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WINEMAKER’S NOTES
HARVEST 2007

January 18, 2008
Well, two weeks have gone past since the last Farm News and a lot is being prepared. This is the time of year where we are able to plan all of the great things that will be happening this year. This work happens at all levels. Wojtek and the guys are busy pruning and shaping the vines in order to prepare them for the growing season. Bobby Bugdin (our Ace Mechanic) is busy preparing equipment for the busy growing season that gets closer and closer each day. Christine, Gina, and Loretta are busy getting the tasting room organized for optimal tasting and shopping experiences. Ben, Christine and I have been talking about staff tasting that we will be preparing. The next staff meeting will have me presenting the wines from behind the tasting bar.

Michelle and Rudy have been busy hitting the pavement and selling product and Nancy has been busy meeting with brides. Our faithful warehouse/delivery guy Dan has been busy making sure that every gets the wines that they have ordered. And the list can continue to go on and on... The great thing that I have learned about Martha Clara is that it is a team effort. No part is greater than the whole. With everyone on board we can really take MCV to another level.

Next Thursday I will be hosting a wine dinner at The Jamesport Manor Inn. The menu for this dinner looks great. If you have not yet eaten at the "Manor" this is a great opportunity to taste what this great addition to the North Fork is doing. Check our website for more info.

Lastly, another project that I am getting started with is biodiesel. While at my former employer I implemented a biodiesel program. Biodiesel is different than straight vegetable oil (SVO) which many people have heard of. Biodiesel takes waste vegetable oil and converts it to biodiesel that can be run in any diesel vehicle without any engine modification. When I first started researching this it was quite fascinating. I really had a tough time believing what I was reading. The original diesel engine which was designed by Rudolph Diesel was built to run on peanut oil!

When I started to make the "bio" it was quite fascinating. For more information on this go to journeytoforever.com. When, I began putting this into our tractor it was amazing that the equipment ran just as well as it did with petroleum diesel. The best thing about this was that the exhaust smelled like a deep fryer, not to mention that we were taking a "waste product" and turning it into useable fuel. We will be producing some bio here on the farm that we will be turning into biodiesel. I have several restaurants on board for donating there waste vegetable oil. Some of these include The Jamesport Manor Inn, The Old Mill Inn, North Fork Table and Inn, and the Culinary School in Riverhead. Small things like this will help us become more sustainable. I will write some more about biodiesel in upcoming emails.

Cheers,
Juan Eduardo Micieli-Martinez