Winemaking

Chardonnay Grapes.


Cabernet Franc Grapes.
These grapes are growing on garden vines adjacent to the Seth Ryan Winery and Vineyards.


The crush at John H. Bookwalter Winery begins here as grapes are dumped from the bin to a conveyor on the way to the stemmer-crusher.


Workers sort the grapes and reject those that don't meet their quality requirements.


From the sorting belt, the grapes drop into the stemmer.


Stems.


Out of the stemmer, the grapes drop into the crusher.


The crushed grapes and juice are pumped through this hose to fermentation.


The crushed grapes and juice reach the liquid-cooled stainless steel fermentation tank.


Crushed grapes, called "must" sitting in a vat.

A weekend in the Santa Maria area

I spent the weekend in and around Santa Maria, CA, visiting with friends. We chanced upon the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve, a beautiful stretch of beach with dunes, surrounded by a small but beautiful wilderness preserve. Driving toward this park, we passed seemingly endless fields of farmland growing a variety of produce in various stages.


This field was recently ploughed and seeded with a new crop.


Just before the entrance to the park, this twisted old tree greets our arrival.


Driving into the park, a narrow winding road passes first a sand works where sandbags and trucks are loaded with sand for various uses; then climbs a sand hill to overlook a little river valley where cattle peacefully graze.


The view just across the road is of a very different landscape looking more like an isolated desolate wilderness than a coastal region so close to fertile farm land.


We found crowds on the beach, not of people, but pelicans, seagulls, and a few other species of birds.


Pelicans congregate on the shoreline in preparation for another sortie.


Suddenly, the sortie begins. Within a few seconds, hundreds of the huge birds surge skyward looking like a swarm of enormous bats rising into the sky.


A pelican flies overhead coming around after take-off.


Just a short distance from all the life lies a patch of Mars. Apparently lifeless, it consists of rocks that closely resemble many of the surface-level images sent back by the various rovers exploring the surface of that planet.


Looking rather like its dinosaur roots, an emu at a local winery peers over the fence separating it from the parking lot.


Next vintage gets its start.