Picking more quince today. I would happily just continue to drive around indefinitely with a box of quince in my car.

Getting accurate sugar samples is not always easy. I fear I’ve lost my sampling mojo. All the numbers are crazy

There is too much automotive drama in my life.

Popelouchum, a view from where my car has broken down.

Just hanging out at the vineyard,waiting for the mechanic to show. Apart from not knowing if I will have a functional car to get home in tonight, the cool breeze is exceptionally calming.

The Ruché block, which had been oh so stuck for the last 3 weeks appears to have jumped 2 degrees Brix in two days. #sugarsinyourrefractometermaybecloserthantheyappear

Trusty old Saab apparently just blew a radiator hose out in the wilds of Popelouchum vineyard. Catching a ride to the auto supply in Hollister. This is turning into a more complex day

Not quite ready to become enraptured tonight. Only upside is that I won’t have to worry about critical picking decisions in the coming days.

Chicago priest Father Michael Pfleger: "The state of emergency is in AMERICA, not Chicago. It's birthed from this president and his admin's reign of terror." ( ht: @mikenellis.bsky.social )

Constitutional checks on power is not terrorism. First Amendment protected free speech is not terrorism. Criticism is not terrorism. The right of the people to peacefully assemble and address grievances toward their government is not terrorism. Speak truth to power. Always.

Doon and gloom, as I once might have said.

My cat at his post, lest I somehow elude him, coming up the stairs.

Reichsmarks?

The thing that bothers me so much is not the “we have to enforce our borders and laws.” We do. It’s the giddy joy and celebration they have at the misery of people far less fortunate. Always punching down

Yellowjacket trap in the Furmint block. The best bait: KFC chicken bones.

Looking in on ferments this morning. Second batch of Pinot just a tad stressed but no real worry. Mencia has a preternatural color for grapes that checked in just under 20 Brix.

There’s a non-trivial amount of rain this morning in Santa Cruz. At least that’s what this grape grower hears a week before harvest.

It ain’t the Castro but Santa Cruz takes Halloween pretty seriously.

Paging Dr. Freud.

WATCH: "They are underwater across the board, and they know it. And that is causing them to double down in public. But it is backfiring. That is why—whether it's a shutdown, whether it's all of this—they want us to blink first. And we have too much to save," says AOC.

I’ve had some pretty long days in my career but I honestly can’t ever remember feeling as tired as I am today, just now rolling in to home.

Leaving Los Alamos 3 tons heavier (with Mencia grapes).

I’m not quite the bec fin that I perhaps once was. But having business in Los Alamos affords the great opportunity to dine at Bell’s, for which I’m eagerly anticipating.

Zillions of wild turkeys plotting their attack on the adjacent Grenache Gris block

I didn’t feature that I would still be schlepping grape bins across the state at this time in my life. But it’s harvest and harvest calls. I’m off to pick up Mencia.

I thought a chance of rain on the Central Coast of California was significant. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2025/09/it...

We had a few showers predicted for next week and I was concerned.

The next few days will be the inverse of harvest, to wit, a rigorous pre-harvest or thinning. Yes, it’s getting late but despite several passes, the vines are still heavy.

Ossoff: "We have a president who's completely out of control, a crook engaged in unprecedented corruption, who's passing one of the most unpopular agendas in history. The public is turning against him. The opposition is motivated. We can win & we have to win, but we don't have the luxury of despair"

Aligoté Doré just finished its primary fermentation and we inoculated today with a malolactic strain. Pressed off the first batch of Pinot, which was made with 100% whole cluster. Incredible structure on this one while still packed with lots of fruit.

Why do headlines say "norms shattered" when what is meant is "laws broken" or "Constitution violated"?

I am, like so many winemakers, concerned about ICE but today, it’s more about finding dry ice to allow the Pinot to cold soak for a few days before initiating fermentation.

When the President uses federal law enforcement for his personal revenge, it puts all of us in danger.

Pinot harvest this morning, then, just for kicks, some quince.

Starting a new medication with my old cat, administered through his ears. This looks like it may end up as a bit of a battle of wills.

Gearing up to harvest the balance of Pinot tomorrow in advance of the rain. And then it’s Ruchè. Can it deal with a bit of moisture?

Shamelessly stolen from a friend's text: “My favorite kind of acetaminophen is Tylenol Rapid Release the Epstein Files”

We are sunk.

This outfit is rather extraordinary.

Forgive the obscurantist post. I’m referring to David Foster Wallace, patron saint of footnotes and sesquipedalianism

An on-time landing at DFW.

I have clearly done something untoward on social media that has triggered an avalanche of interest on the part of willowy, dreamy Asian women. Too good to be true?

i am going to say something very mean if you cannot handle footnotes, it is not that there are too many footnotes, it is actually a you problem

PV = nRT, baby.

People are making Rapture jokes like there's no tomorrow

Is this not a lovable honest punim?

Somewhat prosaic errands this morning but in a few minutes I’ll be testing recipes for the Pêche de Vigne jam we’re making this season.

I am a man of very simple needs.