Oh deer!

This evening I joined my TWWIAGE co-workers for some Christmas festiveness.  Gathering to dine up in St. Helena, the rainy night did not dampen anybody's spirits: everyone was filled with holiday cheer.  And Schramsberg bubbles.
Continuing what has been a bit of a deer theme for me this Yuletide, Mrs TWWIAGE (in her usual, inimitable and whimsical style) had picked deer-adorned, hot chocolate-mix filled mugs.  I know what I'll be drinking on Christmas Eve.

A Christmas dear.

Today, I had intended to festoon and bedeck Vinoland in copious amounts of Christmas finery.  But, alas, the fairy lights on my pre-lit, artificial Christmas tree decided not to light.  I really hate when that happens.  (Aforementioned tree is now in the garbage.)
So, to infuse some Christmas cheer back into my unilluminated-mood, I decided to decorate Vinodog 2 instead.  Isn't she a little dear?  I feel better already.  Ho, ho, ho! 

Good neighbours?

 

It's not the greatest photograph, but look closely - deer damage.  Now normally I would be sympathetic towards the vineyard owner whose vines had suffered such damage.  I have had unwanted deer in Vinoland, most recently when a neighbours falling tree peeled up the deer fence and a couple of deer took advantage of the situation.  This time, however, I don't feel sympathetic at all.

To cut a long story short - a young deer has been trapped for at least 8 days in a neighbourhood vineyard.  And for most of that time, the unfortunate deer has been wandering around with a broken lower jaw, an injury undoubtedly sustained as it has tried, in vain, to jump over the fencing to freedom.  (When I first saw the deer, more than a week ago, it only had a bloody forehead.  It is unlikely that this deer will survive it's injuries.)  Several phone calls here and there, i.e. vineyard management company, winery, but as of 6 pm last night the deer was still captive.  I did not see the poor little mite today.  I am disgusted.

Deer fences are meant to keep deer out, not in.  Eight days locked inside a vineyard seems very cruel to me.  This (unnamed) winery definitely has enough resources at their disposal that they could have made this situation good as early as last Monday, but no.  They have felt it necessary to inflict ongoing, needless suffering on one of God's good creatures.  Add to that extremely poor neighbour relations and a distinct disregard for the stewardship of the land.  I certainly won't be buying their wine ever again.

The leaves have taken their leave.

After two days of rain (the first of the season, really) and 24 hours of unusually high winds (sustained wind speeds topping 40 mph, with gusts up to 69 mph), I should have known better than to expect a relaxing breakfast this sunny, but still windy Friday morning.  "Would you like more coffee," says Vinomaker, "and by the way, there are 3 deer in the vineyard."  What??? 
Now it's not like deer can do any damage in the vineyard this time of year, but they are still a nuisance.  The vines, that were full of yellowing leaves on Monday, are practically naked after suffering through so much weather the past 72 hours.  There is absolutely nothing in Vinoland for the deer to munch on this time of year.
Initially, we thought the deer had entered through one of Vinoland's front gates.  The wind was so strong last night that the larger of the two gates had been blown off it's tracks, which left ample space on either side that the two does and one yearling could have easily stepped through.  After a few, unsuccessful, attempts at trying to encourage the interlopers to exit Vinoland through the other, now open, gate, the deer led Vinomaker to where they had actually sneaked into the vineyard. 
Timber!  A neighbour's pine tree on our fence line had blown over.  In the process it had peeled open a 6' by 4' hole in our deer fence where, even now, there were more deer standing about contemplating also visiting Vinoland.  I don't think so.  Actually, our unfortunate neighbour had a second tree topple over just outside his backdoor.  He's a lucky man.  Or, isn't.  I expect I'll be hearing a lot of dueling chainsaws this weekend.

What wine goes with...No. 7.

...venison?  Despite my best efforts to pair a red wine with this brown sugar/bourbon marinated game meat - I had two different Cabernet Sauvignons, a Cabernet Franc and a Syrah at my disposal - the wine that actually worked best with the venison was, surprisingly, a relatively unassuming Riesling.  Now, I'm not saying that Riesling is a so-so wine varietal.  On the contrary, many top wine critics (think Hugh) consider Riesling to be the world's finest white grape variety.  So who am I to argue?  It's just that the Dr. H. Thanisch, 2010 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling is, at approximately $20, a reasonably priced and reasonably accessible wine.  Nothing too special.
This Riesling, grown on the steep, slatey, sun-facing slopes along the banks of the meandering Moselle River, is what I'd expect a typical Riesling to taste like.  But what does a typical Riesling taste like?  From bone dry to staggeringly sweet, I am coming to the realisation that Riesling can be a rather delicious wine at any sweetness level.  Well balanced acidity and sugar (with a citrusy, flowery, slatey-minerality thing going on) meant this medium-bodied wine paired well with the sweet, tender dead deer on my plate.  A fact that I can only attribute to the acidity of the wine pairing well with the sweetness of the meat.  So at a measly $20 it was a deer wine after all.  Sorry!

Fight or flight.

Today was not a particularly good day in Vinoland.  We had quite a bit of rain this afternoon - so that's the most recent application of sulphur washed off.  Drat!  And my day began with the sight of two deer parading around the vineyard, munching on the Pinot grigio and Cabernet Sauvignon shoots - the shoots that I had painstakingly spent all weekend stuffing up under the trellis wires.  Double drat!  The panicked, young buck repeatedly rammed the deer-fence in an attempt to escape and was looking a little worse for wear by the time he finally exited through the main gate, which Vinomaker had opened for that purpose.  It was a most upsetting day.

Survivors.

Yesterday's post was not an early April Fool's Day prank. Nor was it a bad dream to thankfully be awoken from. Those nasty deer really did chomp their way through about one third of what would have been the 2010 vintage of Vinoland's Orange muscat planting.
This is what all the Orange muscat vines should look like; healthy, shiny leaves with baby flower/grape clusters already formed, promising a fairly decent sized crop in September. But no, those ignoble interlopers nipped it in the bud, literally!

Whoops-a-daisy!

A doe decided to expire in the culvert right outside Vinoland's gate. I am pretty sure she was dispatched by a neighbour's automobile and just didn't trip and break her neck. Whatever the cause of her demise was, it's a bit of a problem for Vinomaker and me because Napa County animal control will not come up a private drive to remove road-kill. Mother Nature will have to run her course, if you know what I mean?