In mid-December we decided that it was time to think about looking for a new companion.  We began our search for a Swiss Mountain Dog, and anticipated being on a waiting list for a few months, then waiting for pups to be born, then further waiting for the pups to be old enough to leave their mother – most likely a wait of 6 to 9 months.  But, as luck would have it, one of the breeders we spoke to had a female “pick pup” that was supposed to head out to a breeder in Colorado – but the placement fell through.   The breeder’s love for this puppy grew, and they were considering keeping her – but the couple had made a promise to each other that the number of Swissys living in the house could not go into double digits.   Thus, the opportunity seemed to work for all of us.

So in this new year, we were fortunate enough to welcome Caliza to the family at the winery.  The name “Caliza” is the Spanish word for “limestone”.  Caliza absolutely loves being around people and at present is very much a little shadow, following all of the humans in the house… for the time being.  As I’m aware, she will develop her own independence as she approaches a year of age and will begin to test the boundaries.  Thus far, she must believe that we live in the tundra, given the vast amount of snow on the ground that she enjoys sticking her muzzle in as she bounds through the powder.  Once the mud arrives, I don’t think either of us will be enjoying the cleanup after vineyard romps!

While our dear Fíon will never be replaced, we are happy to find room in our hearts for our new companion… and when you arrive to the winery this season,  we hope you enjoy the greeting from a new friend with a wagging tail.

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From a winemaking aspect, there are usually a few tanks of Riesling that are fermenting into the new year.  Once those have completed, we cold stabilize the wines and begin blending trials. The blending trial evaluation can take weeks to complete with all the different variables (i.e. 8 different tanks of Riesling from 3 different sites to make 5 unique Rieslings can take a fair bit of time).  While the 2012 Pinot’s are resting in the barrels, we still have the 2011 Single Vineyard Pinot’s to prep for bottling, along with the 2011 Barrel Reserve.  Additionally, we still have all the post-fermentation chemistry to catch up on (yes, there is the science aspect to winemaking too).

The vineyard needs an annual pruning, which usually takes a few weeks.  This is followed by tying the young trunks to the stakes to keep the vines upright.  Finally, once things begin to warm up, we can tie the canes to the fruiting wire for the season.

What does the winery dog do when it’s this cold out.  Well, her Swiss roots really come out with snow on the ground.  Check out the latest vineyard snow romp from our pooch:

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