Madroña Vineyards Blog

This week in the tasting room, I talked with some people who are amazed that we write the Shrub Report each week even during our long hours of harvest. Then the question arose, "Do we use AI (artificial intelligence) to do any of the writing for us?" I think we can all agree that there is no "AI" writing this, and in fact an argument could be made that there is actually no "I" in this writing either.

But it brought up a conversation that I had with our eldest daughter, Hanna, just a couple of weeks ago. The discussion started with AI being used in the medical industry and drifted (quickly) to...

Let's clear up a couple of things here from the get-go. I originally wanted to write something about AI today, but how is that possible on "International Pinot Noir Day"? OK, it's not possible. So instead we are releasing the 2024 Madroña Pinot Noir today in the tasting room, all 13 cases that we produced. (Wait, hold on, it's only 12 cases and 7 bottles now as Maggie and I have been enjoying it quite a bit over the last several days (please don't do the math on consumption there!)).

But first, there are some things you need to understand. Maggie's Pinot is not like Maggie's 'M-Series' of...

So imagine you told your kids that they were starting the school year 2 weeks earlier than previously scheduled. Or imagine if the IRS let you know in late March that tax day was being moved up to April 1st instead of April 15th. Can you imagine the reactions you might be getting?

Well, now you can imagine (without much difficulty) what us farmers are saying right now. For us, we will start the harvest of 2026 this coming Friday with a Marsanne pick (for another winery). Now, for a variety (Marsanne) that we used to pick often in late October or early November (in the 1990's), this is a bit...

Sometimes it seems people believe that winemakers and winery owners sit around all day just thinking about whether that Chardonnay could use a kiss of oak or that the Malbec will go best with my duck dinner with a cherry/blue cheese reduction sauce. To be honest (which I seldom am), winery owner minds are often going a mile-a-minute, thinking about the past, the present and the future.

So when two articles came up recently talking somewhat about the state of the wine industry as well as choices in the vineyards, it seemed to line up with discussions we owners have been having. (Actually, Josh...

It Really is the Best Variety of Grape