Meet Marty Johnson, Winemaker, Co-Owner

“I began my odyssey during my college years, enjoying and evaluating many wonderful wines from Bordeaux in the late 70’s. Since then, there have been many moments that I have truly enjoyed a glass of wine. I have tasted and admired wines from much of Europe and the rest of the world. Occasionally I’ve even […]

Meet Ryan Johnson, Executive Director, Co-Owner

Ryan was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She lived there until graduating high school when she moved to Denver hoping to go to college to become a veterinarian. Things didn’t quite work out for her, and she subsequently returned to SLC a few years later. She purchased her first vehicle when she […]

How many different varieties of grapes do we grow?

Join us each week for more “geeky stuff”. We grow 5 varieties of wine grapes! Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha Tinta and Alvariño are our main grape varieties, as well as a dozen Orange Muscat vines and four table grape vines along our driveway for shade (and raisins)! The varieties ripen at different rates and are generally […]

…and more geeky stuff

Did you know that there are many things that affect the way wine tastes? Of course, the variety and ripeness of the grapes, the location, soil, climate and style of grape growing, the way the wine was made, the age and storage (elevage) of the wine, the temperature of the wine, what you’re eating (or […]

Let’s talk about why we “punch down”

Join us each week for some Geeky wine stuff! Did you know that (almost) all grape juice is clear, not colored? Yes! The color of wine generally comes from the skins as the pulp of most grapes, light grapes AND dark grapes is colorless. In order to extract the color and other goodies from the […]

What is de-budding? Ask a Winemaker Wednesday

Once again, it’s “Ask a Question Wednesday”! Join us each Wednesday as we share answers to our, “Ask a Winemaker Wednesday” here at Ruby Magdalena Vineyards. We had a great question asked about what we’re currently doing in the vineyard! “What is be-budding?” We are currently in de-budding mode. This means that we are removing all […]

Let’s talk cover crop in the vineyard

In our vineyard, we have green in the alleys between the rows of grapes. There’s a reason for this, actually there are several reasons. The cover crop helps to regulate temperature. On hot, hot days the heat from the sun isn’t reflected back up to the plants, which helps the grape plants immensely. It also […]

Do you have a wind machine or use smudge pots for cold temperatures?

We get this question quite a bit: We do not have either a wind machine or smudge pots…but our neighbors do! In the early spring while the blossoms on the neighboring orchards are so fragile, and when temps drop below 32°, the wind machines are used to circulate the air to keep the damaging cold […]

It’s Thursday, March 17th

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Do you know why it’s important to have green in the vineyard? The leaves (canopy) of the grape vines produce carbohydrates (sugars) from sunlight, water and CO2 gas to grow plant tissue and ripen the grape clusters. The growing vine also provides nutrients for the microbes that live in the soil, […]

Spring is officially here: What does that mean for us here in the vineyard?

Soon the vines will start to wake up. They will begin to weep as the sap rises from the roots where it was stored over winter. This years buds will start to get fuzzy as they get ready to swell into larger buds and eventually break open and show off their bright green leaves!