“Simple French Comfort Food” Cooking Class

March 2024 started off with a bang, with a full class for the “Simple French Comfort Food” cooking class. The blustery day started out with a little rain, so a nice warm fire and a comforting menu was perfect. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and made delicious recipes that culminated in a relaxing lunch, à table. All my students were an inspiration for me. Merci!

À Table For A Relaxing Lunch With Recipes Completed

Winter Storms Brought Spectacular Sunsets

Welcome winter rains brought spectacular sunsets. The mature trees have been trimmed. The garden pathways replenished with fresh mulch. The flowerbeds manicured. The vineyard and roses pruned and poised for another growing season. The potager has been planted.

The garden and vineyard are waiting for longer days and warmer temperatures. I am hopeful all this wonderful winter rain will promise a spectacular showing in spring.

Olivenhain Garden Club Visiting March 2024. Thank You For The Photo By Olivenhain Garden Club

In mid-March, The Olivenhain Garden Club came for a garden tour and a glimpse of spring emerging. Just like your favorite perennial, this club, and many other lovely garden clubs have been here before for a visit, and have seen the garden and Domaine de Manion evolve over the years.

The Olivenhain Garden Club comments and compliments were so nice. They didn’t go hungry, I prepared a few different charcuterie boards and platters for them.

One Of The Charcuterie Boards. A Little Something For Everyone

“Meet The Masters” Check-In And Book Signing For Gabriela Salazar

Mid-March was The Village Garden Club of La Jolla’s “Meet the Masters” 2024 event with program speaker, fabulous Gabriela Salazar, an internationally recognized floral artist and grower out of Mexico. She wowed us with her flower philosophy and technique in flower arranging.

It was a huge, fun, successful event. I helped, along with many dutiful ladies checking guests in, and giving them their table seating. It was a pleasure to be on this committee with my fellow members. Hats off to The Village Garden Club of La Jolla!

As March continued to unfold, spring was emerging, slowly but surely. First, narcissus bulbs appeared in the lawn, next Cherokee rose started to bloom, and then wisteria came to life in purple pendulum display. Early spring was here!

Naturalized Narcissus Bulbs Transition Winter Into Spring

Cherokee Rose Beginning To Bloom White

Wisteria Over the Shed Heralds In Spring

March 2024 started off with a bang, and is ending with a bang, Easter! March has had momentum with a nice energy, perhaps it will continue throughout the year. I wish all of you a beautiful spring!

Vintage Hen And Chick Remind Us Easter Is Here

Bon Appétit, Bon Weekend, and Happy Easter…Bonnie

Bottling And Labeling Our Syrah 2022 Vintage

The good news is, our Syrah 2022 harvest was a record yield for us—over 1,400 pounds. Aged in oak barrels for over a year, it was a perfect sunny autumn morning to bottle 30 cases of our wine, with the help of our enthusiastic friends.

The bad news is, we lost our entire grape crop for 2023. We had a cool spring, a tropical mid-summer rain, more summer rain, and not a terribly hot end of summer. The grapes simply didn’t ripen and the powder mildew pressure persisted. Grapes split, bees came, and even coyotes for a nightly nibble. At first, we tried to cull grape clusters amongst the good, but it in the end we let the harvest go. You can’t make good or great wine from poor grapes.

This was an exceptionally trying weather year, but we have had a few here and there. We were not the only ones, many local vintners were also affected. It is humbling, and it is farming. There is always next year, and a fresh start once again.

Full Boxes Finished And Stacked For Storage & Further Aging

More good news. John and I are pouring our Domaine de Manion wines at the upcoming Olivenhain Wine Tasting Event on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, from 6pm to 9pm, along with six other local vintners. Cost is $35.00 per person, and includes hand-crafted appetizers and a complimentary etched wine glass. It is an annual fundraiser to support the maintenance of the historic Olivenhain Town Hall and the surrounding grounds.

For this event, you don’t have to be an Olivenhain member, but what they call a Supporter. So come on out and support this fun and great event. Tickets are now available online along with more details. There is a limited amount of tickets sold, so if you are interested in going, be sure and book your ticket(s) in advance.

I hope to see you at the Olivenhain Wine Tasting. A big thanks to all of you for your continued interest and support!

Santé

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

A Gold Medal for Our “Domaine de Manion” Syrah 2021

My husband John, and I hadn’t entered our Syrah wine in the San Diego County Wine Competition for a few years. We knew it was drinking well, but we were pleasantly surprised when we we saw it received a “Gold Medal” in this year’s 2023 competition.

Our vineyard was originally planted in April 2006 with the help of our fellow Mira Costa College “Vineyard Management & Production” classmates. Last year’s 2022 harvest was a record yield of 1,400 pounds. The grapevines seem happy, and are flourishing especially with our 20+ inches of winter rain.

Happy Domaine de Manion Vineyard in Spring 2023

Thank you to all of our friends and family who help us with the vineyard tasks throughout the year. Thank you to all of you who we have shared our wine with, and consistently give us a “two thumbs up.”

We are very grateful and blessed with this vineyard. It has given us many years of joy! Merci beaucoup!

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Jennifer Rebecca Iris Blooming

Pink Cistus Rockrose

Happy Wisteria

Sally Holmes Rose Draped Over St. Francis

Flowering Herbs

Sunset Over A Spring Garden and Awakening Vineyard

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Winter Morning Sun over Domaine de Manion

Even though it is wintertime, and not much seems to be happening in the garden—there is. The garden may be somewhat dormant, but it is not. It is resting and storing up energy for the great burst of growth and flowering in spring, and the long growing season ahead.

Structure is prevalent in the garden, and the bones of the garden much more easily seen. Are there changes you would like to do in your garden moving forward, or are you happy with your garden as it is. Now is a good time to take a good, close look at your garden.

Pruning is really important in the winter garden, while plants and trees are dormant. I pruned all of my roses in one day. I went from one garden room to the next garden room, and powered it out. I tipped and lightly pruned some of my Crape Myrtle trees, and a few of my fruit trees.

Newly Planted Sweet Peas on Willow Obelisks

I have added more bare root climbing roses this winter, and bare root roses for my cutting garden. Now is the perfect time to plant roses, water well, and apply compost around them. Apply a dormant spray within a week of your pruning (check with your local nursery for exact recommendations). Your roses will do all the work, until they need a little rose food/fertilizer at Easter.

I added a Chocolate Persimmon fruit tree, and a dwarf climbing Mulberry vine to my berry room. I planted dwarf sweet peas in containers, and climbing mammoth sweet peas for my willow obelisks.

In the potager I have Swiss Chard doing well. I planted some gourmet lettuce, and soon it will be time to germinate heirloom tomato seeds and other heirloom vegetables.

Viburnum ‘Spring Bouquet’ Happy After Our Rains

Although the garden is dormant, there are many surprising plants blooming now in February at Domaine de Manion. Most of them have been planted for a while.

Arctosis (Many Varieties)

Cherokee Rose

Eleanor Roosevelt Iris (Intermediate Bearded Purple Iris)

Landscape Geraniums

Magnolia ‘Black Tulip’

Narcissus Bulbs (Many Varieties)

New Zealand Tea Tree

Rosemary (Many varieties)

Verbena

Viburnum ‘Spring Bouquet’ (Great for using in floral designs)

Domaine de Manion Vineyard Anxiously Waiting To Be Pruned

The winter rains have benefited our Syrah vines which are now approaching 17 years old. We have had to mow knee-high weeds, and cover crop between the rows already. Our date to prune each year is usually around Super Bowl time.

Last year we had a record high yield of 1400 pounds, which was unbelievable to us. It was an intense emergency Labor Day morning harvest, because of the intense end of summer heat. Every year is different, and every harvest, and every vintage different. We are hopeful this will be a great growing season, harvest, and vintage.

Even though it might be cool, overcast, sometimes damp, and even rainy, I urge you to get out in your garden now and observe. Make note of any changes you want to make, new plants to plant, or a list of things to do for spring. Your garden awaits you.

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Syrah Grape Clusters Basking in the Sun

Just like magic, our Syrah grape clusters have developed, are maturing, and grapevines are closing in on harvest. The sense is harvest is a tad bit earlier than usual. Fruit set looks abundant and lovely.

It really is something to see the grapevines go through their process each year. Some years are better than others, like life. Like life, there are some things within your control, and some that are not. Like life, one should focus on the present journey, rather than the destination, and the destination will take care of itself. “Life is a journey, not a destination.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Grapevines Marching Onto Harvest

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

John Manion, Beloved Husband, Winemaker Extradronaire, VP Liquid Assets

It starts with sunlight, a good grape varietal, blessed terroir, knowledge to bring it together, and a lot of help from our friends and family! Viola, a wine that is fine!

Our backyard vineyard idea was a landscape solution to begin with. Could we really grow a pretty vineyard to look over, that would have four season interest, be drought tolerant, and maybe yield a good grape for a nice wine. A grand experiment that luckily has worked out well, and ultimately created a nice lifestyle for us at Domaine de Manion.

We use to enter a lot of home wine competitions, and did well with medals and awards. Later, my husband, John, was even asked to judge some of these competitions. With judging duties and the pandemic, we stopped entering our wines.

This spring for fun, we entered two of our wines in the 2022 Orange County Fair Home Wine Competition. We were surprised when we received a Gold Medal for our Syrah 2020 and a Bronze Medal for our Syrah Rosé 2021. We knew our wines were drinking well. It reinforces we are managing the vineyard well, and doing right by the grapes. John is a great winemaker, and he has a nice style with his wines.

Hail to the winemaker! The wine is fine!

Related Past Posts:

Hail to the Winemaker

Surprise at the Orange County Fair

Anticipating One’s First Grape Harvest

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie

Vines Now Nearly Hiding “Coop de Manion”

The last time I mentioned our vineyard, Prepping the Vineyard, it was March and pruning had just finished. In a few months time, the vines have exploded in growth. In fact, you can hardly see the chicken coop through the vigor of the vines.

Vines Before In Spring After Pruning

I often joke that grapevines are like weeds, and they are. Besides all this growth vigor, the vines are flowering and tiny grape clusters are forming. It looks like it is a good fruit set for this year.

Grapevines Flowering

I really enjoy how the vineyard looks in the spring. The vines are a lush vibrant green, full in canopy, stretching for the sky, and basically happily unbridled.

Rows of Happy Grapevines at Domaine de Manion

Now as the vineyard marches toward harvest, the grapevines get down to business further maturing in canopy, growing the grape clusters, verasion or coloring of the grapes, and the ultimate ripening of the grapes in sugar brix for harvest.

It has been fun sharing the vigor of our vineyard. Is there something in your garden that explodes with vigor that you look forward to each year?

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend….Bonnie