Analyzing the Harvest

Yesterday, we pressed and pumped the last of this year's harvest into tanks.  The smell and taste of the new vintage is so enticing (ripe fruits, figs and toffee).  The initial tests and barrel samples seem outstanding.  There are a lot of exceptional fruit flavors and colors coming out of our Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc.  The Vidal Blanc, Chardonnay and Blush all seem to be resting after their initial ferments and all indications are that they will have very nice flavors, aromas and a nice balance of acids.  Our tests in the field all indicated that these were some excellent grapes despite the cool, wet conditions.  Why?  Only the final wine will tell the story but I did stumble across an interesting article that verifies our initial analysis.  If you are interested in why the grapes were such good quality despite the poor weather, read the article paying special note to the section concerning Lancaster County.
http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=92983

The Final Harvest 2011

Here are some pictures of the final harvest of Chambourcin on Sat., October 14th.  The grapes were excellent, and we had a whole lot of friends who showed up to make the work go fast.  It was a beautiful day and the work went quickly.  On Sunday, October 15th we picked the Cabernet Franc and both the Chambourcin and the Cabernet Franc were crushed, destemmed and placed in primary fermentation before the day ended.  It was such a satisfying feeling.  The food, grape juice and wine at the end of each day were a perfect end to a great season.  Now, it is time to wait and see what the grapes that we have put into the fermenter will turn into in the upcoming year.  Our initial tank tasting of the Vidal Blanc and Chambourcin were excellent.  The Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc juices were exceptional with nice sugar and acid and the potential to be some excellent vintages.  We hope everyone is enjoying the past seasons vintage and expect to close around Thanksgiving.   If anyone is interested in ordering wine for the Holidays, we encourage you to contact us within the next month so that we can arrange payment and delivery. 

Thank you for another excellent year.

A Wine Tasting with The Hummelstown Women's Club

A fantastic group of ladies arranged to do a private wine tasting at our winery on Tuesday evening.  The ladies brought some exceptional snacks to share and pair with the wines.  We spent about 30 minutes doing a walk-through of the wine-making process as the ladies asked questions and gained an appreciation for the art and science of the winemaker and grape grower. 
After taking the time to learn and listen, the ladies found a sincere appreciation for the wines which were grown, picked and crafted here in our little corner of Pennsylvania.  Thanks for spending your time with us at Cassel Vineyards of Hershey Ladies!
( If you are interested in setting up a private, group tasting here a the winery, give us a call at 717-533-4301.)  And bring some of that delicious cheese the the Hummelstown Ladies Club brought, it goes great with our Blush!!!

Small Workers, Big Job

What  a perfect day in the Vineyard.  We picked a little more than a ton of Chambourcin and had a whole crew of incredible helpers.  Here is a shout out to Caleb, Bella, Yeni, Asher, Merci, Zimmi, and Noa who all came out to help us pick today.  Including the adults, we had 16 people and the 32 hands made light work of the picking.  After picking we enjoyed some exceptional fresh, squeezed grape juice.  The weahter could not have been more perfect.  We look forward to picking again next Saturday so if anyone has any interest in helping, watch our blogspot and facebook page for updated information on the time.  Thanks again to everyone who helped today.  It was a great time..

Wine Tasting at the Winery and Dinner Pairing at Dafnos

We just finished another busy week here at Cassel Vineyards.  The pictures above represent our latest wine pairing dinner at Dafnos on Tues. night and wine tasteres in the winery on Sat..  Everyone seemed to enjoy the wonderful food, fresh wine and good friends at both of the events.  Sharing our wine with friends is one of the most delightful things about this job.  We hope you can also stop by to taste and enjoy the fruits of our labor.  There are 3 more weeks left in the Farmer'[s Market of Hershey and then you will have to come to my house or meet us at the winery at 53 Shetland Dr.

Another Successful Harvest

Avery, Emma and Andy helped to havest the Vidal Blanc.The picking crew at quiting time!

We were blessed today in so many ways! Finally, a break in the weather allowed us to get our Vidal Blanc into the winery. We were also blessed with a wonderful group of family and friends who came to help us in a 9 hour day in which we picked 3 tons of grapes, crushing and pressing them all in one day. The juice was perfect and despite the bad weather for the past 5 weeks we are looking forward to some excellent vintage next year.

We took a break at 2:00 for lunch and almost everyone stayed around to finish the job until 5:00. Thank you to everyone who came and helped us. The friendly conversation and extra hands made for lighter, more enjoyable work. Next weekend we hope to once again work in the vineyard and harvest our Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc. The weather may actually begin to cooperate and if it does it will be an excellent chance to meet more friends and enjoy some more good food and conversation.