Sky Terrace Vineyards

07/27/2018

Bottling and notice of International Awards for STV Merlot 2016 and Grenache Rose!

07/03/2018

02/15/2017

Winter posting from Sky Terrace Vineyards
This has been a rain filled winter and the dormant vines are still gathering resources to begin the bud stage y
We are in need of a VINEYARD MANAGER, to help us do the heavy work of our one acre, mature vineyard . In the meantime, Jim Felton has led a gang of vine pruners, cutting old wood for best growing in 2017. Here's a photo of Jim and Dave Halseth cutting on a sunny winter day. The great news is that in the wine judging of the Contra Costa Home Winemakers, our Sky Terrace meritage-Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the OLLI blend, won third prize! We'll display our ribbon later but here's the results to confirm our excitement. We continue to have friends and strangers come to visit and hope you will stay in touch!

08/17/2016

2016 Harvest at Sky Terrace Vineyards, Danville

It's almost time to harvest our grapes!

You are invited to help us harvest the 2016 crop of grapes that will become Sky Terrace Vineyards wine. As you can see, the vines are pruned carefully and the bunches are thinned to about 15 bunches per vine. We have netted and protected our crop to get sweeter and bigger before we harvest.

Come at 8:30 am (or so) on Saturdays,
September 3,
September 10,
September 17,
September 24

We'll pick, crush, set to fermenting and then enjoy a vineyard brunch....Wear working clothes and shoes. We'll provide gloves and cutters. Hope you can join us!
Contact Bette ([email protected]) or Jim ([email protected]) for more information!

08/01/2016

Today is August 1, and the vineyard is spectacular after a steady hot summer has ripened the grapes and started veraison right on time.
Harvest Events begin with OLLI Wine Camp on Friday, Sept 2 (www.scholarolli.com), then the next three or four Saturdays, Sept. 3, 10, 17 and 24. We'll know more as we begin checking brix on the Chardonnay this week! Mark your calendars and join us at 8:30 any Saturday!

07/13/2016

We were a wine sponsor at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in San Francisco!
The Anniversary Dinner was 4 days after the Orlando massacre, and was an amazing evening with Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly.

Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence 23rd Anniversary Dinner

12/23/2015

Happy Holidays!

09/17/2015

Dear friends of STV! At OLLI Wine Camp tomorrow - Friday 9/18- we will finish picking and crushing. The harvest looked very good, though scant- about 1/2 of the volume we have gotten in previous years. All the varietals are fermenting, bubbling away with yeast and nutrients.

AS A RESULT, WE DON'T HAVE ANY CHORES FOR PICKERS, CRUSHERS OR PRESSERS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19...

We do have a cool smoked turkey lunch with some garden contribution....So do join us for lunch if you would like-around 11:30.

And here is a photo of our fantastic helpers, from 9/5, who we thank so very much for their labor and love!

08/13/2015

Instead of hearing all my whines in the previous post,
COME FOR HARVEST ON SEPTEMBER SATURDAYS-
SEPTEMBER 5, 12, or 19. Come at 9 am to work (maybe), followed by petanque and abundant good food!
Bette and Jim

08/13/2015

Hi vineyard friends! I am reluctant to write because I cannot rave about the grapes as we near Harvest 2015. Until July 25, the grapes looked fine, even though we reduced our watering by half in the great draught. Foliage and clusters were abundant, and we trimmed canopy and cluster thinned in July to give the remaining clusters the best chance. Then, like our vegetables, they just didn't continue ripening. Now bunches are uneven- which is usual for the Zin, but now all the varietals look uneven. Our star is Cab Franc, which is already at brix of 17, and even and full. The Chardonnay was 'birded' by July 20, before we even got nets on.

The good news is that when we finished bottling the 2014, both Jim and I agreed that it is our best yet...even the 100% Merlot is smooth, with just enough fruit. And our few bottles of Grenache Rose are being consumed quickly, perfect for petanque and summer dinners.

In spite of our worries, we will host Harvest on the first 3 Saturdays of September, 9/5 , 9/12, and 9/19. Come at 9 am, and if there is no work to be done, we'll play petanque and have a great meal!

07/19/2015

Even though we have made few posts this year, the Sky Terrace Vines are growing beautifully, and the bottling of our 9th vintage, from 2014 is complete! We had help from friends and family (Check out our fine young help, Kathryn) to put almost 700 bottles away, leaving some for us to blend in August. We like all three reds, 100% Merlot, 100% Syrah, and our OLLI Blend of Cab Franc and Merlot. The 100% Merlot has a great start and finish and is much richer than in earlier vintages.

The first varietals are now starting veraison. The ten Sangiovese vines are first, followed by Grenache and some berries in the Zinfandel bunches. Since the pace of climate change is ripening the grapes earlier, we have completed bunch pruning and are working on maintaining a healthy canopy on the vines as the sun beats down. We have limited our watering to once a week, one gallon a vine, in hopes that our 10 year old vines have deep and extensive roots to survive in the draught. We keep thinking about dry farmed vineyards in the hills of Italy and France, and know that our vines are remarkably resilient.

We probably will harvest in August this year, or maybe early September, due to the early ripening. I will send information and invitations to harvest via email, so watch for details here and in your email. And check our our set-ups for al fresco dining with friends and family on the petanque court. We've had three fine events already this summer!

08/23/2014

Today, the merlot and syrah were not quite ready for picking. The gang pressed 29 gallons of zinfandel and set it to 2nd fermentation!
They also took the quality control role for the 2012! Many thanks all!