What's New?
7/28/08 - Harvest has Started - with Blueberry !!
Yes, the year is moving quickly.. The first 'item' that we pick for the 2008 year is Blueberry, which came in today.. This year the fruit is a bit overripe since the farmer could not get his harvester into the very wet fields. Overripe fruit means the flavor might be more jammy, perhaps even raisiny. To see some pictures of last year's blueberry crushing, click here.
7/14/08 - The Busy Time Has Started !!!
Now that the 4th of July is past, the summer vacationers have started to visit. This also is the time to prepare for the FL Wine Festival at the Watkins Glen Race Track ( a Huge event of 30,000+ people that must be experienced to comprehend (Camping on site is available for people that like to 'comprehend' a lot !!)).
Of course, this is also Bottling Time. Most recently we have bottled the '07:
Chardonnay No Oak
Chardonnay Smooth
Gewurztraminer
Traminette
Riesling Semi-Dry
Riesling Blue Bottle Semi-Sweet
Golden Harvest Chardonnay
And last, but most importantly - THE GRAPE VINES !!! have received the Much Needed rain, and are now growing as they should be. Early in May and June we experienced a drought that, if continued would have again devistated the vineyard as happened in 2007. But NO, we have been receiving regular rain. The shoots are again growing, the weeds are growing, and the crop looks healthy.
So Far,,, So Good !!!
6/2/08 - Golden Nose Competition Results - Seneca Shore WINS 14 Medals;
Sherry wins "Best of Class" !!
The Golden Nose Competition is the largest tasting of only Finger Lakes Wines. The judges were impressed by the following 14 Seneca Shore Wines !!
All These Wines Are Still Available At Their Regular Prices -
"Real NY Bargains !!"
BUY TODAY - ONLINE
1997 Sherry - 100% Chardonnay - Sweet - "Best of Class" & Gold $11.99
2006 Reserve Chardonnay - Silver $ 13.99
2005 Pinot Noir Reserve - Silver $ 17.99
2005 Lemberger - Silver $20.99
2005 Black Red - Silver $ 8.99
Port - Silver $ 11.99
Royal White - Silver $ 7.99
2006 Riesling Semi-Dry - Bronze $ 11.99
2006 Gewurztraminer - Bronze $ 11.99
2005 Gewurz/Traminette - Bronze $ 11.99
2006 Red Knight - Bronze $ 8.99
Reserve Port - Bronze $ 15.99
Red Sail - Bronze $ 7.99
Royal Red - Bronze $ 7.99
5/26/08 - Memorial Day -- Buds have Opened, Fruit Clusters can be Seen !!
Well, the grape growing season has officially begun. The last chance of frost damage has passed, the buds have opened, and the leaves are extending & growing. What a sight to see!! Many shoots have 5 to 8 leaves already. The baby clusters can be seen with the tiny grapes ready to grow...
Now, we need rain, sun, and heat !!!
5/1/08 - MAY Day, MAY Day -- Completion of New Swords / Helmets / Shields Display !!
13 New Swords
7 New Shields
6 New Helmets These are the new items we have spent the Winter mounting on our walls for all to admire.!!
Our West wall displays items from the Crusade period, our East wall from England, and our long South wall displays Roman, Corinthian, Viking, and Conquistador items. These weapons are all meuseam replicas, and glisten brightly in our tasting room for you to enjoy. Come Visit and See for yourself. !!
4/28/08 - Cheese and Wine Event was a Success !!
This past weekend the Seneca Lake Wine Trail completed its Cheese and Wine event. We had lots of friendly visitors exploring our wines for the first time. It was a roaring success. Even in this difficult economy, we saw an increase of visitors and and increase in wine purchased. Perhaps it is our motto taking hold: Great Wine at Great Low Prices !!!
1/12/08 - New Pole Barn ALMOST Blows Down !! :-((
It was a dark and stormy night. The light snow was blowing horizontally in the 50+mph wind. All the construction workers had left for home long ago. The temperatures flirted with 20F. The night was miserable. In the midst of this inner circle of Dante's Hell stood a lone edifice - our new Pole Barn, in the middle of construction.
The pole barn had its white metal roof applied to the trusses, but had no sides, or lateral supports. It was very vulnerable to strong winds. For THREE days we had non-stop strong winds. On the morning of the second day, Jack-the-builder noticed that the vertical poles holding up the roof were leaning away from the wind by more than a foot, and the barn had started to sway.... The CRY went out: SAVE THE BARN !! People came from throughout the winery and vineyard. Even a group of very hearty Tasting Room Visitors stood huddled with their tasting glasses and a complimentary bottle, watching,,, waiting,,, hoping for the the best, but not wanting to miss seeing the worst!!!
We got a tractor, attached a chain and steel cable to the top center of the barn, and gently PULLED !!! The tractor shook and shimmed, momentarily loosing traction on the snowy ground, but recovering enough to pull the building against the wind, straightening the poles, diesel sparks flying from the muffler, laughing at the wind. We anchored the chain to the ground with a large spike, added copious bracing to the barn, and joined the Tasting Room Visitors who had throughly enjoyed being our impromptu Cheer Leaders !!! All-in-all,,, a wonderful outcome to a very real danger of Mother Nature. Just another day in the Vineyard Business....
12/15/07 - Our New Pole Barn Equipment Shed !!!
After 10 years of not having a building to store our tractors and harvesters,,,,, The time has come !!!
Our new building is 36' x 32' x 14' high. This should be enough to store all of our vineyard equipment. Eventually we will pour a concrete floor, add electricity and insulation, and also use the building as a repair shop.
7/28/07 - Our new (used) Grape Harvester !!!
Since 1995 we have used a 1972 Chislom-Ryder grape harvester. Although it was cutting-edge technology in its day, the days have changed.
Our new harvester is a 1995 AGH Spectrum. The most important improvements are:
1) Bow-rod Picking head. Very gentle on the grapes. Compare slapping the grapes with your hand versus shaking the grapes with your elbow !!!
2) Side-mounted engine to reduce the weight on the front tires. This reduces the tendency of the front tires to sink into the mud !!
3) Adjustable height wheels to keep the harvester vertical when picking grapes on steep slopes.
6/1/07 - New Wine releases !!!
We have introduced the 2006 vintage for the following wines:
Chardonnay Dry, Reserve Chardonnay
Riesling Semi-Dry, Pinot Grigio
Gewurztraminer, Traminette,
Red Knight.
Also new releases include:
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Lemberger.