Harvest is upon us!

Harvest is upon us!!

We are so excited about this year’s grapes!   It's been a very dry season and because of some frost damage, our yields are not what they could have been.   Earlier in the year, we experienced 3 major freezes taking out many of our buds, especially in Marquette and also La Crescent.   The flip side of that is the plant can concentrate on fewer clusters.   Between the extremely dry weather, (10.5 inches of rain all years, when we should be at 28 inches) it's making for some very concentrated fruit.   Additionally, we really concentrated on opening the fruit zone to sun exposure.   We are hoping for higher brix levels this year.  (sugar)  If you do this early on, it is very beneficial to the crop.    Our canopy looks great as well and we have had no disease on the vines.   

This Friday, August 25th we will be harvesting our Cayuga White for our Sparkling Winchester 2023    I just can't believe how fast this season has been going.   

We have sold some of our Cayuga this year for the first time and actively looking for some Riesling to add to our lineup of wines.   

Aging on the lees is our Sparkling Winchester 2020, 2021, 2022.   This year’s Sparkling Winchester will be a Rose for 2023.   SO EXCITING!

We have made some repeats of last year and also some new additions.    One of the specialty wines is called Marquette.   Think Pinot Noir!   Yes, it's drinking just like it, but only a Hybrid available to club members only.  This will be released in a few months as it was just bottled.  

Another special wine is Soliel d'Ovest (La Crescent from our estate)  I think we are the only grower of this grape that is producing wine from it in Virginia.    It is a stunning grape and this variety won the governor's cup in Ohio.  

On the horizon is a Port Tannat (3 years now and aging) as well as a dessert wine.   We love making some interesting, one of kind wines to share with you.   

Our Chocolate Red is hitting the wine market in VA by storm.   We sold 60 cases in a short 3 weeks and allocated more of our Arandell this year to another 110 cases of this sought after wine.   It won SILVER MEDALS in two international competitions.   

Cheers!

Paul & Loretta