Once in a Blue Moon

    Today we picked all the Chardonnay grapes, crushed and de-stemmed them and pressed out 335 gallons of exceptional juice.  Days like this only happen once in a blue moon and guess what?  That is what we saw over the vines as we cleaned up and packed up our gear after a great day.  We had so many helpers and the work went so quickly.  Everything went according to plan and that seldom happens.  We started setting up at 8:00 and had all the bird netting lifted and buckets distributed by 9:00.  Our volunteers showed up and finished 2/3 of the grapes before we took a break for lunch.  After lunch almost everyone returned to the vines and we finished the last ton of grapes in 2 hours.  If you missed the perfect day of picking, we will have 4 more opportunities before the year ends.  Hope you can make it because we have such a nice time and such a friendly crowd.  Thanks for all the help, and next year's Chardonnay looks amazing!

Chardonnay Harvest is a Celebration

      Tomorrow we will celebrate the beginning or our 2012 Vintage Chardonnay.  All the numbers are coming together to create one of the finest bottles of wine that we have ever made here at Cassel Vineyards.  If you are familiar with our Chardonnay you know that we like a clean, crisp, snappy nose with lots of green apple and fruit along with a clean fresh finish.  Since the whole process is done in stainless steel the quality of the wine is only determined by two things, #1 is the quality of the grapes and the grapes are beautiful this year.  #2 is the strain of yeast and that doesn't change from one year to the next.  As a result, it looks like the stars are aligned to produce another excellent quality Chardonnay this coming year.  If you would like to be a part of our celebration we will be picking, crushing and pressing these beautiful clusters of berries for the next two days.  Stop by and have a taste of what's going into next year's bottles.

    We will not be celebrating Jazz in the Vines until next week in our new First Fridays of Fall Jazz series.  Hope to see you then. 

Official First Harvest Party

   It's official I have posted the notice to all our fans and customers and contacted all the middle and high school kids who have expressed interest in helping us to harvest grapes.  This Friday we will begin the 2012 Harvest with our Chardonnay grapes.  We have been monitoring and testing the T.A. (Total Acidity) the Brix (Sugar Content) and the pH for the past two weeks.  The numbers were initially too high for the acidity and too low for the sugar and pH but with the 4 warm days last week and the sunshine (between the rainstorms) this weekend, the numbers have steadily improved.  This evening, after a warm sunny day and 3 more beautiful days this Wed., Thurs. and Friday, the numbers really took a jump.  We were cautiously optimistic but now feel certain that this weekend will be the right time to pick at the target numbers. 
    Since we like our Chardonnay crisp and clean and our naked-style lends itself to a crisp, clean, fruity taste we feel confident that this week will provide us with optimal fruit.  If you can make it out to help, we will be working in the vineyard both Friday and Saturday mornings. 

New Release Party, Jazz and Good Publicity

This weekend has been an amazing weekend for Cassel Vineyards of Hershey.  We began on Thursday with a record night at the Farmer's Market of Hershey.  The weather was great and the music was excellent.  We sold our first cases of Finish Line Red and White in advance of the new release Party. 
Friday night was Jazz in the Vines in conjunction with the New Release Party for our Finish Line Red and White wines.  The weather did not cooperate but our friends and fans came out despite the rain.  Paul Vigna from the Patriot News (PennLive) also stopped by for the festivities and wrote a very nice review of our wines and festivities. It includes some beautiful pictures of our wines and the event.

 PennLive Blog

Since the events were such a popular event, we have decided to extend the Jazz in the Vines to include the first two First Fridays in the Fall.  So you can still plan on stopping by and enjoying some wine and music for several more Friday nights.

Friday, Sept. 7th from 6:00 - 8:00 PM
and
Friday, Oct. 5th from 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Friday Night Jazz Continues....

     We had another great crowd tonight for Friday nigh Jazz in the Vines.  Despite the clouds and rain a very nice group showed up to enjoy the release of our new Finish Line Blends.  The music was excellent and the crowd was so enthusiastic that we have decided to host two more Jazz in the Vines Shows. 
     We will call the next two shows First Fall Friday Night Jazz.  Mark your calendar and plan on coming out to enjoy what so many of our customers have already discovered.  Good music, good wine and good friends make for the start of a good weekend.  Hope to see you here on Sept. 7th from 6 - 8:00 PM for our First Fall Friday Jazz concert.

Some Beautiful Sunset Pictures

      Jeff Skelton took these beautiful pictures while we walked through the vineyard last Saturday evening.  They are so beautiful I wanted to share them with everyone.  The top picture is a picture of the sunset from the vineyard looking across the fields and fences of my uncle's land.  The bottom shot was a picture of a beautiful horse grazing as the sun set behind the trees.  There were several other beautiful pictures in the same set.  I will continue to share the best of these photos.  It looks like a great time of the year to stop out with your camera and take some beautiful pictures as well.

Back to Where it all Began

   This past weekend we were visiting with friends during our 30th reunion and we stumbled across one of the early bottles of wine which I made and bottled many years ago.  It was fun to see the old bottle and the personalized labels which I had made shortly after returning from our honeymoon in Europe.  The labels read Chateau Cassel Chianti with a picture of our house.  The picture was taken 15 years ago and there are no trees in the yard or shrubs in the flowerbeds.  It was great to see and drink the old vintage.  However, I must say the new wines we make now are a whole lot better.

Reunion at Cassel Vineyards

      The Lower Dauphin High School class of 1982, of which I was a member, held it's 30 year class reunion this past weekend at Cassel Vineyards of Hershey.  The weather was perfect and my classmates had a wonderful time, socializing, drinking wine and touring the vineyard.  There was a very nice turnout with 50 or more classmates and their families sitting in the cool evening shade while catching up on all that has happened in our lives for the past several years.  The kids loved the fresh grape juice selections that we now offer at Cassel Vineyards (Purple, Blush and White Juices).  Parents enjoyed a delicious Sangria that we mixed up using our Concord and Blush wines.  Another favorite was the tasting of our new Finish Line Red and White blends.  These wines have really had a great reception and we look forward to another party this coming Friday when we have the official release party and our last Jazz in Vines night.  I hope you can join us. 

Release Party for Finish Line Wines August 17th

     Here is a picture of our new Finish Line Red and White Wines which we will release in a formal New Release Party next Friday night in conjunction with our last Jazz in the Vines Concert from 6:00 - 8:00 PM.
We are looking forward a great time and are very thankful for the article in today's Patriot News PennLive Wine Blog.   We hope you can enjoy our wines even if you can't make the party.  I have included a link to Paul's Blog.  Thanks Paul....

http://blog.pennlive.com/wine/2012/08/post_158.html

Finishing Touches to Peach and Honey Wine 2012

I have received a lot of help the last 3 days in preparing the Peaches and Honey wine for next year.  Here, John Germany gives me a hand mixing and sweetening the 2 batches of wine that I have prepared for next year.  With only 6 cases left for this year we have increased the amount that we made for next year. Using fresh peaches and honey from Lancaster County definitely causes a lot of work and adds a lot of labor but the final product is one of the best peach mead's in the area.  Last year we started pitting all the peaches and with Mrs. Sensenig getting me 25 bushels this year that was a huge task.  Thanks to Carl Baeshore we finished the first 20 bushels last night and Greg Etnoyer helped me to prep and mix the ingredients.  Today Chris and John helped me to finish pitting the peaches, we measured the specific gravity and added the yeast to complete the huge batch of fresh Peach and Honey wine.  Now, like all fine wines, all we need is time to help us all improve.  Thanks everyone.  Your help was really appreciated.  I'm confident that with the quality of the ingredients this year's wine will be the best ever.

Christmas In August? (almost)

  We had several visitor yesterday who loved our peacocks.  I have included two pictures which Michele Vogelsong sent me of the beautiful Christmas tree decorations which she creates using peacock feathers.  She purchased 30 more feathers to make more new ornaments for this year's tree.  I am amazed at some of the beautiful crafts that can be created by using natural feathers, and fibers.  I guess the peacocks themselves also deserve some of the credit since they develop the feathers.
   The other group of guests wanted to see the male peacocks, but despite staying for 3 hours the birds never made an appearance.  I know some people would consider my observations anthropocentric but it seems coincidental that the males lose their tail feathers in July and then disappear for several weeks as they sulk in the shadows and hide from both their peahen mates and human admirers alike.  In June the males are stopping traffic and strutting around making themselves as visible as possible.  Then in the course of 3 weeks they lose their tails and become invisible. 

The Change Begins

     In my walk through the vines today, I found several clusters of Chambourcin that are entering veraison.  Veraison is the point at which sugars begin to accumulate in the fruit to make the fruit more attractive to animals (including humans) and birds.  As the sugar levels rise, the acid levels begin to moderate.  The color of the grape signals the final stage leading up to harvest.  As you can see in the background of this cluster, we have placed the bird netting in place to keep the marauding blackbirds at bay.  Hopefully it will prove to be enough to frustrate the flocks that stripped some of our plants last year.  We will see in the next 4 weeks if the nets do their job.  Stay tuned for the next episode of our battle with the birds.