PTD

Pardon The Dust

It has started - we are continuing to follow 'the plan' and broke ground today -

Long time coming and lots of planning involved but, we broke ground today!  That means, you will need to Pardon The Dust but it will be worth it.  We will have a PTD campaign with and will post rules on facebook and on our web page.  Lots of exciting changes to come and if all goes well, the new facility will be ready in time for harvest!! 

Stay tuned for updates and pictures!

Wine & Weather - Spring

We have had all four seasons in the last month alone but ask any winery and they'll tell you - the weather in the last two years has created some challenges (and opportunities)!  Weather has an influence before we even plant - we need to consider the weather in the growing zone to make sure the right vines are selected.  But, that is the easy part.  Once the vines for the right region are selected and planted, the real stress begins.  Vineyard managers and wine makers start to track number of days of sun, degree days, inches of rain, frost, wind, moisture in the air, etc.  No two growing seasons are the same so accurate logs are kept for trending, analysis and fretting over! 

Each season has it's challenges - for the spring it is, when to start pruning and can we finish before the sap flows?  After a dry year like last year, will we get enough moisture to replenish the soil?  Too much or too fast and it will just run off.  For vineyards that count on ponds for irrigation, will the ponds refill?  We want the snow before we start budding but no frost after budding.  For rain, we want it in a soft gentle fashion if it is after budding (with limited wind) so it doesn't knock the buds off.  April showers lead to May flowers - well, okay, but want to make sure we don't impact the buds (and gentle rain please).

In the winery, a lot of weather impacted decisions have been made all winter - harvest was affected by last year's dry weather (last year was an early harvest and impacted grape flavor and quantity) but that just starts all the wine making impacts and decisions!  So as you start to taste the new releases, take the time to ask about the harvest, the impact of the weather and see if you can taste the difference.  Many wineries in large growing years will include the vintage year and vintage charts will help guide you to comparing the differences from year to year but at the end of the day, every winemaker will work hard to make the most of that year's harvest and make the best wine possible.  So, be adventurous, try the new releases and think about what the season provided!

Weather impacts each part of the growing season - so keep watching here for additional discussion as we experience 2013.

Winter Work

We've been busy in the winery bottleing - after our first full harvest, there is a lot of wine to bottle!  If you've been in lately, you will have seen the transformation - the patio room and barrel room have become case goods storage.  The bottling line is squeezed into the winery and we have all the botteling done (except for the Viagem and the soon to be released Deliciar - a white port style dessert wine).  The vineyards have also gotten a lot of attention - we have completed pruning the Seyvals, Vidal Blanc, Vignoles, Noiret and Chambourcin - just the Concords to go.  And with only a month away from spring, we are snowed in this weekend so we will be closed BUT this will give us a chance to write new tasting notes, update the website, catchup on paperwork & plan all the release parties - Seyval is the first one ready the first weekend of March. 

We are also working on planning our spring lineup of events and are very excited to having patio events! Funny - it's been warm and dry for months and the one weekend it is cold and snowy, we can't stop thinking about all the fun we will have when we can use the patio again!