Keller Estate New Year's Resolutions

We are thrilled to start the year joined by our fellow club members who shared with us their goals for 2016. I’m also thrilled to know that some club members actually read all our newsletter! I hope you will enjoy the book « Hungry for Wine » by Cathy Huyghe. A friend of mine invited me to a dinner party where I had to bring in a bottle that I was «hungry to drink ». I knew there would be media people there since the dinner was with Cathy herself, so I debated what wine to take: Should I bring in a Keller Estate wine? We were having dinner at a fellow winery so I thought it might not be appropriate? In the end, I remembered a bottle I had bought in Paris at a small shop where I had finally found a bottle of one of my Cote de Rotie heroes. I had bought that bottle so that eventually, I could set up a comparative “educational”  tasting at the winery. I suddenly realized that I had cellared that wine for over 2 years, and at this rate, I would never actually set up that tasting; I was Hungry for that wine. We opened that bottle, and made it last for all 14 guests, so I probably had a very small pour, but every sip was glorious! I truly wish that you may all have a wonderful 2016 sharing stories and laughs with family and friends, being hungry for wine,  and if you can sneak a bottle of Keller Estate, I won’t mind!

Now on to Keller Estate’s Goals for 2016. We are off to a great start. By the end of February, we will have our Sustainability Certification for both the vineyard and the winery. Now the next phase will be to create our new set of action items for next year’s assessment.

Water is at the center of our attention, measuring, reducing and improving our quality and quantity of water used. Our new flock of babydoll sheep  just started mowing  and fertilizing our vineyards. Olde English Miniature Babydoll Southdown sheep are an ancient breed with sweet, teddy bear faces. Because of their diminutive size, miniature Southdowns make outstanding weeders for use in orchards and vineyards -- they are only 24 inches tall when mature, and so can't easily reach tree branches or trellised grapes. Their small hooves help break the soil surface without compacting it. They move easily up and down hills, and can get into a field or vineyard much earlier than machinery can. And not only do they provide an organic alternative to pesticides and expensive mowing operations, their recycled grass (manure) helps improve soil fertility as well.