Home or Something Like It

       We just returned from a 3 day tour of the Finger Lakes wineries on Lakes Cayuga and Seneca.  It was a great opportunity to get away and learn about what is happening in other vineyards and wineries.  Wwe we're able to talk to tasting room employees, winemakers, owners and vineyard managers while sampling their wines and comparing our practices to theirs.  It was quite an enlightening experience.  One of the highlights of the trip was returning a bottle of our 2010 Cabernet Franc to the place of its roots quite literally.  In 2007 I contacted them about grafting their clone of Cabernet Franc to a rootstock that would work well in our area.  The resulting 800 vines were the basis of our first planting in our vineyard.  We harvested our first real crop in 2010 and then put it into French Oak for 8 months and aged it for two years.  The resulting wine is our first 100% estate grown Cab. Franc.  It was great talking to the nursery manager and seeing the surprise on her face when she realized why we were visiting.  

  Our other visits were to several outstanding wineries a cheese maker and a Port Wine store.  The Port of New York in Ithaca was one of the most enlightening of our visits as owner Fredrick explained to us the 5 year process which he uses to make his amazing quality port.  I hope to get back to visit Fredrick again to let him try our Cassel Vineyards Chocolate Port.  That will be another story!

Pruning the Cab Franc

     Here are the vines before we began tucking and training them in our split canopy, Scott/Henry trellis system.  The growth has been so vigorous with the rain and now sunshine that we need to put the breaks on and start to stress the vines. In this way we can force the vines to start concentrating their energy on fruit production.  When the effects really start to kick in the vines will channel all their energy into fruit production and shorten the growing season.  Here are the vines after the pruning is done.  What a difference.

Music and Wine Festival in Harrisburg

    This past weekend was one of the busiest weekends we have ever had here at Cassel Vineyards.  We began our summer hours and are now open Thursday, Friday and Saturday 12 - 6.  Friday we hosted our own Music in the Vines event which was spectacular.  The last blog shows just some of the picture highlights of that night.  We were open on Saturday and split up for the opening day of the wine  and Music concert at Fort Hunter in Harrisburg.  This event sold several thousand tickets and showcased 13 of the wineries from the Harrisburg/Hershey wine trail. Although we had lots of fun and the music, food and people were awesome, we were there from 1 - 9:00 and didn't get cleaned up and home until 11:30.  Then, instead of having Sunday off, which is our tradition, we headed back for a second day at the festival on Sunday.  The weather was great and the music was outstanding and THANKS to Greg, Nick, Jody, Chris, Becky, and  N. Murray we were well staffed and everything went smoothly.  The festival is a whole lot of fun and I recommend it if you are looking for a great time and some good music.  Even the Blues Brothers showed up "on a mission from God" on Sunday to lift our spirits.  

Another Beautiful Evening of Music in the Vines

Friday June 14 may be remembered by some of our customers as one of the most beautiful Spring Evenings ever spent outside.  We took a few photos to verify this fact because even though we often enjoy beautiful music and scenery at our vineyard, it is unique to have all of these things come together so perfectly for us and our friends.  The temperature was in the 70's and there was a nice breeze with low humidity at the start of the concert.  People were enjoying some exceptional wine and music when a thunderstorm skirted by in the valley to our east.  Thanks to the low angle of the sun, it created a beautiful rainbow over our vines to the East.

 

As the clouds continued to slide to the south ans east, I was able to frame a beautiful shot from the front porch as the horses enjoyed the cool breeze and lovely evening almost as much as our guests.  

Chances are you may not see this next week but for the next two Fridays we are going to continue to try to make beautiful memories for our guests at Cassel Vineyards.  Hope you can make it out to visit.

First Day of Summer Vacation

Just a few short weeks ago this was the view from the back door of the winery.  We were opening the doors on March 16th and working on finishing the pruning before the buds broke.  Summer, vacations and concerts were so far in the future I didn't dare think about letting my thoughts go there for fear my cabin fever would snap me into a fit of depression.  What a difference 3 months Make.  Today we kick off our Summer Concert series.  Our Music in the Vines will feature bands playing in the vineyard for the next 3 Fridays in a row.  Next Friday, June 21 we are starting at 5:00 in celebration of the Summer Solstice and the other two Fridays begin at 6:00 while each day ends at 8:00.  The US Military Band on Friday, June 28th promises to be one of the most interesting shows we have scheduled for the Summer.  The Tribute to our US Military has really struck a chord in the local community and it looks like we will have quite a large crowd so plan to come early and stay late that evening.

Anyway, back to The Vineyard and Summertime.  Here is a picture of the same vines taken today.  3 months after the photo above was taken.  Now it's time to start thinking about vacation, concerts and relaxing on Friday evening with friends!

Andrea Dampens the Weekend Plans

We postponed the opening show of our summer concert series back on Wed.  The forecast called for heavy rain and deteriorating conditions so instead of dampening our spirits we simplified things.  Now we can sit back and appreciate the rain as it waters our thirsty grapevines.  Yesterday the first wave of rain rained out the concert at the Farmers Market In Hershey.  Market shoppers decided to stay home and we had a pretty slow day.  It was good weather for our new employees to learn how to work the table and ring up charges.  

Hopefully the weather will improve this weekend and late next week so we can enjoy the concerts on Thurs. at the Farmers Market In Hershey and Friday @CasselVineyards Music In The Vines #MITV.

Meanwhile we can just sit back, relax and know that the rain is watering the vines and ensuring a bountiful harvest for the Fall.  

Yesterday I photographed the Chambourcin vines which are reaching the 100% flowering stage.  The whole vineyard is covered with grape pollen and in just 2 weeks we will see how prolific the little buggers are.

Vines in Full Bloom This Weekend

This Friday is the first Summer Music In The Vineyards concert (#MITV @casselvineyards on Twitter) and just like any well choreographed entertainment, the vines are cooperating well.  As if on cue, the buds on all the vines are bursting into bloom.  It is not hard to imagine why so many cultures worshipped and celebrated their vines as a link to fertility and productivity.  In the course of the next 2 weeks literally millions of these blossoms will open and magically transform into the tons of grapes and corresponding 1000s of gallons of next years wines.  The vineyards are the perfect place to relax, unwind and celebrate the end of your work week and the beginning of our upcoming summer.  We will feature our classic Summer White Sangria by the glass.  Come out and enjoy the warm weather, relaxing vineyard sights and the sounds of The Finish Line Quartet playing your favorite jazz numbers.  Don't forget to. Go for a stroll in the vines and enjoy the beauty of the blossoms.  You can't find this opportunity at very many area vineyards so we hope to see you this Friday, June 7th from 6 - 8:00 PM.

Love and Beauty in the Vineyard

  There is more to Cassel Vineyards of Hershey than just great wine.  Today we began our day with a beautiful surprise engagement.  Ben called me several weeks ago to arrange a romantic picnic in the vineyard for him and his girlfriend.  He told me he was going to "pop the question" and wanted it to be a secret.  It was quite an impressive plan and he pulled it off perfectly.  Both his and her parents and some friends were there to celebrate the occasion and they had a great time and seemed to enjoy themselves very much.  Thank you  for including us in your plans and good luck as you enjoy the best days of your life.

  There were many memorable visitors from all across the US and Canada today and we ended our day with a beautiful group of ladies who were celebrating the engagement of their friend by visiting several vineyards.  The beautiful evening and simple pleasure of enjoying cold wine on a warm summer day with friends in the Vineyard caused our new friends to stay and never leave until after closing time. We all enjoyed the love and shared in the beauty that special times and good friends bring here at Cassel Vineyards.