Not The End But The Beginning

      

      I want to let all my readers know that after 5 years of chronicling the growth and expansion of Cassel Vineyards of Hershey, my blog and the Vineyard as a whole are graduating up to a whole nother level on our new website at...

Casselvineyards.com

      I will continue to write about our events and experiences, but our new website will now offer much, much more including online purchase and shipping beginning around April 1.  If you have not already checked out our new site, please go to Casselvineyards.com and check out our new events calendars, pictures and information.

Ready, Set, Go

     Once again we are preparing to open for a new season here at Cassel Vineyards of Hershey.  As the weather gets warmer, we turn our focus to the chores left undone outside.  This season's pruning began back in January with Vidal Blanc and 2 rows of Chardonnay.  Unfortunately, it then got cold.  Getting cold is something we expect in January and February so we have no complaints about cold weather.  We need cold days and nights to cold stabilize our wines, reduce the disease and insect levels for the upcoming year and to make us stay inside to finish our wines.  We thought the cold would last a few weeks and after we finished our wines we would be able to get out and finish our pruning.  Here we are in the second week of March and still setting record cold temperatures!  This morning's low of 1 set a new record.  The old record of 7 was set back in 1901!  I'd say we have had enough cold weather at this point.  

     Today we spent the morning pruning in frigid temps and snow but spent the afternoon thinking about Spring as we assembled our new deck chairs and tables.  When the sun finally warmed it up enough to go out on the deck, we set up our new tables and chairs on the snow and enjoyed a glass of wine in the sunshine.  Friends Cody and Cole Ebersole joined us trying out the new tables and chairs.  When opportunity knocks, you don't have to ask us twice.  We are really looking forward to our grand Re-opening this Saturday, March 14 at noon.  We will have our new deck and 6 new vintages to release for the first time ever.  It is going to be a whole lot of fun despite the cold weather and snow we have had for the past 3 months!

When the Going Gets Tough

Here is a great big thank you to all our friends who came out this past weekend to help us bottle our nearly 5000 gallons of new wines for our opening day mext Sat. March 14 at 12:00!  

      We now have all our inventiry in bottles and ready for sampling and purchase.  

      The weather was cold and the wind was blowing, but despite the hard work and difficult conditions everyone pitched in and made the load much lighter.  Thanks Dave, Bill & Shawn, Jeff & Kisa, Rick, Sam, Tom, Ann, Becky, Jody, Jim & Liz, Drew, Colton, Lee and Elliot.  Greg, Chris and I could never have done it without all your help.  From bottling, corking, labeling and stacking to food prep and serving, it just made it all so much fun when it was really hard work.  

      Through all of the work amd growing we have done at Cassel Vineyards, the one thing we have continued to value and appreciate is all the great friends we continue to make and share.

Our New Directional Sign

      This week our new sign went up on route 39 at the end of Shetland Dr.  We hope to activate our new website next week complete with our Summer concert calendar, an on-line wine store, and lots of other interesting features.  Our new deck should be done this week and a new patio will be installed as soon as the ground thaws out.  We also hope to attract more local customers this year with our ads in the local papers and on the radio.

   Most people who discover our winery and our wines keep it as their own little secret hide-a-way.  But with our increasing wine production, we would like to get our name our there for everyone to see.  Its going to be a great Summer when it finally gets here so plan on visiting us and enjoying a glass of our fine, estate bottled wines.  Just follow the signs to locate us 3 miles north of Hersheypark.  

New Tasting Card @CasselVineyards

  

      For those friends who like to plan their tasting in advance, I am sharing our new unreleased tasting room card.

We are releasing one new wine this year in our 2014 Cabernet Franc Semi-dry Rose'.  This rose' has a very nice fruit smell and tastes of cherry and rasberry, it is also lightly oaked with a hint on the finish of vanilla and caramel.  We were fortunate to have such an amazing harvest of Cab. Franc that we were able to designate this portion of the harvest to makeing 100 cases of this beautiful Summer sipper.

    Other favorites that have returned after selling out last year are the new 2014 Red Silks Rose' a sweet rose' blend and our 2013 Winners Circle Blend.  Last year these two wines were so popular that they sold out in June long before many of our friends were able to try them.  This year you can plan ahead and stop by early to maximize your tasting experience.

      The other new tasting experiences will be our crowd favorites of 2014 Finish Line Red & Peaches and Honey.  These wines both sold out last season and we needed to make new 2014 editions for immediate release.  If you missed out last year, the new editions will be on the shelf for opening day on March 14.  

     One last wine that will roll out in a new edition will be our 2013 Run 4 the Roses sparkling dry Chambourcin.  This will be one of the first releases of our 2013 dry red vintage.  2013 was a very good year for our Reds as you will see in this wine and our 2013 Winners Circle Blend.  We look forward to seeing you early and often at Cassel Vineyards of Hershey.

Bottles Arrive @ Cassel Vineyards

    The bottles arrived last week at the tasting room in preparation for bottling in two weeks.  This year our production has increased to such a high level that we had to order 4 more pallets of bottles than last year.  The problem is that our production facility has not grown any larger.  So, here we are with no room, lots of glass and a whole lot of wine.  Once we get it all together in the next two weeks there is going to be a whole lot of wine to drink and we will need your help. 

      On March 14 we will be releasing our new 2014 vintage. 

A New Deck for our Winery

A view of our southern slope where we just began excavation for our new deck.  The deck is going in next week if the weather permits.  We plan to have it open for the grand re-opening weekend on Saturday, March 14. Mel Kelly and his crew are excavating and building the entire project to meet our needs.  It has been a great design process working with Mel since we know the quality work that he does. 

    The sunny days are so nice and comfortable sitting in the protection of the building.  In 4 weeks, we invite everyone to come out and enjoy the spring sunshine and our new wines on our new deck.  Very exciting!