Harvest and Fall

As you have noticed from all the winery newsletters you get from all the wineries, it is harvest time!!  This year, that includes us!  In preparation, we have been working on the extension of our winery building.  The crush pad was completed a few weeks ago, the new structure is now all closed in and we are working on the insides getting ready for delivery of our tanks.  The filter and press have already been delivered.  Just a few short weeks and we will have it all enclosed and functional.

So, with the summer as hot and humid as it was, we have decided we will make the best of fall!  What does that mean?  That means we will open up on Friday evenings for the fall - Fall Fridays!  That means cool fall evenings enjoying the vineyards and hopefully some great stories and bonding by the firepit.  We will kick this off with our 'Songwriters Unplugged' evening on Friday, September 17th!!  We will likely go through October and into the early part of November!  Fence Stile Fall Fridays!

Where does the time go?

It has been a very busy month - just looked back and noticed there hadn't been a post for 6 weeks!  Any of you that have been out to the vineyard have noticed a number of changes I'll bet.  The biggest one being - the cistern work is underway!  We're adding a 2nd cistern to hold 16,000 gallons of water.  The view to the whites is impacted a little bit by the work underway but the work should be complete in a few weeks.  We've also relesed a new wine - remmuS and updated a couple of our labels for this year's bottling (Loft Red and Becca Blend).  This year's Reserve Vidal Blanc is back as well so lots of great options for some summer sipping.

If you've looked at the website, you'll also notice that we have music now almost every Saturday - Laura introduced us to some very talented artists and we've had a blast listening to them every weekend.  It is wonderful because they all play original music or public domain music (not covers) so you get a chance to hear something unusual and original!  In fact, we are working on a couple of special and unique events for September - stay tuned for details.

So what's next?  Well, in addition to the September music event, we are gearing up for crush and then perhaps another Fence Stile Vineyards & Winery cook-off (still in the planning stages).  Of course the rain and humidity are now a constant but, thankfully, there is a breeze across the vines most days so, life is good!

Progress (slow but steady)

The crush pad is now poured and the roof is partially on.  The winery building is starting to have shape.  We detoured a little bit when the sprayer broke and had to be rebuilt, twice!  The days are nice and long too so we are able to get into the vineyards in the evenings and work on the vines (although it still feels like there aren't enough days in a week to get things done)!

The weekends are great - lots of people coming out for celebrations, book clubs, group get togethers, etc.  It is wonderful to see all the things people celebrate and be a small part of it.

It's summer!

It's summer - we have gone from cool rainy days to warm days in a heart beat!  So, in the vineyard, that means lots of growth and weeds!  For weeks it was hard to get the tractor out in the rows and now, there is so much green (some wanted - some, not so much)!  So, it's time for the weeding parties (next one June 5th) and for spending time in the vines before the tasting room opens and at the end of the evening -- look for a day when it has rained and get in the next day to pull with ease.  :)

We have also released remmuS and have our Reserve Vidal Blanc back!  Now that is summer!  We also have the music lined up for the next few months, our annual BBQ booked and several other events.  The tent structure is reconstructed and we have plenty of firewood for the cool evenings.

On the construction front, the winery building is framed and we are now working on getting the roof on and then we will focus on the inside framing.  The crushpad wall has been poured and the rest will be poured as weather permits!  Next - order the equipment!  Gulp!  The plus side?  The tasting room will be even bigger and a private patio for use by special guests, friends and family!  All in all, it's a good life!

A few projects on the go

Those of you who have visited in the last few weeks are noticing some changes at the vineyard. 

The first very obvious change - the outdoor structure is gone!  It was damaged in the good Friday storm we had so, with the help of some very good friends, we have taken it down so we can reengineer it and rebuild it.  So, if the weather cooperates (and that is a big if), we will have it back up by this weekend!

The second big change - you will notice some new construction on the back side of the existing building.  We're adding on and expanding our production space, pouring a crush pad and creating housing for all of our equipment and the tractor you see on the back side.  A side benefit will be one additional tasting bay so we will have just a little more indoor tasting space.  Again, weather dependant, we hope make serious progress on this in the coming weeks!  We have been graciously accepting help from the volunteers - thank you again for all your help.

The other big change - Becca has been hanging out at the vineyard with us on the weekends.  Yes, she has been out there every weekend for the last month!  She is having a great time meeting all the visitors!  A big benefit - she is awesome about letting us know someone is coming down the walk!

So, lots of activity going on right now but we are anxious to make progress on these projects!

April showers have brought wine flowers!!

Isn't it a great spring!  We are loving being in the vineyards right now - the weeds are emerging but that is to be expected.  We have great friends that have jumped in to help us with the weedwacker - thank you gang!  The vineyards look fresh, young and full of hope and potential for the coming year! We are working on building out the new addition for the production area and working on fixing the outside covered patio - again, thank you gang!  You know who you are and we appreciate your help!  We are also busy with lots of events for the coming months - but, we NEVER miss the chance to sit and enjoy the fire at the end of a Saturday evening!  This, is the good life!

Happy Earth Day but really, shouldn't every day be Earth Day?

Those who have been to the vineyard know that we have kids and dogs running around all the time (ours and everyone elses)!  We have families that come out and picnic, kids that walk down to the pond to catch frogs, a few friends that like to fish the pond and of course, we have started the 'walk in the vineyard' series so that you can walk through the vines with us!!  Given that, every day should be Earth Day!  We do our part with solar power for the deer fencing, blue bird houses, bat houses and owl houses to encourage natural pest control, minimizing the use of pesticides, and NEVER using restricted use chemicals.  We mulch the annual prunings, have a compost pile, use a combination of flame control and pulling weeds to manage the weeds (thank you volunteers) and if we need to spray, we use targeted spot applications using a small hand operated backpack sprayer.  We recycles all bottles (either at the bottle depot or by donating to local artists who reuse them to create new arts).  As we move forward with building the winery addition, we will continue to keep green principles in mind and we will incorporate small changes that make a big difference.  After all, we all want this to be something we can enjoy for years to come!  So, feel free to make suggestions, join us to work in the vineyards or walk in the vines!  We think of everyday as Earth Day and always think of the impact to Amrish and Becca as we make our decisions!!    Happy Earth Day!