Pray rain

It rained hard last night. The grapes vines welcomed the April rainstorm with open arms. We could use more rain. Early bud break in March, warmer than normal temperatures have pushed our grape vines off to a fast start.  Since bud break, we have escaped any freezing temperatures.  We are happy to report that our vines are doing well. April weather, foggy in morning, warm days and cool nights, has resulted in good vine growth.  However, frost can still be a threat into early May.  Meanwhile, the mild weather and occasional rain fall, such as the one last night, has ramped up powdery mildew pressures in the vineyards and put Michael on alert, being extra diligent to avoid any flare ups of the fungal disease.

Easter is here!

Flowers are blooming everywhere in our Valley of the Sun. The vines in the  vineyards have all leafed out and look stunning under the sun. Birds are singing their happy song. Thank God for His Blessings and for this beautiful weekend! Happy Easter to All!

Website Make-over

Check out our new website that has been under a much needed make-over, after 10 years when it was first launched!

Here is the URL: www.mahoganymountain.com

Paul hard at work!

Thanks much to Paul, our talented web designer, who did an excellent job in giving our new website a new look-and-feel with lots of user-friendly features.

Cheers

Surviving Harvest

We are seeing earlier harvests in Ramona Valley this year, perhaps, due to warmer temperatures and faster ripening. Wait a second. It’s always warm, or rather hot, in Ramona at this time of the year. So what gives? The Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes in our South vineyard continued to be the first in the valley ready for harvest a couple of weeks earlier than the rest of the valley around mid-August. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the West vineyard were ready for harvest a week later last Saturday. We are thrilled with the overall fruit quality this year. It’s going to be a good vintage.


We were doubled blessed last Saturday with lots of helpers and nice weather. The cloud-covered sun and cool breeze made the harvest nice and pleasant. We were so grateful to our volunteers, friends and relatives who came to help. The Hargett cousins (almost a dozen of them), colleagues and friends showed up once again to lend a hand. We also had helpers came from all over: San Diego, Poway, San Marcos, Lakeside, Ramona, San Diego Country Estates, Los Angeles, San Jose, Arizona and as far as Canada. Thank you all so very much for sacrificing your precious weekend to spend a few hours with us and our grapes vines.

Working together in the vineyard was definitely therapeutic to some of us who are more inclined to have a sedentary lifestyle and would rather relax on the weekends, rather than picking grapes in the vineyard. Being in the vineyard gave us all a sense of closeness to Mother Nature and made us realize what a precious gift God has given us. I felt a sense of unity and simple joy as the harvesters bantered while working together in the vineyard. Grapes are truly gifts that keep on giving over and over for thousands of years. We’ve heard over and over again from our volunteers, after their first harvest experience, that they had a better sense of appreciation for wines as they experienced first-hand how much work and TLC involved in growing grapes, harvesting and wine making. We heard from friends and relatives who love wines and fresh local grown foods that helping us pick grapes in the vineyard and watching the grapes crushed into wine must reassured them that there were still foods and drinks out there that were made, not in the labs, but from natural products with as little minimum human intervention as possible.

We went to bed that night with aches and pains, and a sense of accomplishment as we survived Mother Nature and two weekends of harvest with a few more harvests to go until mid-September. We are on the right track and can hardly wait until the end of the harvest season. Now, we know why they invented the Oktoberfest celebration in Germany!

Cheers!

2013 Harvest Season is here!

As harvest at our estate vineyards begins, we are facing the harsh life of grape growers and winemakers, despite all the glamorous pictures of wines and vineyards that proliferate everywhere you look.


As the grapes are ripening, the grape growers are at the mercy of Mother Nature and the wild kingdom which are coming every which way to take their share of one of the most treasured God’s gifts to mankind. This year, in addition to the usual suspects, squirrels, rabbits, birds, bees and deer, the coyotes have developed quite an appetite for ripe grapes. The animals and flying creatures increase their attack as the harvest time comes near, as if they know that soon all this wonderful sweet and delicious fruits will be gone.

Now, more than ever, the year’s work is on the line. The whole year of work to grow the grapes is coming to an end as a year of work to turn grapes into wine begins.

Last Saturday was a perfect example. Our day began at dawn, 5 o’clock to be exact, in the vineyard picking Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah and ended at 11 at night in the winery fermenting the must. Well, we did take breaks for lunch and visit with Frank and Susie Belmont who stopped by offering a couple of foot-long Subway sandwiches – their timing was perfect - and another break for a planned dinner out to celebrate Anna’s birthday.

This is only the beginning of the harvest seasons. We will be at it until the end of the harvest season.

Cheers

Happy Good Friday! Here come the medals!

The good news came to our winery on Wednesday, March 27 when we received the most wonderful news about a wine competition that we had entered earlier this year in New York: we entered two wines and both have won medals.


Mahogany Mountain Vineyard and Winery 2009 Estate Mourvedre - Silver Medal

Mountain Vineyard and Winery 2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - Bronze Medal

What we like about the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition is that the judging is double blind, where the judges do not see the brand of wine or where it came from, and judge it based on a standard. To have medals from this competition means that the quality of our wines measure up competitively and winningly against the world's greatest wines produced by well-known and well-established wine producers. The wines were judged by 70 of the world's top wine judges from 14 countries.

The Finger Lakes International Wine Competition is the world’s largest charitable wine competition judged 3,502 wines from 20 countries and 50 states of the United States last weekend in downtown Rochester, and results were released Wednesday. The 13th annual competition and its associated dinner and auction benefit Camp Good Days and Special Times, a nonprofit organization serving children and families dealing with cancer and other life-threatening challenges.

2012 Holiday Winemaker Dinner

Last Saturday, we kicked off the holiday season with a fantastic wine-food pairing holiday dinner at the Barona Steakhouse. Chef Duncan's delicious tasting menu was meticulously prepared and each dish was expertly paired with our 2009 Mahogany Mountain wines.  Once again, I was able to live out my fantasy of serving our wines and sharing a gourmet feast with our wine club, friends and family with everyone sitting around a very long table in a stately and exquisitely decorated private dining room, served by a team of professional wait staff, just like in the movies.  I felt blessed as I looked around the table seeing happy faces enjoying themselves as they tasted our wines and delicious food.

I loved the Seared Sea Scallop in Champagne sauce that was paired with our Pinot Gris. The crispness and floral aroma of our Pinot Gris brought out the sweetness of the scallop which was beautifully floated on top of the Champagne sauce.

The entire table hummed with happy sounds when everyone tasted the Smoked Short Rib Risotto with our 2009 Merlot. What a perfect pairing! Words simply cannot describe the sensational senses in my mouth when I took a sip of Merlot after taking a bite of the Short Rib Risotto.  I think Chef Duncan and staff outdid themselves again.

Our 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon was fantastically paired with the main course that I chose: Wood Grilled Filet Mignon and the Truffled Mashed Potato with a splash of Red Wine Sauce.  The medium-rare tender steak was cooked to perfection.  

I thought my dress would burst around the waist line when the dessert came out. The chocolate lava cake and caramel homemade ice cream were put together in a beautiful dish decorated with fresh raspberries, strawberry slices and blueberries. Of course, I had no will power to say no, especially, when the wait staff started passing out two of our dessert wines in beautiful port glasses.  Since everything looked so good, I decided to go for it.  What the heck! I thought I was in heaven after the first taste of the lava cake and ice cream, and a sip of our 2003 dessert wine.

Last but not least, Anna, Geoff's girlfriend, sent everyone home with a beautiful bouquet of homemade cake pops, that she and Geoff spent hours making. The cake pops were presented in our logo glass filled with gourmet chocolates.

After that heavenly dinner, I felt that life was still good and the fiscal cliff seemed to be less scary.

Happy Holidays! Joy, Peace and Love to All!

Cheers

The Mahogany Mountain Winery Family