Dec 17, 2024 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Sagrantino, Sonocaia, Sonocaia Estate, Sonocaia Winery
A look back at 100 blog posts, moments from life in Sonoma wine country
Let’s take a step back in time. But first…the wine business is suffering from over-supply, cost inflation, and Gen Z’ers hunger for canabanoids and canned cocktails. But that doesn’t stop us at from enjoying the best that Sonoma wine country can pour out of 750ml glass bottles. Here at the Swiss Hotel back room, I marvel at my colleagues ability to consume their own products!
Sometimes the drinking is purely social and maybe even gets a little out of hand (above). But just as often, we’re focussed on seriously judging our work and the work of our colleagues. Below, a blind tasting of 10-year old Sonoma Valley reds.
Join us as we reflect on over 100 blog posts over 7 years emailed to over 2000 subscribers, like you.
I embarked on the idea of this blog post as a way to communicate with each of you – as we set about developing the 11-acre Hydeout Farm. I was careful not to do too much selling. I was and still am interested in building a following and having dialogue – yes, about grapes and wine for sure; but also bees and honey, chickens and eggs, vegetable and fruit tree gardening, creek restoration, alternative energy, compost, travel, and the non-profits in Sonoma town.
I’ve selected my personal favorite blog posts for republishing. I would be pleased if you would scroll through them and relive your favorites with me. And please send me a note with your thoughts:
June, 2017 – the very first post announcing the launch of this blog.
Welcome to the Hydeout Sonoma vineyard and wine blog
Feb, 2019 – Celebrating 20+ years of winemaking
Celebrating 20 vintages from the Santa Cruz Mtns. to the Sonoma Valley
September, 2020 – FIRE !
The smoky grape harvest of Sonoma 2020
October, 2022 – traveling to Montefalco, Umbria where Sagrantino grows
Umbria and Sonoma – Sagrantino, Food, and Motorcycles
March 2020 – Wildlife (in the time of Corona Virus)
Sonoma Farm Life (in the time of Corona Virus)
December, 2021 – RAIN!
Rain in Sonoma, finally…
June, 2017 – it was a backyard music party
1st annual wine and music party Hydeout Sonoma 2017
December, 2018 – Hope for the future
Hope for the future of wine and food
January, 2024 – a review of 2023
A year-end wine country lifestyle photo journey
A 2018 post about the wine industry convention held every year in Sacramento
Wine Industry Convention
June, 2018 – Farming organically
Farming Sonoma vineyards organically
And there’s still time in 2024 to shop for wine!
Sonocaia wine lineup – DYS 2021 “Double Buffalo” Red Blend, DYS 2017 Red Blend, Sonocaia estate reserve 2021, Sonocaia estate reserve 2022, estate olive oil, apple grappa
Shop Our Wines
Winemaker Ken
Nov 12, 2024 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Sagrantino, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma Valley, Uncategorized
Pre-holiday sale of Sonocaia and Dysfunctional Family wines
with a great discount only for subscribers
Enter discount code FF20 at check out for the Friends and Family 20% off all of our wines. Good only via this blog post.
Pick up at the winery or ship it to your address
Have a look below at the special and quite delicious wines we are featuring today. As most of you know, we are a small boutique winery at the intersection of Sonoma Valley and Carneros, just south of Gunlach-Bundshu and Scribe wineries. Our approach to both farming and winemaking is very hands on. We produce only between 150 to 200 cases of each wine. This equates to just 1-2 tons of each cuveé, allowing us to literally do everything carefully by hand, with our eyes and senses judiciously managing each lot every day all year long, from farming to harvest to barrel to bottle. The result are wines that each come with a great story, an interesting provenance, and are genuinely true to their terroir. And therefore fun to drink. Please dive in…
2022 Estate Reserve Sagrantino
Pre-release allocation only to blog post subscribers like you. This just-bottled 2022 vintage is a truly epic red wine; deep and dark in color, with ample tannins, a long finish and great acidity. We are very excited about this vintage. It is the result of literally years of effort in the vineyard and winery. Originating with the importation of Sagrantino grapevines from Montefalco Umbria in 2016. Aged two years on oak. This wine is made for dining on a cold winter night. It will cut through the meanest turkey gravy your momma ever made!
Click here to order: 2022 Sonocaia Estate Reserve Sagrantino
2021 Estate Reserve Sagrantino
After years of carefully farming our estate Sagrantino, this inaugural 2021 vintage is rich and smooth and very food friendly, like Sagrantino should be. As it was the very first vintage, it is a bit softer and more approachable compared to the blockbuster 2022 we just bottled, above. This wine will go very well with baked turkey, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie! Suggestion – try this in place of your go-to Thanksgiving Pinot Noir.
2021 Dysfunctional Family Winery “Double Buffalo” Red Blend
The “Double Buffalo” 2021 Dysfunctional Family ‘Red Blend’ was sourced as always from four of our friend’s special boutique organic vineyards around Sonoma Valley. This vintage is soft and fruity and really easy to drink, but carries some body and weight into a long finish. A terrific food-friendly wine, especially great with pizza, burgers, and BBQ. And, this is a great wine to match with Thanksgiving leftovers! Blend is 62% Syrah, 24% Zin, 8% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet.
2017 Dysfunctional Family Winery ‘Red Blend’, Library Selection
Driven primarily by structured hillside Cabernet Sauvignon and inky Petite Sirah, this wine is dark, rich, and weighty, and yet is also easy to drink – owing to both perfect bottle age and the addition of small amounts of smooth Syrah and jammy Merlot. Aged 2 years on a mix of new and neutral oak, then aged an additional 5 years in bottle. It is perfect and ready to drink right now.
We are re-releasing this library wine just for the holidays. I recently snuck this bottle into a blind tasting with some very well known and expensive red wines. The team was a collection of local Sonoma growers and vintners who have tasted many delicious wines. And they were so moved that they each bought a case. Get yourself some while it lasts.
2020 Dysfunctional Family Winery Rosé
Just 7 cases left in the whole wine world! If you love Rosé for Thanksgiving, and many have that tradition…made in the ‘saigneé style’ – meaning ‘bleeding off’ the unfermented pink grape juice from the full tank of fresh grapes, then cold fermented in stainless steel and quickly racked back to neutral oak barrels for settling; all resulting in a wine that is dark pink in color, crisp, and fruit forward. Drink well chilled, and don’t be afraid to put an ice-cube right into your glass like we do. Chill and open this wine for your family and guests to set the perfect festive mood.
Part of the Sonocaia and Dysfunctional Family winery lineup. You and your family and your guests will enjoy having these wines on your holiday table.
Enter discount code FF20 at check out for Friends and Family 20% off of all our wines. Good only via this blog post. Order today to receive by Thanksgiving.
News and flash backs:
November 2023 – just one year ago, the grand opening of Sonocaia estate winery
December 2023 – gathering with friends and colleagues over too many wines, in the private dining room at the Swiss Hotel on the Sonoma Plaza
Ken and Cynthia pouring Sonocaia at the 2024 Vintner’s Festival. This is one of the major events put on every year by the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Association. The SVVGA has a great board of directors and staff. The team is superb at featuring the beautiful and authentic wines of Sonoma.
Some informative reading about Sagrantino, polyphenols, and tannins, just fancy words for color and flavor:
Next post coming in December – a trip back in time across 100 blog posts, and a chance to sit back and scroll through images and news from across the world of wine over the past few years.
A winter corporate event at our Redwood City winery, in 2003; one of the first urban wineries in the bay area, and the genesis of our entry into the wine business over 20 years ago.
Oct 9, 2024 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Hydeout Sonoma, Sagrantino, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma lifestyle, Sonoma Valley, Uncategorized
Enjoy this pictorial journey of Fall in the Sonoma Valley
From our sun-soaked vineyard to the bustling crush pad, immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the Sonocaia Estate Winery in the Sonoma Valley. Explore the heart of California wine country and savor every moment of the season.
With our 2022 vintage, we reached the promised land having created a Sagrantino wine with superb color, great depth, structure, and varietal distinction. It’s simply a gorgeous wine that goes so very well with grilled beef, rich pastas, and aged cheese. And the most perfect match of all – mushroom risotto!
Bottling the 2022 vintage
The finished product – vintage 2022 Sonocaia estate reserve Sagrantino. The first truly representative example of our almost decade-long effort to replicate Umbrian Montefalco Sagrantino in the Sonoma Valley.
The bottling crew
Valley of the Moon “Vintage Festival” – Grand Tasting Event
We poured our recently bottled 2022 Sonocaia Sagrantino estate reserve and the 2021 Dysfunctional Family ‘Double Buffalo” wine at the Valley of the Moon “Grand Tasting” event at the Barracks on the Sonoma Plaza. A really large audience crowded around our tasting table for three hours, a wonderful surprise given that we were literally surrounded by much larger and more famous wineries.
The Grand Tasting inspired a big crowd from around the country
Lead by Executive Director, Robyn Sebastiani (2nd from right), the entire Vallay of the Moon “Vintage Festival” staff made the event a great success.
Valley of the Moon “Vintage Festival” – Harvest Dinner and Auction Event
Celebrating 200 years of Sonoma Valley wine and farming, we donated a monster 6 Liter Methuselah of the 2017 Red Blend – 32% Cabernet, 29% Petite Sirah, 25% Syrah, and 14% Merlot, all from 100% organic, 100% Sonoma Valley vineyards, and 100% grown, produced, and bottled by our company.
Valley of the Moon “Vintage Festival” – Grape Stomp
As a large audience roared with encouragement (from a significant distance), 2-person teams raced each other to stomp ten pounds of grapes and produce a winning volume of liquid, and happily got themselves and the judges covered in red grape juice in the process
This was the winning team’s submission. And the stomping was much harder than it looked, even for the energetic youngsters.
Recent visitors to the Sonocaia estate
These are a few of the photos of various visitors to the winery, very random and with instructions to “just act natural.” They were all very good at following instructions.
Vintage 2024 – harvest prep
Sanitation and equipment checks are a constant at the winery. And especially at the start of harvest. Even more so when your assistant winemaker, Dominic Smith, also of Domesday wines, shows up with a new ultra-sleek, super-gentle, and very expensive Italian must pump.
A brief pause for some fun on the Sonoma Plaza
The Sonoma Plaza has an all-summer-long Tuesday night Farmer’s Market. It always attracts a large audience, especially when the food trucks and the music make the scene.
A grand rodeo at the Wing and Barrel Ranch in Carneros
The most incredibly all-American and patriotic event of the year in Sonoma, other than Fourth of July, our hosts Christine and Jon Curry of Landers Curry (famed Sonoma home builder and interior designer) served us ample cold beverages, provided perfect seats to view the parachute, barrel racing, and bull riding (and it should be called bull falling), followed by an hours-long BBQ. The right way to prep for harvest.
Watching, waiting, tick tock, and finally, it’s go-time for the harvest
It’s a bit nerve-racking and daunting to work to diligently farm a vineyard and then put your head on the pillow every night in October and say to yourself “should I pick…now?” The decision will affect the quality and features of that vintage for years to come – in barrel, in bottle, and on your dinner table. But the decision must be made. And so in my view you make it fearlessly and without hesitation.
5:00am, the sky is dark, the air is perfectly cool, the tractor lights are glowing, it’s time, let’s do this.
The team is psyched for the final bin as the sun begins to set on a long day, and the mighty Kubota tractor keeps on chugging
Wait, did you wash those feet?
Funny? Yes. But not a joke. Mike and Dom dropped the last 20% of this fruit into the bin as ‘whole clusters’ (stems on) and foot-tread the fruit. Truly, the most gentle and really pretty compelling way to very softly break up the berry skins without cracking the seeds. Works really well on smaller lots of 1-2 tons. Not so much on 100 tons!
Final thoughts
With all the wines quietly fermenting in the winery, we’re now busy with punchdowns and pumpovers 2-4 times every day for the next month. Then, it will be time to press that wine into barrels. And then eat some turkey and mashed potatoes.
But meanwhile…wait for it…Acorns! Just like clockwork, as the last grapes are harvested, the oak trees start dropping acorns. And I start yet another year of passionately collecting them for the baby oak tree nursery.
And from the Hydeout gardens, a payoff of amazing Fall potatoes
Warmest regards to you each for a fantastic, cold, rainy, quiet, and peaceful winter
Next post – a review of the over 100 blogs posted here since June 2017
Happy tourists in their hot air balloons grace the early morning October skies over the Hydeout Farm and Sonocaia Winery
Sep 18, 2024 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Hydeout Sonoma, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma Farming
Rosé sale. 20% off. For the last hot days of summer.
Just 7 cases remaining. Who wants some?
Cellar find! We found 7 perfectly pristine cases of 2020 Rosé hiding in plain sight. Our beautifully aged rosé is made in the French saignée style, meaning ‘to bleed.’ Most rosé is made by going straight into the press when the fruit when arrives at the winery. That approach often results in a light cotton candy colored wine, with little to no tannin but nice fresh fruit. In the saignée style, the red grapes are first processed into a fermentation tank. Then some liquid that has sat ‘on the skins’ is ‘bled off’ and then fermented as a rosé. What remains in the tank becomes a more concentrated dark red wine. And the resulting rosé in this approach is a darker red, slightly more tannic, slightly crisper, and is thus actually age-worthy vino. And that is what we’re offering here. Aged 4 years in bottle in the winery cellar. Pristine condition. We recommend drinking it ice-cold on the last of the hot summer days still ahead.
Rose sale! 20% off instantly. Because you are a subscriber to this blog, you are automatically in our “friends and family” discount program! When you order, for UPS shipping or pick up at the winery, enter this discount code for an instant 20% off: FF20
Click here to have a look at the rest of our wines, including our Sonocaia 100% estate Sagrantino and our Dysfunctional Family red blends
What I did on my summer vacation (only because some subscribers asked)…
Dear Teacher, bottling and harvest starts this week with work in the winery likely lasting through Thanksgiving. So we jumped on the motorcycle for our summer vacation. This year, we rode to the Canadian Rockies and back. Thousands of miles. 3,508 miles to be exact. The ride took us through Kalispell Montana, crossed into Canada, headed north to Edmonton (and went to the Metallica 72 Seasons concert) then rode back to Calgary and met up with nine friends on their moto bikes, rode west to Vancouver via Banff, Revelstoke, and Whistler/Blackcomb, then turned back east to Kamloops and Kelowna, and then finally headed south to home – via Yakima, Bend, and Klamath Falls. It was an epic adventure full of great roads, wildlife, hiking, food and drink. And a very important new cultural discovery – Hawkins Cheezies, a corn meal and cheese snack far superior to all other cheesy puffs! Not kidding. Have a look.
Metallica at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Click here if you need to bang your head – Wherever I May Roam, oh come and click it, even if you don’t like metal, you’ll enjoy the buzz!
Motorcycle riding through the spectacular Canadian Rockies from Calgary to Vancouver and back with our riding group from Florida, South Dakota, Arizona, and NorCal
Hiking the Rockies
The famed Canadian bar “drink-in-meal”, called the Giant Bloody Caesar. What the heck is this you may ask? It’s a monster Bloody Mary, plus two giant loaded sliders, a few fried zucchini sticks, some veggies, and a lot of napkins, it just goes on and on…
The famed Hawkins Cheezies, which we discovered on a fuel stop. Don’t laugh. Like no other cheesy puff you have ever had. For real. Super crunchy and cheesy. Made from corn meal, not wheat. Available only in Canada. And as it turns out, you can get em from a supplier via Amazon.
Oh, so this is where Cynthia gets her superpower!
3,508 miles, and the bike and us safely back home in time for bottling and harvest
In the next blog post…
- Bottling the 2022 vintage of Sonocaia Sagrantino.
- Racking the 2023 vintage of Sonocaia Sagrantino.
- Harvesting the Sonocaia Sagrantino. The 2024 harvest is now just around the corner. This week, brix (sugar readings) were in the 24.3 range. Shoots are lignifying. Seeds are turning coffee colored. I am hoping to push the harvest out as late as possible as Sagrantino’s thick skin loves a long growing season. And the refined tannins are way more important than sugar water measurements. But as always, the weather will be ultimately in charge.
- And soon, a full report on a new professional colleagues wine tasting event we’re launching here at Sonocaia
Warmly, Ken
P.S. – The Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers is hosting their annual Vintage Fest. Click on this link to see the entire schedule, buy tickets, bid on auction items. Sonocaia and Dysfunctional will be pouring at the Plaza Barracks on Saturday eve, Sept 28th, at 6:00pm.
But wait, there’s more…
Sonoma International Film Festival
27 years of the best in film, food, wine, and fun – it all starts up again on March 19-23, 2025. Four days of amazing film, food, wine, and parties. It’s an all-walking film festival around the Sonoma Plaza. Feature films, docs, animation. Buy your passes starting on October 1st: Purchase tickets here for SIFF. This week’s SIFF’s monthly film featured “Giants Rising”, “the secrets and superpowers of the Redwoods”, and winner of more than six film festival awards, at the Sebastiani Theatre on Sonoma Plaza. Sold out crowd. Great film. See images below.
SIFF Executive Director, Ginny Kreiger, introducing the film, Giants Rising
Director Emeritus, Kevin McNeely (left) doing a great job with the Q&A after the screening of Giants Rising.
Sonoma Farmer’s Market
At one of the last Tuesday night Farmer’s Markets of the year, where a Doors tribute band rocked the Sonoma plaza. And we dined al fresco with friends. And drinking Dysfunctional vino.
Bobcats
Wildlife is a constant presence here at the Hydeout Farm. It constantly ebbs and flows as rapidly-reproducing animals at the bottom of the food chain (like mice and rabbits and squirrels) get consumed by apex predators who are higher on the food chain. Two weeks ago, a pregnant Bobcat appeared, and then a week later, two baby Bobcats showed up. It’s been interesting to observe how rapidly the population of rabbits and squirrels drops off – whether they are eaten, relocate elsewhere for safety, or both. Even the raucous and very pack-like black crows have vanished.
Red Tail Hawks and Cooper Hawks
Life is dangerous for the apex predators too, but in different ways. In this first image, a Red Tail Hawk adult stretched its wing near some power lines, causing an electrical arc and sadly, the hawk exploded with 7000 amps of juice. I found its severed foot at the bottom of the power pole. Very impressive claw! One week later, an adult Coopers Hawk was training a fledgling to hunt. But sadly, it hit something… maybe misjudged a tree, and broke a wing. We found the young hawk sitting in the driveway looking dazed. When we approached slowly, it just fell over. We collected the hawk into a box and drove it up to the Santa Rose “Wild Bird Rescue.” We’re waiting on news of its recovery, and hope to repatriate the fledging bird back to its home soon.
Sustainable vineyard farming practices
Our Sonocaia and Dysfunctional Family wines are 100% organic. We do our best to balance old world methods with modern science. We never use toxic chemicals of any kind; after all, we live on this land, eat the food, and drink the water. As the grapes ripen, wild birds and other animals positively lose their minds on the sugary grapes. One of the best deterrents is to install bright reflective tape in the vine rows. As the breeze blows and the tape shimmers, little blasts of confusing bright light reflect out in a kaleidoscope fashion. The streaky light makes the birds nervous. It’s not perfect, they do learn to overcome their fear. But hopefully we minimize damage to the fruit we’ve worked so hard to grow over the previous 9 months. I like to say we’ll keep 4 acres for the humans and the wild life can have the other 7 undeveloped open acres.
New Rooster and chicks
Some weeks ago, 20 new baby chicks arrived from the nursery. And just 10 shorts weeks later, they are ready to be introduced to the adult population. In this first photo, you see the chicks just as they arrived, little baseball-sized fluff balls. In the second image, it becomes quickly obvious that one of the babies was incorrectly sexed at the nursery and is in fact not an egg-laying hen, but a rowdy teenage rooster. Note: “Slim” is available for adoption (we already have 2 adult roosters which is twice what we need or want!)
Aug 22, 2024 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Hydeout Sonoma, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma Farming, Uncategorized
Two featured Dysfunctional Family Winery red blends
Our Dysfunctional Family 2021 Red Blend also known as the “Double Buffalo” is drinking well right now. It is a deeply colored, medium-bodied, easy-drinking wine, with an all-American blend of 62% Syrah, 24% Zinfandel, 8% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet. Your dinner party guests will enjoy this very approachable wine that drinks nicely all evening long. Plus, the Dysfunctional brand name and “Double Buffalo” iconography make for good conversation. Less than 25 cases remain.
Find it here: Dysfunctional 2021 Red Blend ‘Double Buffalo”
Taking a step back to an older favorite, we have a few cases remaining of this 2018 Red Blend, this one sourced from my colleagues’ 3 small hand-farmed 100% organic vineyards in the heart of Sonoma Valley; for those who prefer a softer version of our annual blend, this is juicy wine with a smooth plush texture, soft red fruit, and silky tannins – looks like Cab (65%), tastes more like a fat Syrah (23%), and finishes like a Pinot (9% Cab Franc and 3% Merlot). Let it breathe a bit, then enjoy with it salmon, or lightly smoked/barbecued/roasted food. It is aged for 20 months in a mix of French and American oak. Less than 12 cases remain.
Find it here: Dysfunctional 2018 Red Blend
Click here to have a look at the rest of our wines here, including our 100% estate Sagrantino, rosé, and many red blends
20% off instantly! Because you are a subscriber to this blog, you are automatically in our “friends and family” discount program! When you order, for UPS shipping or pick up at the winery, enter this discount code for an instant 20% off: FF20
News from the Hydeout farm and around the Sonoma Valley
Bobcats
Wildlife is a constant presence here at the Hydeout Farm. It constantly ebbs and flows as rapidly-reproducing animals at the bottom of the food chain (like mice and rabbits and squirrels) get consumed by apex predators who are higher on the food chain. Two weeks ago, a pregnant Bobcat appeared, and then a week later, two baby Bobcats showed up. It’s been interesting to observe how rapidly the population of rabbits and squirrels drops off – whether they are eaten, relocate elsewhere for safety, or both. Even the raucous and very pack-like black crows have vanished.
Red Tail Hawks and Cooper Hawks
Life is dangerous for the apex predators too, but in different ways. In this first image, a Red Tail Hawk adult stretched its wing near some power lines, causing an electrical arc and sadly, the hawk exploded with 7000 amps of juice. I found its severed foot at the bottom of the power pole. Very impressive claw! One week later, an adult Coopers Hawk was training a fledgling to hunt. But sadly, it hit something… maybe misjudged a tree, and broke a wing. We found the young hawk sitting in the driveway looking dazed. When we approached slowly, it just fell over. We collected the hawk into a box and drove it up to the Santa Rose “Wild Bird Rescue.” We’re waiting on news of its recovery, and hope to repatriate the fledging bird back to its home soon.
Sustainable vineyard farming practices
Our Sonocaia and Dysfunctional Family wines are 100% organic. We do our best to balance old world methods with modern science. We never use toxic chemicals of any kind; after all, we live on this land, eat the food, and drink the water. As the grapes ripen, wild birds and other animals positively lose their minds on the sugary grapes. One of the best deterrents is to install bright reflective tape in the vine rows. As the breeze blows and the tape shimmers, little blasts of confusing bright light reflect out in a kaleidoscope fashion. The streaky light makes the birds nervous. It’s not perfect, they do learn to overcome their fear. But hopefully we minimize damage to the fruit we’ve worked so hard to grow over the previous 9 months. I like to say we’ll keep 4 acres for the humans and the wild life can have the other 7 undeveloped open acres.
Sonoma International Film Festival
27 years of the best in film, food, wine, and fun – it all starts up again on March 19-23, 2025. Buy your passes here: SIFF. Also, mark your calendars for SIFF’s next monthly Tuesday night feature, “Giants Rising”, “the secrets and superpowers of the Redwoods”, and winner of more than six film festival awards, at 7:00pm on September 17th at the Sebastiani Theatre on Sonoma Plaza.
Hot Air ballooning in Sonoma Valley
Your adventure begins the moment you arrive at the Sonoma Skypark in Sonoma. You’ll want to allow at least 3-4 hours in total for this unique outdoor adventure. The first image is looking up at the balloons from the Hydeout pool deck. The 2nd image was of the Hydeout farm and Sonocaia winery, taken from the ballon. You can see a portion of the vineyard at lower right, the winery at far right. The last image is also looking out over the pool deck ten minutes later. They were moving very fast despite looking like the balloon wasn’t moving at all.
Sonoma City Party
On August 1st, the Sonoma City Council and the City of Sonoma presented the 27th Annual Sonoma City Party. The City of Sonoma hosts this annual party to bring our community together for fun, festivities, and to celebrate our vibrant community. A long-standing tradition, this unique event celebrates the rich history of Sonoma, its residents, businesses, and non-profits. The event is free to attend and concludes with a raucous band and dancing as the sun sets.
Zucchini races on the Sonoma Plaza
Sonoma hosts a fabulous farmer’s market on the Sonoma Plaza every Tuesday evening all summer long. On August 20th, instead of music, they held the hilarious, energetic, and wild zucchini races. Adults and kids alike entered. The track was swarmed by screaming participants. The world briefly stopped spinning on it’s axis as the gate fell and the utterly ridiculous zucchini’s raced, rolled, and toppled over the track. 
Click here to watch a very brief Zuchini race movie
New Rooster and chicks
Some weeks ago, 20 new baby chicks arrived from the nursery. And just 10 shorts weeks later, they are ready to be introduced to the adult population. In this first photo, you see the chicks just as they arrived, little baseball-sized fluff balls. In the second image, it becomes quickly obvious that one of the babies was incorrectly sexed at the nursery and is in fact not an egg-laying hen, but a rowdy teenage rooster. Note: “Oreo” is available for adoption (we already have 2 adult roosters which is twice what we need or want!)
Doing good in Sonoma – Impact 100
We hosted the entire board of Impact 100 here at the Sonocaia winery. It is our pleasure to support the local non-profits. Impact 100 Sonoma is a women’s philanthropic organization founded in 2009 to support the vital services and programs of nonprofits serving our community. By working together and pooling our resources, we’re helping to build a just and thriving Sonoma Valley.
Last, a bit of humor
Not meant to be political, and you could probably take this either way, left, right, or otherwise, but it still made for a good and slightly ashamed laugh… 
Next up…
Harvesting our Sonocaia Sagrantino. The 2024 harvest is just around the corner. This week, brix (sugar readings) were in the 17-19 range. I am hoping to push the harvest out as late as possible as Sagrantino’s thick skin loves a long growing season. And coffee-colored seeds and refined tannins are way more important than sugar water measurements. But as always, the weather will be ultimately in charge.
Warmly, Ken
Jul 25, 2024 | Dysfunctional Family Winery, Sonocaia, Sonocaia Estate, Sonocaia Estate Vineyard, Sonocaia Winery, Sonoma, Sonoma lifestyle, Sonoma Valley, Uncategorized
Living in the Sonoma Valley wine country is definitely gratifying. We constantly meet happy people on their vacations. And we eagerly share our wine and vineyard and farm life. Like everything in life, there is work involved in growing grapes and making wine, sometimes hard work. But at the end of the day, it is worthwhile. Please enjoy these photos and captions of the most recent weeks around the Sonocaia winery and the Sonoma Valley…
Standing in front of the winery “totem pole”, wonderful winery clients visiting from Kukui ‘Ula resort in Koloa, Kauai. Their visit was so entertaining. Every few minutes, another couple of their friends wandered in. We started as a group of 7 and ended at 13. And they walked away with smiles and much wine including dramatic large-format bottles. Great group.
Euphoria Yoga Day Retreat
We partnered with Euphoria for a Yoga Day Retreat. Guests enjoyed a full al fresco yoga practice, relaxing sound healing, and a complete wine tasting experience.
An invitation – Travel with us to Umbria Italy: Wine, Wellness, and Culinary Retreat with Euphoria
Special offer just for Sonocaia Winery blog subscribers
September 29th – October 4th, 2024
Join Euphoria Retreats, a Sonoma-based luxury retreat company, for a visit to Umbria Italy. Immerse yourself in Italian cuisine, culture, wine, and nature at the famed Borgo di Carpiano Resort. This retreat offers a blend of wellness and indulgence, featuring activities like cooking classes with Chef Luca, wine tastings, and walks through the wooded landscape. Guests will explore the medieval village of Gubbio, enjoy three glorious fresh light meals a day prepared by your very own in house chef. There will be plenty of time to relax by the pool and warm evening toasts. The retreat promises a rejuvenating experience in a setting rich with history and modern comforts. In the mornings you are invited to mix in some wellness and try on some light exercise, including stretching and flowing with resistance bands under the guidance of Lisa Carlsson, co-owner of Euphoria Retreats. For more information call 707.309.0010, we love to chat about travel!
Note: Cynthia and I travelled on a version of this Euphoria tour two years ago. We like to think that Tuscany is to Napa as Umbria is to Sonoma. As dedicated growers of the rare Umbrian Sagrantino red grape variety, we were on a pilgrimage to taste the original Sagrantinos in their native land of Umbria. And we concluded our travels at the very glorious Umbrian mountain hideaway, Borgo di Carpiano. We can highly reccomend this travel excursion. And as subscribers to this blog, you get 25% off using the special discount code, if you apply soon!
Expansive view from the Borgo Di Carpiano Resort terrace
It’s always time for fresh homemade pasta at the Borgo!
Rack and Return – time for a bit of wine science
The primary wine fermentation, when yeast converts sugar to alcohol, take places in the first few weeks after harvest in the Fall. Then the wine is pressed and moved into barrels to settle and ‘elevage.’ Sometimes spontaneously, but traditionally after winter when the barrel cellar begins to warm up a bit, a secondary fermentation begins called Malo-Lactic fermentation. Malic acid (like the tartness in a green apple) is converted to Lactic acid (like the acid found in dairy). The result is a profound softening of the wine along with an increase in desirable aromatics.
And, after the secondary Malo-Lactic fermentation is complete, it is traditional to perform a ‘rack and return.’ Simply put, the wine is drained from the barrels into a vessel, the barrels are cleaned, and the wine is then returned to the barrels to complete the ‘elevage’ or cellar aging.
The most critical activity during rack and return is the very labor intensive act of sanitizing the entire winery and all of the equipment, moving the wine out and back to barrels, and then sanitizing everything again. It is fair to say that the number one activity in a winery is sanitization. Keep things spotless, like a hospital, and most trouble can be avoided.
Vineyard management – and a bit more wine science
We just completed deleafing the fruit zone on the north side of the Sagrantino vineyard the result is to bring in plenty of air and light to the grape bunches on the north side of the canopy but avoids sun burn on the south side of the rows from the scorching sun by leaving the leaves in place; we’re going for perfect ripening here. We also irrigated for the first time since the winter rains. We’ve captured surface rain water for just this occasion. We’re trying to stretch out irrigation as the vineyard gets older. Eventually, we should be able to dry farm 100%. Dry farming saves water. And makes grapes very deep, dark, and delicious. The roots reach deep every year looking for water. And eventually they go deep enough that they don’t need added water. The result is very evident – dense dark rich wine vs. somewhat watery, bland, and/or weak wine.
Sonoma Valley Museum of Art
Sonoma is blessed with many non-profits including several that enrich the lives of the residents. The SVMA museum is a treasure in our small town, with a constant flow of challenging and intriguing works on display. This summer’s annual museum gala was held at the famous Buena Vista Winery. Built in 1861 (see stone walls in photo), revived by the Bartholomews in 1949, and brought back to life again in 2011 by Jean-Charles Boisset and Gina Gallo.
The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art held its annual gala at the stunning Buena Vista winery. It was a spectacularly successful event, with delicious food and drink al fresco, and funds raised support art education in Sonoma Valley.
Hot Air Ballooning
Hot air ballooning is a year-round spectacle in Sonoma Valley. If you’re up early enough, you’ll very likely see hot balloons in the sky. Cynthia signed up with a visiting friend and joined Sonoma Ballooning for a ride. Call time is bright and early at 5am. Here a few photos from the ballon and from the ground.
Click here for Cynthia’s hot air balloon flight log video
A blurry but close view of the Sonoccaia winery, Sagrantino vineyard, and surrounding Hydeout farm
Another perspective of the Sonocaia estate grounds, vineyard and winery on the right half of the photo
Our wines! You have not yet tasted our fabulous Sonocaia and Dysfunctional Family wines? What are you waiting for? Call us to plan your visit:
Dysfunctional Family Winery rosé, made in the traditional French saigneé style, a bit darker and more robust than typical cotton-candy rosés, best ice-cold with appetizers before dinner
And when you’re done with rosé, consider these gorgeous red wines:
Enjoy the rest of your summer. And thanks for reading!
Ken Wornick
One last thing – a taste of San Francisco
Yes, San Francisco is in the news, currently challenged with an endless homelessness and crime problem/debate plus empty offices and vacant retail spaces due to (depending on who you ask) covid, work from home, taxation, crime, etc. But, “The City” still provides many glorious ways to enjoy it.
Driving back from a wine tasting event in San Francisco, we could not resist pulling over and marveling at the beauty of the Palace of Fine Arts on Lyon Street, host the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. It’s like a little taste of Rome or Paris in our own backyard.
