Back to School - Week 1 Recap

It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces from last semester returning for Spring classes. This semester I will be taking Basic Winegrape Viticulture, Integrated Pest Management, Spring Vineyard Practices, Spring Winery Operations, Spring Budding & Grafting, and Fruit Quality Assurance: Working with the Winemaker.

Looks like this is going to be a tougher semester, academically. More work, more "science" and one class in particular I'm not really looking forward to: IPM (Integrated Pest Management)...insects, diseases (bunch rot, powdery mildew), rodents, etc. Lovely. But, no getting around it, I must have it to complete the program. Fortunately, to balance that out, is WINE 42.2, Spring Winery Practices (last semester 42.1 was my favorite class)....yesterday afternoon was the first class, which we began by toasting with some sparkling wine - first 'challenge' was to taste three different sparkling wines, then identify which one of them was concealed in the paper bag. Between a Brut and Extra Dry, I guessed the wrong one! Well, in my defense, I have a head cold....

The highlight of the week was being able to attend a Sonoma County Winegrape Commission seminar and trade show on the first day of Spring Vineyard Practices class. There were some excellent presentations like "Increasing Dollars Per Acre" and updates on local ordinances, marketing, sales trends and winery prospects. The trade show was interesting too, and I collected lots of free "goodies" - a mug, a stress-reliever squeeze ball shaped like a bunch of grapes (!), keychains, lip balm, bandaids, a water-gauge for my lawn, a compass, a thermometer, a cell-phone holder for my car, a bumper sticker, writing pads, and a supply of ballpoint pens that should get me through the next year! Interesting crowd of 500+ for 'people watching' - lots more denim, boots, plaid shirts and straw hats than I would have imagined. I keep forgetting that grape growers are farmers and this is, by and large, an agricultural community.