Quady Winery Blog

Essensia had its moment of fame today

Delectable Dessert Buffets

Why Have Just One Dessert When You Can Have Many? (accd to CBS news Early Show)

A dessert buffet was the topic this morning for Tori Ritchie, chef and cookbook author on CBS Early show's Five Minute Chef (scroll down and click on the picture with Essensia).  Tori had called us several times in the past few weeks to alert us that Essensia would be on her show as the featured dessert wine to go with an orange upside cake.  On this morning's show, the bottle of Essensia was prominently shown and described properly as an Orange Muscat wine. She explained that it didn't contain oranges but has an orange flavor from the grape variety used.  Only one little mistake:  she said Essensia wasn't fortified.   Actually it is fortified to a moderate (compared to Madeira and Port) 15% alcohol level.

The dessert was described on the Early Show website as "individual Orange Butter Cakes".  According to their site, one should:  "Serve these cakes with an orange Muscat wine. With the mellow flavor and delicate scent of apricots and a light almond aftertaste, orange Muscats complement many fruit desserts, including these individual cakes made from fresh orange segments. Ritche serves this with crème anglaise and a glass of Muscat."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
   

Drunken Figs and the Chocolate Show

We showed our wines at the 2006 Chocolate show last month in New York where one of the more unusual features was a chocolate fashion show.      We met Avril Pendergast-Fisher from Cocoa Vino an eco friendly and wine friendly chocolatier who is using Essensia in Wassailing Figs and Starboard Batch 88 in their Drunken Figs. 

Chocolate dresses at the Fashion Show.

Quady's Love Potion on ABC morning news

One of the most exciting things happening around here occurred a couple of months ago when ABC sent their news team to the winery to interview us about our new wine, Deviation.    Watch the Video.

Perfect Gift for the Martini Drinker

The San Francisco Chronicle is recommending locally produced gifts. For the martini drinker:  Our Vya Extra Dry Vermouth ("pine citrus floral"), Leslie Rudd's Distillery 209 Gin ("milder and fruiter than others on the market")and a jar of California olives,    Their gin/vermouth ratio, 6:1, is a little dry for our taste.       

December in our vineyard

 

This blog's purpose is to chronicle events in our vineyard, winery, and culture. 

Today is December 12, 2006.  The vines are dormant.   Last week we spread a mixture of manure and composted grape pomace into every other row, the other rows having been planted to a mixture of grasses and legumes.  It is important for the health of our vineyard to build up the levels of organic materials because much of our soil is very sandy and the organic materials help the soil hold moisture and nutrients longer.  Tests of our vines show that even without additional fertilizers the plants have sufficient nitrogen for good growth.   This is an organic method of fertilization which is successful in our vineyard. 

Production in our Orange Muscat vineyard (planted in 1982) is declining due mainly to nematodes (microscopic worms which feed on the roots), and to Eutypa, a fungus disease which attacks the woody parts of the vine.    Since beginning the program of compost and cover cropping, the vines seem to be doing better in the sandy areas - where the nematodes are most severe.  We prefer to use organic farming methods as much as practicable in our sustainably managed vineyard.

The picture on the left is of the end view of a healthy row of vines in loamy soil.  The soil to the left of the vine row has been spread with a composted   mix of pomace and manure.    The soil  to the right has been planted to cover crop.   Note the length of the canes.     In order to control weeds without chemical weed controls, weed fabric (made from discarded tires)  has been laid down between the vines.

The vine row to the right is in the sandy area of the vineyard.   Notice the shorter canes.  Composted pomace and manure and ground cover are important amendments to this soil which is very low in organic matter.