Wining away the day in the Santa Ynez Valley...

Wes Hagen, pruning

The Goddess of Wine and JD headed for the wilds of Lompoc recently, ostensibly to pick up wine at Clos Pepe, but also to spend a bit of time in the vineyard with that Renaissance man, Wes Hagen and his trusty assistant, Andrew Turner. It was a beautiful day, sunny and breezy, and Wes and Andrew walked us through winter vineyard management and a demonstration of how to prune a grapevine, during which we learned a new word: phloem. In vascular plants like grapevines, phloem is the living tissue that carries organic nutrients, especially, sucrose, to all parts of the plant where needed. So when you prune a vine, you are looking for the center of the cane to be green and alive; this is the phloem, which ensures that the vine continues to live through the winter.

Too much wining going on?

I can't keep up! JD and I have been attending so many wonderful events and evenings that I don't know how to get everything written. This would be much easier if I didn't have a day job that really gets in the way of my writing during daytime hours. Yet another reason why I need to make this wine education gig start to pay off.