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.