Madroña Vineyards Blog

So "organic" farming is kind of a crappy job. Wait, wait, let me rephrase that. So "organic" farming is a composty job. Yep, that has a different meaning entirely. But let's step back just a little bit to give a frame of reference.

The basic aspect of farming is that growing crops takes nutrients, and grapes are no different. Much of those nutrients are in the soil where cover crops and incorporating in the biomass (and not using herbicides) can achieve a balance for your vineyard. But from time to time, especially as the vines get older, there may be a need to add a bit more nutrients for a...

It has come to our attention recently that VinePair (the only professional east coast tasting panel now existing) surveyed 17 wine "Pros" (sommeliers and writers) as to the which wine regions were the most underrated in the United States. And at the top of the list (we weren't surprised) was the Sierra Foothills!

First of all, congratulations to the Sierra Foothills as we continue to get noticed by more and more wine professionals. Secondly, this isn't a surprise to us (and probably you either) as the value of the wines up here have made our region a destination for years. (We just thought...

As you read this (and previous Shrub Reports), you are hopefully getting a glimpse of the wine industry that maybe is more enlightening (or even factual) than we've seen in the Hallmark Christmas Winery "Documentaries". Now I'm not saying that the love story in those movies isn't possible (look at Maggie and me!), but most of the other aspects are purely fantasy.

Now that harvest season is over for us and the crush is finished, perhaps understanding one of the seasonal jobs will help you steer clear of owning a winery. As you all know, we ferment the juice and musts (grapes and juice) in our...

We've been doing this farming thing for a long time, and I've been making the wines for over two decades. So it's not surprising that the first question from wine lovers is, "How's the 2025 vintage?" (Actually, the first question people ask is, "How are you doing?" That's probably because I look like death warmed-over during harvest!)

Now let's be honest here. Trying to determine how great a vintage is going to be is like trying to pin down the career and lifetime contributions to society of a teenager you're trying to raise. There's some guessing (due to the environment, parenting, etc.)...

OK, being fully honest and transparent here, I'm not going to be able to fully explain "value" in wine as it's a subjective product (wine is). But bear with me here as I talk a little bit about Grenache.

A few weeks ago, Decanter Magazine (the preeminent global wine magazine out of the UK) did their first US domestic Grenache review. Out of all of the Grenaches they tasted, only 21 wines were recommended, all scoring 90pts or above. And of course (since I'm writing about this), Madroña's 2023 Hillside Grenache was one of the wines recommended, getting 91 points. This in itself is exciting...