Wednesday, December 19, 2007

VINEYARD- GRAPES RIPENING











It is only our second green leaf and we have already a huge amount of grapes and quickly growing wine plants- this week we had 30 people working around the clock to clean the side roads arrange the plants and ensuring the best conditions for healthy grapes.

BIODYNAMIC WORKSHOP




After visiting some of the leading biodynamic wineproducers in Chile we had 2 days of intensive training with our biodynamic consultant Rene Piamonte. In Argentina there are only 3 vineyards (2 in Patagonia and 1 in Salta), which work through this concept, which use the nature and the soil as basis for their wine plants. This method, which was founded by Austrian Rudolf Steiner some 100 years ago uses natural kompost with specific natural made components to increase the fertility of soil and plants. The objective of this method of vineyard production is to ensure a long term stability in soil full of minerals and organic soil.

VISIT FROM US

As we have started promoting our wines we invited importers from the West Coast to taste our reds and afterwards had a nice gathering in our quincho to enjoy a delicious asado made by Don Hugo.

Monday, December 10, 2007

THE ENTREE







To give the vineyard a nice entry we have decided to set up a 1.5 meters wall with local stones from the Mendoza river to lead our guests to the olive trees and the quincho in the centre of the property. It took some time until the workers learned how to place the stones correctly and the wall looks very nice when the stones are wet.

END OF SPRING







As spring is slowly coming to an end our vineyard's plants are growing and we are getting more and more grapes- we even got our first peach from the newly planted fruit trees. Check out these latest pics taken by our architect.

PAINT FOR THE HOUSES










Last week we started to paint one of the houses with an earthy colour- looks good. It will take another 2-3 days to have all the buildings ready

Thursday, December 06, 2007

QUINCHO



On the eastern side of the property we are setting up a small roof (called quincho in Argentina) to receive our guests in the shade to enjoy some delicious countryside asados with some of the best wines of Mendoza. From this little spot you have one of the most incredible views of the Andes

Monday, December 03, 2007

NEW ROOF




We have been trying to define the style of the roofs for some time now and our workers have tried an authentic Mendozino style, which has been used several decades ago by the local inhabitants putting black tar with sand on top of their homes. Please send me your comments on what you think of this simple but handsome way to design our workers houses. This week we will start painting both buildings with a nice earthy colour.