EACH YEAR A  NEW YEAR AT CAIN: Discover Summer 2007

Dear Friends,

This has been the year of the wind: wind but no rain. Every year is different and has its own character. I considered 2006 to be the year of extremes: it snowed three times, and we had extreme heat and a ridiculous amount of rain. 2005 was the year of life: I saw insect, weed, and wildflower species I’d never before seen on the ranch. Because of the very late spring rains, everything that could grow did grow. But right now, as I lay writing in my hammock overlooking the Cain vineyard, the oak tree rustles—almost violently—above me in the dry wind, and I know this is 2007: a different kind of year.

We farmers like to complain about the challenges that Mother Nature throws us, but, in reality, we love it and thrive on it. If the vineyard were the same every year, I would be bored—and so would you, if the vintages of the wines didn’t vary from year to year.

It is now late June, and the buckeyes are starting to drop their flowers, the soap plants have put up their tall inflorescences, our new family of baby geese has grown and are about to fly off on their own, the blackberries are ripening, the baby quail are barely more than thumb-size, and the grapes too are beginning their journey towards maturity.

This year started out early, with budbreak in mid-March and the flower clusters beginning to bloom in mid-May. The grape clusters are full of pea-sized berries hanging loosely in the canopy—mostly due to the lack of spring rains, the almost constant wind, and a long bloom period. Fruit set was a little light in some areas, and therefore the clusters are loose—which means a lighter crop, but also less disease pressure and less crop thinning. All signs point to a somewhat early harvest this year, which will be a delight after the last two years of crushing until early November.

Currently, we are busy in the fields, irrigating with our limited water, hedging tall canes, and weeding with shovels and weed-eaters. We are also going through certain vineyard blocks dropping a little bit of the crop to help our vines that are not quite in balance. Where the canopy is dense, we are removing a few leaves or lateral shoots to increase air movement and to allow dappled sunlight on the clusters to help ripen the berries.

The vineyard gets such good care because Cain has an amazing vineyard crew. We have a permanent crew of 11 men, and four of them have been working here for more than nine years. (Two weeks ago, we celebrated—with carnitas, music, dancing, and a tres-leches cake—the tenth anniversary of Alberto Ramos working at Cain). The dedication and respect with which these men treat our vineyard is inspiring, and it makes my job of managing the vineyard a joy. Having the same people pruning the vines year after year, and picking the grapes at every harvest, helps us to sustain this beautiful vineyard in order to produce the grapes for our winemaking team to skillfully and artistically create the Cain Five.

Our vineyard family had a few new additions this past spring—eight chickens. Besides keeping me and the crew amused, they add diversity to our vineyard ecosystem and will become an important part of pest control next spring when they eat the cutworms that feed on the tender, new emerging buds. The “Chicken RV" (a trailer-mounted mobile chicken coop built by me and my dad) will constantly be moved to different vineyard areas so that the chickens can graze and fertilize our terraced land.

By farming with careful manipulation, we will work with Mother Nature to bring this vineyard to its full potential—a September full of dark, ripe berries, with intense mountain flavor. In anticipation of fresh eggs and ripening grapes, I await another great harvest on this amazing mountain vineyard above the fog.

Ashley Anderson, Associate Vineyard Manager