Late Fall in the Vines

     I took the dog for a walk in the vineyards tonight to find some peace and quiet during this frenetic pre-Christmas season.  All the presents are purchased and vacation is just around the corner.  However, there is still so much to be done.  All our reds need to transfer to oak while our whites begin to cold stabilize. 

     The snow and sunset made for a beautiful shot so I wanted to share it with you along with my wishes for a happy holiday season.  Merry Christmas!

The Gold Standard

This past weekend I was privledged to sample the gold standard of late harvest Sauternes.  My first and probably my last taste of Chateau d'Yquem 2000.  I would agree that this dessert wine is the most amazing taste I have ever had in a bottle.  The idea of tasting this wine to help me better appreciate the  goal that we wish to achieve with our estate grown Vidal Blanc is a bit disarming.  If we can make a wine that makes someone even think of Chateau d'Yquem, we will consider our first late harvest a success.  The wine is proceeding as planned and the proof will be in the product.

Today I stopped the fermentation after more than 5 weeks at 11% alcohol.  Because the weather has been so cold the fermentation has been proceeding very slowly.  After a few more weeks of resting, I plan to transfer everything into a new French Oak barrel.  Next fall we should be tasting our first bottle of Late Harvest Vidal Blanc.

Decorated for the Holidays Inside and Out

       

   On Sunday we completed our decorations at the winery.  We are now ready for Christmas since we are decorated inside and outside.  The weather turned cold and snowy the day after the lights went up.  Several visitors stopped in to  see our decorations and taste ous seasonal warm, spiced wines.  Hope to see you soon.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Who can argue that this is not THE most wonderful time of the year?  All the wine is resting in tanks and we have not begun the weekly grind of pruning. We are still open and people are stopping by in droves to stock up on gifts and cellar (stocking?) stuffers. We get to visit and talk with our customers without feeling guilty about not doing a dozen other things.  The weather is cool but we have spiced wine and our cozy tasting room to keep us warm.  

I just love the Holiday Season!  Jody has the winery decorated and we are holding several small Holiday parties.  Unfortunately we only have room for 20 - 30 guests so we have to deny most of the requests.  However the small, office parties and groups of friends who gather to celebrate are another thing that makes this season special.  If you cannot make it out, please have a safe and happy holiday.  If you stop by make sure you say hello and Merry Christmas.

Chromatography test for Wine Acid

     

      Here is a picture of the new test tool which we just acquired to improve our wine quality.  Most of my biology students and any chemistry student  should recognize it as a chromatography assay.  While most wineries choose to send their samples off to a lab and have their results printed, Chris and I take satisfaction from actually running and interpreting our analytic tests in-house.  I have previously blogged about our refractometer, total acidity titration, free SO2 and density tests just to name a few.  Today's test was from a tool to determine what acids remain in our wines after our primary and malolactic fermentations.  As we have stated in our tasting room to any customer who cares to listen, we do not put our white wines through a malolactic fermentation or barrel age our whites.  However, we have begun to both malolactic ferment and barrel age our reds.  This chromatography test shows the results of our friendly malolactic bacterial inoculation.  The left 3 lanes are our standards and the lanes 4-8 are our tank samples.  Any acids that remain visible in our samples mean they are present in our wines.  Thankfully, our malolactic bacteria eliminated the sharp, acidic taste of our Cab. franc and Chambourcin.  Now, all we need is an 15 month rest in toasted French oak barrels.  The results of this years wines should speak for themselves.

Silhouettes Against the Sky

     Here are some evening pictures of the vines against the fall sky.  I took them yesterday as I walked among the vines.  From top to bottom, they are Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, and Chardonnay.  These vines were just beginning to go dormant for the winter when the temperature dropped like a rock.  It made me think of a year back in 1980 when the temperatures fell too quickly for the vines to acclimate.  They were caught with sap still in their trunks when the temperature went down to -28 and people lost 50 - 75% of their vines in one week.  The grape growers still refer to it as the Christmas Massacre of 1980 in New York and I only hope we don't get to see the same thing in our vineyard.

     We are making plans to mulch all the grapes in the next several weeks.  We have saved up all of our organic compost from our grape pressing and mixed that with our horse manure and wood shavings.  The result is a beautiful, rich mixture which promises to protect and nourish these vines throughout the upcoming year.  

Transfering the Reds

  Spent yesterday evening transferring and sampling our Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin from this years (2013) harvest.  I have stated from the day we picked that this vintage is going to be very special because of the late, warm, dry weather we experienced in August, Sept. and Oct.  Well, last nights transferred showed that these predictions are coming true.  The wines all have an incredible body and structure that we have not seen in the past 3 vintages.  Unfortunately we will have to be patient and allow some of the tannins to soften over the next 18-20 months but at this point these reds are looking exceptional. 
   We were also able to transfer the fruit wines which are now in their final stage of maturation and some of the small changes we made in these wines this year and last year are also paying off nicely.  You may, or may not remember that I talked about a change we made in the type of yeast which we used for last year's fruit wines.  We were very happy with the results of that experiment and our increasing sales of these wines shows proof that our customers were happy too.  This year we kept the same yeast but changed our tannins and pectic enzyme to give these wines a little softer feel on the palate.  Initially, these changes seem to have also made a very positive difference.  We expect to release all our new fruit wines in June so we will let you be our final judge. 
    Meanwhile, we will just have to wait and continue to enjoy the fruits of last season's labors.  Sometimes, the waiting is the hardest part!!!

From Start to Ferment

This past weekend, Jeff and Kisa Skelton and all our friends at the winery came together to pick, crush, press and ferment the late harvest Vidal Blanc.  The top picture shows a group shot of our picking crew.  We enjoyed a beautiful day and a whole lot of friends made short work of our 1000 lbs of grapes.  The final press produced 100 + gallons of amazing juice.  Jeff helped crush and press the grapes before we introduced the special Sauternes yeast.  Our juice tastes amazing and if everything works out the way it should, the final wine will taste amazing and should be ready by next September.  I am looking forward to trying this wine as it develops.

Late Harvest Vidal

   Here are pictures from some of the clusters of Late Harvest Vidal Blanc that I picked yesterday evening.  You can see the dark grapes on several of the clusters that have begun to sweeten due to Botritis.  The Noble Rot infects the skin of the grape and allows the skin to give up moisture while it concentrates the sugars.  Unfortunately, the yellow jackets figured all of this out on their own 2 or 3 weeks ago and started drinking the sweet nectar. Thanks to the very cold temperatures the last several nights we are now rid of the yellow jackets and we can begin to concentrate the flavors for our final picking this weekend.  Hopefully all the numbers will be great and we can complete the crush and press of our first Vidal Late Harvest Dessert wine. 

Harvest Celebration

       These last two weekends we are hosting the Hershey/Harrisburg Wine Trail's Cornucopia Quest.  We have so much to celebrate because this season's harvest has been such a memorable event.  Now, we have the chance to showcase our beautiful vineyard, tasting room and employees to everyone who stops in.  The first weekend we were pleasantly surprised to receive so many out-of-state visitors and visitors who were not part of the wine trail's Cornucopia Quest. It was such a rewarding day with so many smiles and kind words.  The first week was a blast and we hope the upcoming weekend is just as much fun.  If you were not able to visit, stop by this weekend even if you are not part of the Cornucopia Quest.  We would love to show you are place.

PA Farm Show Entries

     A sure sign of the changing seasons was my entering our wines into the PA Farm Show today.  The weather is changing as the temperature drops.   Now it's time to take the winery work inside where we will be transferring and bottling our wines for next Springs grand opening.  There is so much to look forward to as the holidays approach and we celebrate with family and friends.  Then, as if on cue at a time when the calendar has nothing else important, the PA State Farm Show gives us a week to showcase the work we do as an agricultural industry here in PA.  The wine industry wouldn't be anything if it were not for the great grapes that are grown in our and many other local vineyards.  So think about where your wine comes from and look forward to celebrating its genesis when the 2nd week of January rolls around.  Who knows this may be the year we win BIG at the PA State Farm Show!

Sweet Late Harvest

     Here is our late harvest Vidal Blanc.  They are coming along slowly but surely.  We hope to be able to harvest around 30 Brix.  The weather has been very nice up until now and everything has been harvested right on schedule.  We are planning to pick these grapes in 3 weeks but I don't know if that is going to work out. We will see and keep you posted.  Hope to make a very interesting dessert wine. Just taking it one week at a time.

Cassel Vineyards Niche

In just 5 years Cassel Vineyards has established their niche in the wine industry.  We have indentified ourselves as an Estate Winery that grows and produces our very own artisan wines on our property.  At Cassel Vineyards we take great pride in producing our products from start to finish with our hands, from our soil, into your glass.  The vineyard component of our winery is managed entirely by our family and friends.  In the wine cellar, all of our wines are vinted by Greg Etnoyer and brother’sChris and Craig Cassel who worked together since the first bottle was produced.  We have established our style of wine making over the past 20 years.  Our wines are appealing to all palates from the sophisticated to the novice.  We go to great lengths producing very fine wines that are pleasantly drinkable.  Our white wines are vinted in 100% stainless steel that produces a style of wine that is refreshingly crisp, clean and fruit forward.  Our dry red wines are lightly oaked using real French oak barrels, they are well balanced and fruity with a clean finish.  Our Chocolate Ruby Royale is one of our Signature Port style wines.  Cassel Vineyards is proud to be the first winery in the Hershey area to produce a Chocolate Port style wine.  Our sweet wines also carry our distinct style of refreshingly fruity with fruity aromas and clean finishes.  Our winery has identified itself in its own unique niche.  This niche starts with the beautiful location of our vineyard and tasting room in a totally pristine rural setting away from the busy highways.  Our friends and family all play a major role in the creation of our product from pruning and harvesting through venting, cellaring and bottling.  Our wines are the final product from our soil, our labor, and our knowledge, patiently created, developed and aged for your enjoyment.

We hope you enjoy them.

Thank you for your support.

Chris Cassel

Celebration of Fall

     A curious phenomenon of the fall harvest has appeared in our Cabernet Franc vines.  Most of our vines stay green up until the first frost.  However, we picked the grapes 2 weeks ago and right after we picked, this vine found another way to celebrate the fall harvest.  It is such a beautiful sight. What a beautiful sight on a cool fall evening.  Love the vineyard in the fall after the grapes are harvested and the wine is pressed.  Now the work goes inside and we need to work on crafting the wines from the fruit the earth has given us. 

2013 Harvest Is Done and In The Tanks

     We did not expect to have this much help picking our grapes today.  We actually planned to pick our Chambourcin next weekend.  However, with the possibility of rain this Monday and our tests on the grapes being almost perfect we decided to pick today.  The weather was hot and humid and the grapes indicating they were already ripe,  The grapes were so ripe they were nearly wine before we crushed them.  

      We had nearly 30 volunteers and all the usual workers.  It was an amazing crew.  Everyone worked so hard that we were done by 2:00!  We are so blessed by our friends and family here at Cassel Vineyards.  After picking, we had a wonderful dinner provided by Blazing Swine BBQ.  We also did a blind tasting of our Cabernet Franc against some great wines from NY and MD.  It was so much fun and the food, friends and wine reassured us that what we are doing is making a difference in to many people in many ways.  All I can say is thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who has helped us by working in the vineyard to pick our grape this year.  We could not have done it without you.

Crush and Press

  Today we will be pressing the must from last week when we picked and crushed our Cabernet Franc.  This year the weather has cooperated very nicely with our grape picking schedule.  As a result, our 2013 vintage is looking very good.  It may take two or even three years until today's Cab Franc. begins to reach its full potential.  But when it does, look out.

A Little Out of Order

       A picture of the loaded Chambourcin taken yesterday, Sept. 23, 2013.  The grapevines are healthy and loaded with fruit.  However, the acid, sugar and pH are not nearly as far along as the Cabernet Franc.  Last year we picked the Chambourcin this weekend and waited to pick the Cabernet Franc until The 3d weekend in October.  This year the two grapes have switched places.  We are looking at the right numbers on our Cabernet and preparing to pick this Saturday.  I wish we could ask the vines what the role reversal is all about?  Maybe it's the site location, the dry weather or maybe it was the fact that the birds never thinned the Cabernet this year.  Whatever it is, we'll take it.  The grapes taste great and the weather continues to cooperate. Come out and help us this Saturday at 9:00  we are going to have a great lunch and a great afternoon.  

What We Stand For At Cassel Vineyards

      Cassel Vineyards

   By Chris Cassel

Our goal at Cassel Vineyards is to provide our customers with a unique and truly complete winery experience.  The experience begins as you turn onto Shetland Drive which is named after our Great Grandfather who raised Shetland Ponies on this very site.  Shetland drive allows you to take a step into the rural country side of Hershey.  As you round the turn you will enjoy the site of horses, as mares and foals graze in the open pastures.  As you enter our tasting room you will understand our horse racing theme that you will see in our building design, label logos and the fanciful names of our wines.  As you taste our wines you can look out the windows and see acres of grape vines that produce the Cassel Estate wines.  The windows in the tasting room allow customers to see right into our production area.  Our wines are the fruit of our labor and we want to share the whole experience with our customers.  We hope you enjoy the life we live and love to share with you our customers.

 

Strawberry Wine Update

2013 Vintage is in full Swing

By Chris Cassel

July brought the start of the 2013 vintage as we started the next batch of strawberry wine.  This spring produced a very nice crop of strawberries with enough rain to produce very nice size fruit with just enough dry sunny days to build up sugars and flavor.  We were very pleased with the new strain of yeast that we selected for the 2012 strawberry wine, so we used the same strain of yeast to start the fermentation for this year’s batch.  The fermentation was a very controlled, slow, cold ferment which is aimed to enhance the fruit aroma of the wine.  We selected a new type of tannin to soften the wine and give a full soft mouth feel to the wine.  The tannin will also help to enhance the color preservation of the wine by reducing the oxidation.  As we transfer the first batch of wine for the 2013 season from the primary fermentation vats into the stainless steel tanks, I am certain we will be able to say the 2013 strawberry wine is going to be even better than the outstanding 2012.  We hope you enjoy all the time, thought and labor that goes into every bottle of wine we produce.

Happy to be a Vineyard Owner

      I took this picture this afternoon in the winery just prior to our upcoming harvest.  I'm not one for selfies but I wanted to record the joy I felt as I ran tests on our grapes and enjoyed the moments leading up to the insanity of picking, crushing and making wine.  The test numbers from the grapes this season indicate that it will be a tremendous harvest.  We made it through the early frost, navigated the wet, cool Summer with no problems and ended the season with every grape growers fantasy, a dry autumn.  It can hardly get any better leading up to harvest but now it's SHOWTIME!  For the next 6 weeks we will be burning the candle at both ends as we spend our days as parents, teachers and friends but hurry home to pick the grapes and make the wine each evening and night.

     I don't mean to sound like I am complaining because the satisfaction I receive from having so many wonderful people coming out to the Vineyard on Saturday mornings to help us pick and the way our families come together to accomplish this awesome task is amazing.  Maybe part of it is also the anticipation and anxiety that I know I will feel through November, December, January and February until all the wine is in a bottle or a barrel and I can really savor its quality.  This is one of those years where the pressure is on to make an excellent vintage because the fruit is just beautiful.  Soooo, I will remember this happy selfie and look at it often in the upcoming weeks.  Help me out by reminding me how happy I am to be the owner of a vineyard and winery when thing get crazy this coming weekend and next week.

Looking at the Harvest; Another Perspective

We just came back from visiting some family in Maine.  My brother-in-law Steve makes some of the best maple syrup that I have ever tasted. He and his wife Christy market it under the label Maine Sugarworks.  His small sugarbush is beautiful.  He takes care of his trees all year long just for the Spring harvest.  We are now looking forward to our fall harvest just as Steve looks forward to his Spring harvest.  I had never drawn a connection between  wine and maple syrup until I read my latest Wine Enthusiast magazine and saw this article.  It makes some very interesting points   Winemakers and maple producers are very similar indeed.

More Perfect Weather

     For the past 3 weeks we have had pretty nearly the perfect Fall weather for our grape harvest.  After a Summer with frequent rains the sky has cleared.  Storms and cold fronts are passing us by but leaving us dry.  This weekend we hope to take our final sugar readings of our Chardonnay and concord so that we can determine when we will pick and begin to crush our first grapes.  If the weather continues to cooperate we may end up with our best year yet.  Since 2008 we have been challenged by bugs, birds disease, too much rain, late frosts, early warm spells and a combination of several of these plagues at a time.  So far we have managed to make pretty decent wine despite the conditions.  This year we may have the opportunity to make our best vintage yet.  It is also exciting because we are considering the idea of adding 3 new wines to our list.  More on that plan after we see what the fruits of this years labor provide at harvest.  We are keeping our fingers crossed in the hopes that it will be something special.

Grapes are Ripening

It has been about 3 weeks since the grapes began to change from their summer green to gold and purple.  The Chardonnay grapes are the ripest and the other varieties will come in one after another behind them.  Right now they are at 16 to 19 Brix of sugar, so if this hot dry weather continues we may be picking by the second week of September.

The Chambourcin is also ripening nicely but they will need at least until October to get their sugar and flavor profiles up to where we can pick them.  We like the Chambourcin to be very sweet with a low acid because so much of its character is locked up in its skins.  The skins have such a nice flavor of pepper and tannin that they give the Chambourcin a flavor profile unlike any other wine I have ever tasted.  This year's Chambourcin is shaping up quite nicely.  It will be interesting to see how the weather holds out until November when we will pick our Cabernet Franc.  This picture is a shot of the ripening Chambourcin.

The final shot is one of the Cabernet which will hang until early November.  Last year I think we picked it the first weekend of November and the wine is tucked away in French oak improving every day.

A Bird on a Stick

      As I have posted many times, our nets are up and functioning very well to protect our grapes.  However, as the Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc continue to ripen and get sweeter, the birds are starting to show up to have a look.  Last Thursday the flocks of starlings were circling the vines and looking for any week spots in our net protection.  After watching them try for about 10 min. I went inside and got our 3 new predator decoys.  There are 2 Red-tailed Hawks and a Great Horned Owl.  I took them to their perches and mounted them on their sticks.  It was amazing!  Just as quickly as the flocks of starlings came, they turned around and flew away.  Our grapes are still several weeks away from their final day of harvest but our attempt to keep the birds away are working well so far.  Tomorrow, we plan to take several more sugar readings but if this hot, dry weather continues we should be in pretty good shape.  I am keeping my fingers crossed!

The Grapes They Are A-Changing

     As this picture shows, the Chambourcin grapes have finally changed from green to purple.  They are almost 3 weeks behind last year's grapes.  Of course last year was not exactly a normal year either with 27 days over 90 degrees and a spring that started the shoots 2 weeks early.  Many growers lost their first buds in the late frost the second week of May but we were fortunate enough to escape with almost no damage.  This year we have had a very cool and wet spring and summer.  There have only been 14 days over 90 degrees and that is 10 below the average.  It is difficult to say if this year or last year are closer to normal because of the two extremes.  Hopefully we will enjoy a long warm, dry Indian Summer and no frost until mid November.  As long as we get moderate rain and reasonable warmth, I think our grapes will mature nicely.  

Peach Wine

     We are planning on starting our batch of Peach Mead this Friday.  I have 120 lbs of Lancaster Co. honey and 800 lbs. of fresh Lancaster Co. Freestone peaches.  It's important to use freestone peaches because I will be pitting all those peaches this Friday.  There is plenty of work for anyone who would like to contribute some time and energy on Friday morning at 9:00 AM.  I will be pitting from 9 to 12 and mixing in the honey and water after noon.  Stop by to watch or help out if you want to.  We will be starting our harvest in 2 or 3 grapes so it is important that I get the Peach Mead started so that we can transfer  it to a stainless steel tank before we need. The primary fermenters again for grapes.

Cassel Vineyards in Maine

    If you missed my writing, or noticed that my last post was posted after the event actually happened.  It's because we have been on vacation in Maine.  We have had the computers and cell phones off.  Tonight we fixed a great meal of Atlantic salmon grilled with maple syrup and stone ground mustard all from sources right here in Maine.  The Vidal Blanc went with it very well and the scenery was great.  We will be returning to the vineyard and winery this Sunday.  Vacation has been very relaxing and we look forward to a few more days and meals.  

Special Event Fund Raiser For Hershey Band

Today is a very busy day at Cassel Vineyards in Hershey.  The Hershey marching band is holding an event with a tasting, live music and a meal.  Meanwhile, Jody is working a special event at the car show in Chambersburg.  The weather here in Maine is beautiful and hopefully they will enjoy the same weather.   Please call or stop by if you would like to attend the fund raiser.  I have posted the information above.

Depleted Inventory

It's the same story every year.  Spring comes and we complete our bottling.  I look in the production room and think to myself, how are we ever going to sell all of this wine.  In 2009 we started with just 600 gallons or 250 cases.  It seemed like a mountain when you look at is as an investment that only pays off when it's gone!  By Thanksgiving 2009,  the mountain was depleted and we closed before Christmas.  Next year it was 1200 gallons and the mountain filled the back room of our small winery.  I had the same feeling and got the same results.  In 2011 we were up to 1000 cases and our little winery was so full you couldn't get 3 people inside to do a tasting.  It was comical but we never thought anyone would buy that much of our wine.  We ended up closing before Thanksgiving that year!  2012 finds us in our new winery with a new production and storage area.  4000 gallons, 20,000 bottles in 1,600 cases seems like a lot of wine.  Here we are in August and we are on the way down to better than half of our inventory being sold.  We still have plenty of several varieties including our Concord and Vidal Blanc Semi-sweet.  But the usual big sellers are moving out the door at the same, brisk rate,  we are out of Chambourcin, and getting very low on Finish Line White, Strawberry, Peach, Vidal Dry, Cabernet Franc and even our Chocolate Port pile is dwindling.  Thank you to all our customers both loyal and new.  Remember not to put off your Christmas wine gift shopping until December or you may find that you have to give another gift.  

Battle Plan for the Birds

I don't want to give our secret plans up to the enemy but I doubt any birds are reading my blog so I feel like I can reveal some of our battle preparation. I recently completed assembly of 8 perch towers that we will soon mount our 3 hawk and owl decoys on throughout the vineyard.  The idea is to move the decoys each day to make them look more realistic.  We also purchased an electronic bird repelling caller which emits the sounds of birds as they are being slowly tortured with sounds of hunting hawks also recorded so it sounds very realistic.  The starlings will have to be pretty bold to fly in under the watchful eyes of our decoys while the sounds of their tortured companions are being played for their entertainment and our pleasure!

Finally as our last line of defense we have erected our bird netting over 100 % of our grapes this year.  Instead of using just the nets as we have in the past.  This year we employed the use of plastic PVC spreaders and plastic twine to hold the nets away from the grapes and prevent the birds from landing on the net to peck through.  Thanks to our friend Clint Etnoyer who provided us with the PVC from old plumbing jobs.  If it were not for Chris and Clint we would have spent several $100 to purchase and install vineyard spreaders.  The spreaders and nets look great as you can see but don't tell the birds about our first 2 lines of defense.  This year we may finally win the battle of the birds.

Bird Netting Ready

      Well, we finished netting our grapes a little early this year.  It seems like we are always rushing at the last minute to get our netting done as the birds are devouring our grapes just before we pick them. So this year we put the nets on a week or two early.  I realize this creates a new set of problems like mowing and spraying between the rows and we will have plenty of tears as we remove the nets but with all the grapes we have lost in the last 3 years it is time to take action early this year.  Our crop looks fantastic and we are hoping that everything continues to develop right on schedule.  The pictures show our Chambourcin, Vidal Blanc and Chardonnay from top to bottom with the netting completely covering the vines from root to shoot.  Today I was getting the secret weapon ready to deploy at the first sign of bird damage.  It is an electronic bird repelling system that I will take some pictures of when I install it.  I can tell you that it certainly sounds awful.  Last night I tested it in the kitchen.  The sounds of dead and dying birds at in their final gasps (or should I say tweets) of life were horrific and if it sounds awful to me I think it will even sound worse to my feathered enemies.  We will keep you updated on our progress.  Meanwhile I am going inside to watch the Hitchcock Classic "The Birds"!

Cluster Close

     It has been a crazy hot, humid week here in central PA this last 7 days.  Temperatures have been up in the mid to upper 90's and humidity is off the charts.  After all the rain in June the vines have jumped up and continue to grow at an unbelievable rate. Likewise the grape clusters have surged and as the picture shows, are ready to close up which means the next step will be ripening or veraison, literally, the onset of ripening.  This is always an exciting time as you work and watch before your eyes the transformation of the fruit into their beautiful final stage.  The grapes in this picture are our Chardonnay and they will turn a beautiful golden/bronze color.  We have already thinned the clusters and pulled shoots and leaves to give all the grapes a chance to ripen evenly.  This week we will fix all the bird nets into place and secure them so that the hungry flocks are held at bay.  

      Everyone always asks how the grapes are developing this year and some people are actually interested enough to take the time to walk, look, listen and taste the answers that we try to use to explain this very complex question.  The fact is, so many factors come into play that it's really not until after the harvest and primary fermentation that we can finally asses the growing season.  The short answer is that this year is shaping up to be a fantastic year but we just don't know what nature has in store for the next 3 months.  Hopefully, it will continue to be the perfect season!

A Taste of Hummelstown

     

       It is really hard to believe that we began selling our wine at this event 4 years ago.  The taste of Hummelstown was the first time we were granted permission to sell our wine to the public b y a special permit back in 2009!  Now here we are in 2013 still offering our wine and sangria at this nice little community event.  The weather was very warm last night but the residents who came out enjoyed lots of great food and drink and had time to relax and enjoy.  We had a nice opportunity to talk with all the people who make our lives and job so much fun.  Thanks for coming out.

Preparing for the Birds

   July 14th and we are preparing for the onslaught of hungry birds in the next 3 or 4 weeks.  Talk about a steep learning curve, it seems like just yesterday we discussed the fact that we didn't need any bird nets because we hadn't seen any birds.  We were sitting around discussing our first year's harvest with eager anticipation in 2010.  The next week THEY came.  In no time our Chardonnay and cab franc were stripped of half their fruit and they were just starting to strip our Chambourcin when the netting arrived.  That year was a disaster so we learned a valuable lesson.  The next year we thought we were ready but despite our netting and shotguns the 4 foot nets just were not enough.  Last year we bought 18 foot nets and totally encased our vines and even used double nets 4 and 18 foot nets on some of our chardonnay and cab franc vines.  Despite our best efforts, we still lost about 40% of our most valuable grapes.  This year we are modifying our nets with spreaders made of PVC pipe and twine. Our nets are going up early and we are also going to try an electronic bird distress system that is guaranteed to keep the birds away.  We will see how that all works.  Each year our system improves and hopefully this year will be our best harvest so far.  We are keeping our fingers crossed and our shotguns loaded!

Customer Loyalty Cards @ Cassel Vineyards

    Well, here it is...  So many people have asked us for a frequent buyers/ case club / wine club card that we are releasing our version for membership as of this week.  We combined a whole lot of ideas from different wineries both locally and online to create something that we hope will work for our loyal customers and will not cause us to lose the shirts off our backs.  The way the card works is like this.... 

    If you are a regular customer you purchase the card for $10 and get your next 12 tastings free along with a 10% discount on each purchase.  The tastings have a value of $36 alone and the discounts can add up.  We have always offered a 10% discount on cases but with the loyalty card this discount applies to all purchases including bottles and glasses.  After you have filled your card and used 11 tastings and purchased countless bottles or glasses, you are entitled to a 20% case discount on your final loyalty card purchase.  We hope this will allow our local customers and friends to sample and purchase the wine for their everyday needs and special events and give everyone the flexibility to visit and purchase when they visit. 

   Thanks to all our loyal customers.  This one is for you.

A Beautiful Vineyard Prayer

We received this beautiful card from our friends Phyllis and Ted in Michigan.  It is such a peaceful and tranquil poem with visions of cool breezes, warm sunshine and relaxation among the vines.  I have read it each day, sometimes two times a day to remind myself that I am living the dream.  Sometimes it is just like the prayer says early in the morning with the fog and moisture still dripping from the vines.  However it is when the temperature is at 92 and the humidity makes it hard to breath that I need to remind myself that its all worth it in the fall. Once we have battled the birds, storms and insects and harvested our vineyard and the wine is in the tanks we can sit back and enjoy our accomplishments with our many friends and customers.  I guess that is kind of the way a lot of things are in life.  It takes a little work and discomfort to make the end result something worth sharing and being proud of.  Thanks for the prayer Phylis and Ted.

Dropping Fruit to Improve Wine Quality

It may not look like it from the picture but we spent last Tues, Wed and Thursday dropping almost half of the fruit from our Chambourcin vines.  This picture shows one of the vines after we had removed 10 shoots to improve airflow around the grapes and then removed about 20 clusters of grapes.  We have never been in the situation where are grapes are setting this much fruit and the conditions for growth have been so perfect.  The abundant rainfall in June has produced an over abundance of foliage in plants that already had perfect pollination conditions.  The idea is to thin the fruit to improve the overall quality of our product.  We had to thin the clusters on our Cabernet Franc last year as those vines reached 4 years of age.  This year our Chambourcin and Vidal Blanc followed the same course of overproduction.  Thankfully our Chardonnay were thinned early when we first pulled shoots to improve the disease control so we will not have to cluster thin the Chardonnay.  Our next task will be to put up bird netting to protect the grapes which we have now thinned.  I will follow up with some pictures of our new bird netting later this week as we install the nets.