Moving forward in May

This is the time of year when the vineyard changes daily! We have started the 'walk in the vines' series and they have been different from week to week. This is a great time to visit the vineyards and wineries. Go on a slow day or a slow part of the day if you want some extra time and attention with the winemaker and tasting room staff. This is also festival season - that means you have the best of both worlds!! Go to the festivals to see the visiting wineries that you may not get to otherwise. At the festivals, be smart - take snacks and water so you are stay hydrated and are resetting your taste buds in between wineries. If you love a wine at the festival, BUY IT but make sure you don't stash it in a warm car for the day. But festival season also means the crowds are at the festivals so the tasting rooms have a little lighter traffic. Use this time to ask about the wines, viticulture and nuances of the wines you are tasting. This is also when wineries are releasing their spring wines. So, if you love a wine from a previous vintage, BUY IT. The few cases the wineries have left might be it as wines tend to change from year to year based on the grapes, the season and the particular choices the winemaker made. We are LOVING the reactions folks are having as they revisit us - it's a balance between the curiosity of the new building and folks that want to visit the original building before we move because they have memories in this building and want to visit it one more time! It is a very heart warming reaction and our current plans are to leave the original building alone. We have very warm memories of the place we started as well and we aren't ready to transform it into anything else at this time. Stay tuned for more and in the meantime, hit the festivals and visit the tasting rooms for a fresh spring perspective!! Cheers & Make Friends!

Reflections

We haven't put anything out here in a year - we got busy 'doing' and if you are reading the newsletters and are watching on Facebook, we have had a very busy year with the new building! However, as we were getting ready for our anniversary weekend, we took some time to revisit where we started and realized just what a journey this has been (and more to come). The very cool part of the journey has been the discovery (the land, the grapes, the wines, the guests, the partnerships - the entire experience). It is interesting how the questions in the tasting room have changed along the way - early day questions were more like "really? a winery here?" and "do grapes really grow here?". As the wine industry has grown in this area, the guests have become much more educated and the questions have evolved. Questions now are about the type of grapes, the wine style and the nuances of American oak versus French oak! More and more guests relay preferences based on grape varietals, sugar levels and even the type of glass they like to use. It is very exicting to see this growth and to have been a part of it. With so many more wineries and wine trails in the area, there are so many more options for guests to enjoy the wine experience and share the experience with friends and family that visit from other areas. We are grateful for the support we have had in our journey so far and look forward to growing with the industry and continuing to be part of the wine experience for our guests!