This past Saturday, April 21, 2012 was the fourth annual Tour of Paso bike ride benefitting the Wellness Community, Central Coast. 19 teams made of of 90 riders cycled in the event, raising a whopping $45,000 for those effected by cancer in our community!

From the Wellness Community's website: "The Wellness Community provides programs that complement traditional medical care. Psychosocial support is considered “the other half of cancer care”. Research shows that participation in the type of programs offered at The Wellness Community decreases distress, improves quality of life and may increase the potential of long-term survival."

Of course, Peachy Canyon road in fine style! Our riders, the Peachy Queens and Peachy Kings, rode through our beautiful wine country here in Paso Robles:

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Left to right:  The Peachy Queens (and Kings!) Amy, Bev Aho, Stephany Holstine, Bill

Reifers, Jonathan Reifers, Perri Cline, Nancy Beckett and Dorothy Sellvaggio

Read more about the Tour of Paso, after the jump!

As one of the people outside cooking, I'd like to take a moment to brag: we had a killer Crawfish Boil and Wineclub Pickup Party this past Saturday! We spent the (surprisingly warm and mild) evening listening to incredible live jazz, eating fresh crawfish flown in from the Louisianna Crawfish Company, and—if course—drinking some fine wines. Check out the photos of the family-style fun!

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See more after the jump!

Most people know that wine is best stored at 55° Fahrenheit. However, if I were to ask you what temperature wine is best served at, would you know?

You may have heard that wines are often served at the incorrect temperature—this is, unfortunately, true. A very, very long time ago someone said that red wines are best served at room temperature, and while they were likely correct, they were also most likely living in Europe pre-central heating. This means that—yes—most reds are served too warm. Meanwhile, white wines fall victim to the advent of modern refrigeration, and are usually served too cold.

Continue reading after the jump!

Josh (winemaker) narrates as we walk through the tall weeds of Mustang Springs Vineyard as it's being disced by Jake, his brother (and Grower). The ground swells and turns—the rows are like ribbons, or waves—there are no flat planes to disc. At times it looks like Jake, on the tractor, is about to drive himself off the edge of the horizon.

"Yeah, so he’ll go everything this way, then he’ll do everything this way, then he’ll do everything this way. So it took him like 2 days to just that area. And just that little spot, took him until about right now."

A long time ago, I imagined driving a tractor wasn't exactly difficult work. Sure, you have to pay attention, but Jake's face (when he drives by close enough to where we're walking) is a mask of concentration.

Continue reading after the jump!

​Out in the vineyards the recent rains (we've needed them badly) have finally egged the ground to burst into green. Between the rows of vines the weeds and wild grasses are more than three feet high in some places. That means it's time to disc the vineyards. What's discing, you ask?

I was out with the brothers Beckett—Josh, the winemaker, and Jake, the grower—as they disc'd the Mustang Spring Ranch Vineyard on the Westside of Paso Robles, and I didn't know quite what the process does either, so I asked.

Josh explained that "discing is cultivating the soil, essentially. Turning the soil. It’s a way to preserve moisture—retaining moisture." He went on to say that it's something that has to be done when a winery is dry farming. If a vineyard is irrigated a winery can simply keep pumping water, and pay little heed to retaining moisture, but not so with dry farming.

In Josh's words: "You can keep pumping water on, but in order to retain moisture if you do dry farming or work with minimal wells like we do, you have to disc. We try to eliminate any water waste. Also discing puts the little bit of weeds that would have taken the moisture from the vines and injects that back into the soil with our compost, which is nice."

He points at the three foot tall weeds covering the hillside as Jake slowly navigates the tractor: "So, this! All that, that’s healthy stuff that’s growing … but at some point you have to turn it back into the soil. And then, help it."

Continue reading after the jump!