In-service at Cassel Vineyards

      Last week we held a late night in-service at Cassel Vineyards of Hershey.  A professional wine taster and expert in wine pairing, Steve Juliano tasted our wines on our opening weekend and prepared a presentation  for  our employees.  Steve emphasized a simplified approach to wine tasting not based on the 100 point system but rather on a 3 point system.  He brought the tastes and food pairings down to a level that we can understand and explain to our customers.  The food pairing was simple and straight forward with an emphasis on cheeses, fish and red meats.

     Steve was very happy to share his knowledge and expertise with us in the hour that we were together.   Our employees would like to organize further tastings and even some food pairings with Steve and our customers.  The night was a huge success and everyone went away much happier and better prepared to serve our customers.  I would like to say it was like every in-service I have ever attended but I can't say that.

A Taste of Spring (without the sunshine)

    So it's March 25th and the snow is falling.  I went to school today knowing the snow would be falling but somehow it's still like a punch in the stomach.  Upon returning home, I resolved to improve my spirits.  The rage among the healthy nuts now is detox drinks so I half-hearted ly scanned the drink recommendations from Dr. oz and Runners World.  Then I had an epiphany,  if it's not springtime outside, so I need a touch of spring in a glass.  

     I built my spring drink around a solid Spring base of my brother and sister-in-laws pure Maine Maple Syrup found at http://mainesugarworks.com/ (1 oz.)

Then I added 1 oz. of my own sunshine in a bottle in the form of Cassel Vineyards Chocolate Ruby Port http://casselvineyards.com/ .  finally I added 2 oz. of Bourbon and shook it all up and poured it all over ice cubes.  The drink turned out amazing.  It improved my attitude despite the snow and frigid temperatures.     I call my drink The Spring Retox.  

     I hope you enjoy it.  If you have another Cassel Vineyards drink you would like to share I would love to hear about it.  

Cassel Vineyards Hershey; 2014 Selection of Wines

      Here is a picture of our final line-up of wines on our 2014 tasting card.  We have added 2 new wines in the past several months including our winners circle blend and our red silks rose' blend. Both of these wines have proven to be extremely popular in our first 2 weeks of the new season.  There have been quite a few customers through our doors and those people have affirmed our expectations that there's wines are pretty good.  

      Winners Circle Red is a dry blend of our estate grown wines that gives an up front taste with lots of spice, black pepper and fruit and balances it off with raspberry, cherry and a light French oak finish. It gives you a mouthful of fruit with a smooth round flavor that goes with so many red meats or pasta dishes.

      Red Silks Rose', in a bright red bottle (named for the silks that jockeys wear), tastes like fresh grapes, citrus and pineapples all mixed into a bottle with a big finish that cleans and refreshes and begs for another sip.  We blended it with our Summer concert season in mind.  We think that it will be a big hit on warm summer nights when the music and wine are flowing.  

      If you have not made it out to try these and all our other 2013 vintages, there is no time like tomorrow.  This year we have extended our hours to include Sunday from 12-6.  So, you have Friday, Saturday or Sunday 12 - 6.

Last Weeks Visitors

       Last week we held our grand reopening at Cassel Vineyards and everyone showed up.  This beautiful flock of Snow Geese dropped in to eat from the corn stubble.  It was an amazing sight as the flock circled and alighted honking and squalking.  We hope that our feathered friends continue to drop in and give their dazzling show to customers.  Today we took a walk beyond the vines to the nearby Manada Creek and saw 3 pairs of Wood Ducks and 3 pairs of Merganzers moving in to take up residence.  We hope that you can stop by to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors along with the spring sunshine.  This year we are open Fri. Thru Sunday 12:00 to 6:00 PM.

What A First Day!

      We had such an amazing time at the winery yesterday.  The weather turned out to be sunny and warm as long as you were out of the wind.  We were having such a nice time visiting with all our friends and neighbors the time just flew by.  Everyone seemed to have a great time and several groups stayed all day to enjoy the sunshine and wine.  If you didn't make it out yesterday, you can still stop by today.  The sunshine may not last all day, but we have plenty of wine left for your enjoyment.  Our hours this year are extended to include Sunday hours from Noon to 6:00.  With hours on Friday, Sat. and  Sunday, everyone who wants to drop in to visit should be able to work us into your schedule.  We are extending our specials on Sweet Concord, Semi-sweet Vidal Blanc and Dry Chardonnay.  The Concord is $8 while the Vidal and the Chardonnay are both $10 each with an additional 10% discount if you buy a mixed case of these wines.

      Stop by and visit now that Spring has begun, I think.

Prepared for Saturday, March 15 Grand Re-Opening

      We are just finishing up with the bottling of our 2014 wines in preparation for our Grand Re-opening on this Saturday.  We did all of our big batches last weekend but then called up a couple of our friends in order to get the last of our Peaches and honey into bottles, corked and labeled.  In the end we had so much help we were able to also get a lot of pruning done before the Spring weather hits.  It has been a whirlwind of activity in the last couple of days.  Now that we will be open in the tasting room it doesn't look like it is going to get peaceful anytime soon.

Sunshine and Blue Sky

      Today was one of our first days of sunshine and blue sky at the winery.  As you can see we have finished more than half of the pruning and leaving a good deal of replacement canes in case the winter damaged any of the buds.  The snow is quickly disappearing and the grass is actually starting to turn from brown to green.  Only a few more weeks and we will be pruning back our vines to more manageable sizes as we tie them down to the trellis and wait for the buds to burst.  Bud break is such a beautiful time with dandelion and chickweed carpeting. The vineyard rows and inviting guests to stroll down the rows to enjoy a picnic in the sunshine.  

       This year's wine trail tour in the May, for the first 3 weekends, will center around the theme of vineyard picnics.  This will be such a nice opportunity to introduce our guests to an experience we enjoy whenever we have a free afternoon.  Hope you can find the time to come out and enjoy the sunshine and vineyard with us.  

Our vineyard begins this Saturday at 12 and continues all year Fri. Sat. and Sun. 12:00 - 6:00.

New Wine Selections @casselvineyards

Here is a copy of our new wine tasting card at Cassel Vineyards of Hershey.  If you have been waiting to try our new 2014 wines, this is a sneak peak at what we will have to offer next Saturday, March 15th when we officially open for the year.  This year we have 15 wines to choose from.  We have everything from dry to sweet.  With a new rose' added this season, our selections include white, blush, rose', red, sparkling red, fruit wines, Meade, and a chocolate port.  There is something for everyone and we hope you can come out and give our wines a try.

Summer Events 2014

      I don't know about anyone else, but I am really looking forward to Spring and some green gass and vines.  The weather outside has me thinking about our Summer Music in The Vines Schedule so I thought I would give everyone something to look forward to this Summer.  Remember the warm, sultry nights with a bottle of wine sitting in your favorite lawn chair with a few snacks and listening to some great music?  Yes, we are planning on doing a lot more of that this summer and really enjoying every event.  

      This years event calendar includes a whole variety of musical styles and bands.  There should be something for everyone.  So recors these dates on your calendar or phone and plan on joining us at Cassel Vineyards.  Every event is free and runs from 6-8 PM.  We only ask that you don't bring any outside alcohol since the only way we can afford to pay the band is by selling our wine.  Hope to see you often this Summer when we can remind each other just how nice it is to sit outside without freezing our butts off!

Check out updates to this schedule on our website at www.casselvineyards.com

Filtering With Old and New Technology

         We are just finishing our final sterile filtration and preparation before we bottle all of our 2013 white wines and our 2012 reds.  In the first picture, Chris and Tom Work to filter the peach, strawberry and late harvest Vidal using our 10 x 10 inch pad filter.  We were able to sterile filter 400 gallons in one day.  At the same time, Brenden brought his Crossflow filter and did more than 3000 gallons in 2 - 12 hour days.  We are now prepared to bottle tomorrow.  Unfortunately it also looks like we will have to contend with a snowstorm while we are bottling.  We are just hoping everything goes as planned so that we can begin our countdown to our grand re-opening on March 15!  In just a few days I will also finalize our Summer music schedule.  It is going to be a great Summer if it ever gets here.