Welcome to part #1 of the story of The
Desert Wine Guy which includes the birth of Angel and Mirror Image
Vineyards. Those of you who follow The Desert Wine Guy on
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?ref=hl,
my YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos
and my wine blog http://www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/ now that I live in the desert of Las Vegas and I grow wine grapes.
What you probably don't know is that I am married to a wonderful
women and have 3 beautiful children. I choose to do my wine Facebook,
wine blog and YouTube channel on my off time since I work long days
in the Law Enforcement field. I have lived in Las Vegas 26 years and
am originally from Brooklyn, N.Y. This whole wine thing started when
I originally went to Napa Valley California around 20 years ago and
fell in live with the whole grapevine thing. The peace of the
Vineyards and the whole wine tasting environment I found simply
amazing. How can I grow grapes in the desert I wondered. Oh well I
thought, at least I can dream. While originally believing like most
people do that you cannot grow wine grapes or anything except cactus
in the soil, heat and dryness ( lack of humidity ) of the Las Vegas
desert I have since discovered that this belief is simply untrue. I
started off at first by undertaking the mighty challenge of growing a
small garden. I developed a small garden over the past two years
which grew very well and I was at first happy at that......at first.
Then I started to do some (what I figured at the time) wishful
thinking. I figured hey I’m really pushing my luck here, I've won
out over the desert I should leave well enough alone. Well as you can
probably guess by now my vision didn't end there. While at the local
plant store one year I was wandering around and discovered that they
actually sold wine grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot etc. That along
with my visits to the Napa Valley as well as Temecula California and
finally the vineyards in Pahrump Nevada which is around an hour from
Las Vegas started me thinking. I wonder if these vines will grow here
in Las Vegas and I wonder if I could grow these grape vines. I had
concerns about the so called poor soil here in Las Vegas and of
course the heat and dryness (lack of humidity). These three thing I
felt would really do a number on grape vines. Then I started thinking
that if I can grow Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant and those sort of
things here in the direct sunlight and in the so called "poor
soil" then maybe I really could pull this grape thing off. Wow,
I thought. My very own vineyard, growing wine grapes right here in my
own backyard. With all my research and everything when it came down
to growing wine grapes I still knew nothing though. I mean the plant
stores sell the vines for a reason, people must buy them and people
must buy them because they actually grow them. I still couldn't
believe it. Those of you who have visited Las Vegas in the Summer
probably have doubts yourselves. I continued my reading and research
online on wine and how the quality varied from year to year and why
this would happen. I researched the ideal weather conditions for the
grapes I wanted to grow. While doing the research I kept seeing that
the weather that Cabernet Sauvignon likes is the heat. This combined
with the fact that rain is actually not good for grapes because it
can actually seep into the grape and ruin the taste of it as well as
split the grape. Finally I decided I had read and learned enough ( I
thought ) to at least venture to the plant store and look at the
vines. I figured I could pick the guys brain and get some more
information on how they grow. Well the idea of just learning on that
trip didn't last too long. I left the store with around 6 Cabernet
Sauvignon vines and headed home. On the drive home I was so excited.
I thought I am actually going to give this wine thing in the desert a
try. As I already have said I have always loved grape vineyards ever
since that first trip to Napa Valley years ago so here is where it
led me. Taking a few reinforcement trips to the Pahrump and Temecula
California vineyards kept the love of the vineyard in my heart. Oh
well I thought, I have to learn some time. And so off I went to the
future home of Angel & Mirror Image Vineyards ( my backyard ) and
developing legacy of The Desert Wine Guy. I proceeded to plant the
Cabernet Sauvignon vines I bought without much real hope inside that
I would succeed. I mean those people who did manage to grow these
vines surely had special soil or knowledge way beyond what I had.
Well since I had bought these vines while not in their dormant stage
and probably about two years old the easy part I again figured would
be planting. I mostly thought that in a few days they would start to
shrivel up and eventually die. When that didn't happen I thought that
they were only alive and seemed to be doing well because the real
heat of the desert wasn't here yet. Wait until the temperatures start
reaching into the mid ninety’s then we will see these vines die
quickly. Well the heat of the Las Vegas desert came and stayed for a
few weeks and still the vines were alive and growing like crazy. Then
came the big surprise, the vines started flowering only I had no idea
what what was going on. I guess with all my researching I didn't
discover the growing stages of the actual grapes. I checked my vines
every day and one day it appeared that the small flowers that were
growing looked as if they were now dying. Once again I thought “I
knew it was too good to be true”, I thought my grapes had died. A
couple of days later I noticed that the flowers that I thought had
died had now turned into little buds. All this while the heat was
rising. Well anyway the buds I learned were grapes and they were
getting bigger. I now went nuts calling my wife and children outside
to see what was the beginning of my wine grapes. I had succeeded, I
was growing wine grapes in the Las Vegas desert. I also thought (
wrongly ) that the hard part was over.....
The Desert Wine Guy
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