Friday, December 05, 2014

Silver linings.

So much rain this week, I might as well be in England.  California definitely needs rain, but all at once?  Personally, I'd like a little bit of a break from being continually moist.  However, I must admit, grudgingly, that due to the inclement weather there has been some spectacular cloud-action, peculiar (in a good way) light-quality and a few, if fleeting, rainbow goings-on...silver linings.  Pity I kept forgetting my camera.  I had it yesterday though.
Here is an unusual view of Silver Oak Cellars and it's iconic water tower which is not normally this visible whilst driving along the Oakville Crossroad.  There has been a lot of bulldozing activity of late in many vineyards.  Given that harvest is well and truly over, now is the time that winegrowers begin the process of replanting a vineyard.  Not many people realise that the vines that grow in front of Silver Oak are not Silver Oak's vineyards.  No, they belong to Flora Springs.  (Silver Oak grow their Cabernet sauvignon up in Soda Canyon).  And Flora Springs has apparently decided to replant their Oakville vineyard.  And I will get to witness the whole process.  Fun.

6 comments:

Thud said...

soda canyon...what a great place.

Thomas said...

Thud: the place is filled with carbon dioxide!

New Hampshire Wineman said...

There is a kind of spooky mood to this photo; how cool is that! Maybe I'll think of this water tower as "Casper's" water tower.
Every news cast I see has Cali rains as a main topic; seems as you can't win: either no rain or too much rain!
I see Silver oak wines all the time, but the price seems high and I never bought one. What's your opinion?

Vinogirl said...

Thud: Yup, I like it up there.

Tomasso: You're incorrigible!

NHW: Yes, we have had quite a bit of rain.
Alexander Valley all the way!

New Hampshire Wineman said...

VG: From the WSJ: "THERE ARE MANY wines that are much beloved—and a few that are notoriously reviled. Silver Oak Cellars Cabernet happens to be both. It's incredibly popular, especially among patrons of American steakhouses. It's also a running joke among certain oenophiles who regard it as the choice of vinous rubes."

Napa=masculine, and Alexander valley=feminine?

Vinogirl said...

NHW: Hillside versus valley floor.
(Silver Oak is often, and in my opinion unfairly, referred to as Silver Joke.)