From the Fields - Domenic Carinalli

By Domenic Carinalli, Sonoma County winegrape grower and organic dairy farmer

The grapes are looking good, and they’re growing good. We have pinot, chardonnay and pinot grigio. They are a little behind normal because of all the rain and wet weather, but they’re growing great and are now in full bloom.

We are getting a little warmer weather now, which is nice. We need the heat for sure because we haven’t seen much of it. Last month, we only had a few days of sunshine, and the rest of the time, it was overcast.

We are getting the land cleaned up from the winter. We are spraying the winegrapes and pulling the suckers off the vines. I have the same crew that I’ve had the last couple of years, and they are a very good group, so that is great.

Everything is decent at the dairy. We have lots of grass; the grass is really good. I am producing organic, and we got on with Clover, which is a new processor for us. We were shipping to another outfit that had lost their organic certification, so we weren’t getting paid organic (prices) for a long time. Now, Clover is paying organic, which is substantially higher. They’re good people to ship to, and we’re very happy with them.

We are looking forward to a lot of good weather. The hay crop is coming in, and the alfalfa will be getting here before long.