Got up to Bradford Mountain by 7:30 AM to do the weekly vineyard monitoring. Mike’s dog, Mowgli, joined me for the walk and it was a stunningly beautiful morning. All 18 vineyard blocks up here are looking good. Real good. The cab is almost through veraison. The birds haven’t been too greedy in the pinot noir (I think the raptor perches are helping to scare them off). And once again, the syrah block is looking like a postcard.
Headed on down to the winery. Filled up the bird feeders (it’s amazing how much seed they go through) and watered the lettuce and basil in the garden. Said “Good Morning” to the honeybees. Fixed up a cup of green tea in the kitchen and wandered up to my office. I really needed to check e-mails but instead I spend awhile talking to Brunson and Ramiro about the same things we talk about every morning – sports, music and what amazing food and wine we had for dinner last night. I finally get a chance to deal with those e-mails and phone calls and meetings. Then it’s noon.
Great, except I forgot my bag of dinner leftovers. Luckily, Brunson is in pretty much the same boat so we hit our favorite haunt, Taqueria Guadalajara in Healdsburg, for al pastor and rellenos.
Back to work. Spent the rest of the day researching plans and plants for more large-scale beneficial insect/hummingbird/honeybee gardens we’ll be developing at the estate (some really cool stuff in progress). As usual, the day flew by — time to lock up and go home.
Went out and picked a zucchini, some tomatoes and a bag of multi-colored peppers from the garden for dinner. Just about ready to leave when I realize Judd is on vacation in Hawaii and I promised Juliana a blog post by the end of TODAY.
Back to the computer, staring vacantly, trying to figure out what to write…
