Sonoma International Film Festival
Join me for a quick visit to the Sonoma International Film (and food and wine) Festival, as seen through the eyes of Hydeout Sonoma: Our houseguests during the festival were the director and stars of the documentary film, Grand Cru. Focussed on the trials and...
Meet the winners…
Meet the winners of the Hydeout Sonoma blogpost contest. These 3 eagle-eyed readers spotted my-newt joke in the previous blog post.... For their efforts, they each received a bottle of 2016 "Dysfunctional Family" wine ( a new 'second label' project we introduced this...
Wine Industry Convention
The Grape and Wine Symposium, in Sacramento every January, is THE largest grape and wine industry convention in North America. Here is a quick 'beginner's tour' for those who are unfamiliar with our industry - Quick questions - Reader poll - please let me know what...
Sonoma Firestorm, Part 3, Hiking Arrowhead Mountain
In my final post on the 2017 Sonoma Firestorm, (Part 3) come along as we hike through Arrowhead Mountain, the southernmost flank of the Mayacamas Mountains that splits Napa and Sonoma Counties. The hike started at the base of Arrowhead mountain and climbed up to...
Hydeout clients release their first estate wine this week…
Hydeout Consulting announces 3 new exciting wine releases. Check out these new labels…
Sonoma Firestorm – Part 2 – Analysis, Recovery, Celebration
With mother nature, life always follows death... In my previous blog, you saw images of the terrible firestorm and resulting destruction in Sonoma. In "Sonoma Firestorm - Part 2" we visit a fire-damaged vineyard near Kenwood springing back to life just one month...
Six days of fire in Sonoma
Six days of fire in Sonoma
Sonoma grape harvest 2017, a brief video and pictorial essay…
Enjoy these videos and images of the Sonoma 2017 grape harvest.
Re-visiting the countryside of Marcillac, Aveyron, France, one year later…
One year ago, Cynthia and I visited the French countryside of Marcillac in the department of Aveyron, six hours south of Paris and four hours north of Spain. Attended by my father-in-law, Bruce Bogin, and his friend (and our translator), Georges Berte, we visited a...
Sonoma Ag Boosters party at the Hydeout
The Sonoma Valley Ag Boosters, supporters of the Sonoma Valley High School "Future Farmers of America" and the "Sustainable Agriculture Academy", held their annual fundraising gala last night at the Hydeout in Sonoma... A huge crowd of students,...
Nighttime grape harvest in Sonoma
A pictorial essay of Hydeout Consulting's first nighttime harvest for 2017 Below is a pictorial essay following a nighttime harvest of Pinot Noir from our arrival on-site at the vineyard through to delivery at the winery. Hydeout Consulting directed the management of...
Countdown begins for harvest 2017 in Sonoma
In Sonoma, the harvest is already well underway for sparkling wines and some Pinots. But for the deeper darker reds, we are just starting to do field sampling of berries. And beginning to forecast the harvest schedule. This is vital because every winery has a...
1st annual wine and music party Hydeout Sonoma 2017
Normally we concern ourselves here with serious topics about growing grapes, making wine, building brands, and occasionally irreverent chatter about the mathematically proven variability of scores, points, and contests. And occasionally we make light-hearted fun of...
Managing vineyard irrigation with high technology
Vineyard irrigation systems, even in small vineyards, are either under-featured or overly complex, and most controllers are prone to problems. In the vineyard, risers get run over by tractors, drip hoses get chewed by coyotes, and drip emitters suddenly crack, plug,...
It takes a lot of beer to make wine!
It's an old adage in the wine profession, often said with a knowing laugh, that "it takes a lot of beer to make wine." Why? Because working out in the vineyards in the heat of the day is a really sweaty proposition. And equally, standing on your feet all day and night...
What are they growing in that vineyard over there?
Standing out in the middle of a vineyard in Bennett Valley yesterday, it struck me how many times I have been asked, "hey Ken, what are they growing in that vineyard over there?" I almost always have to give the same answer - "almost impossible to say." This is...
Sonoma Cast Stone, a growing legend in concrete fermentation tank science, and much more!
Being the modest guy that he is, he would fight me off from this label, but at age 82 and still very vigorous, Steve Rosenblatt meets the definition of genius. And with his charming and equally accomplished wife Martha, they make quite the dashing yet modest pair. It...
Plants that attract beneficial insects and keep Sonoma vineyard healthy
The Kivelstadt vineyard on Bennett Valley Road in Sonoma is a gorgeous 10-acre vineyard, now just reaching 20 years old, and featuring blocks of Pinot Noir, Syrah, and some Viognier (for that classic Rhone-style aromatic 'seasoning'). To have forward-thinking clients...