boat dock in Sausalito shows the day’s weather to be a bit blustery and temperamental.  D***, the weather was perfect yesterday-why couldn’t it just hold out? 

Quick instructions to Marina (the Boat company’s event supervisor) about the event

Incoming call:  It’s Judd wondering where this street is he is supposed to turn on-does it exist? 

There’s Chris and Tracy (Wine club manager and events helper) showing up at the dock-early just as planned!  They take my event box away from me and tell me to hit the road and get to my reunion.  I gratefully do so-telling them as I’m running to my car that I can be reached by cellphone in my car for the next 3 hours if they need ANYthing.  Guests have started arriving now-and everyone looks happy and relaxed at the prospect of spending the next 3 hours floating around the Bay on our lovely schooner boat-drinking wine.  It looks like it will be a great event!  And it was!!

For now I’m off to get my fresh garden lettuce-which Tony is picking for us all today.  I’m thinking a goat cheese and toasted almond salad with some of our La Brume chardonnay…….

Bay Cruise on the Gas Light

People often ask me (someone just did today!) what kind of things we do at the winery.  Do we have parties?  Do we do stuff for our wine club?  Do we travel?

Yes.

I can’t really mention ALL of the things we have upcoming at (and away from) the winery but I’ll say that just looking at them all sometimes makes me dizzy.  And excited……………

As usual, this Friday we’ve got our live music in the courtyard, this week it’s John Youngblood ( a bit country and a bit bluegrass).  Last week (a very warm and sultry evening for sure) we all had a great laugh when we had a little musician ‘mishap’ and had to call in one of our favorite local musicians to help us out.  Thanks Steve!

He was just down the road in Healdsburg so he was able to set up and start his magic before people got impatient.  In the meantime it gave everyone a chance to take a look at our displayed local artist’s work in the tasting salon, and to get their picnics all set up before the show. I was getting hungry just looking at the amazing spreads people brought!

Next weekend we’ve got the Bay Cruise event down in Sausalito-can’t wait!

We’ve got harvest (yes it is that time of year already!) starting within a few weeks, and a long series of our now famous ’Harvest Luncheons’ starting up soon after (sept 11th will be the 1st).  We’re also laying plans to visit our Southern Californian fans in the next few months.

I’m heading off to LA myself here this weekend to sample the smorgasboard of fun things we could potentially do down there.  Stay Tuned…………..

So we’re off to Tomales Bay with a small group of customers and Wine Bench members this weekend (Mike-the winemaker, Tony (aka ‘Nature Boy’-the cellarmaster and vineyard biologist, and myself) to take in some fresh air, some great views, and……..LOTS of oysters.  First the hike, then………..lunch:  an oyster picnic at Hog Island Oyster Company in Tomales Bay with some of our awesome wines. 

We leave the rest of the team behind to take great care of our guests and host Friday night music at the winery (we do this every Friday from May-Oct!)  One of the most wonderful thing about this winery is that there’s always something going on.   If Tony’s not in the cellar or at an event-he might be out in the vegetable garden picking fresh veggies for us to enjoy (I’m taking basil home tonight-mmmm…..) or writing us all an email about the happenings with Mother Nature in the vineyard.  There’s a good chance you’ll see Jacques out in his bee suit checking on the bee hives or on that rare occassion, getting some yummy honey for us all to enjoy at our weekly morning meetings……. 

I’ll be posting pictures of our these two events (our Bastille Day Luncheon and the Tomales Bay picnic) in the next week.  Stay tuned!