Sorry about the length of time from my last musings. It has been a rather long season due to last year winter kill damage. Jimmy and Jeremy have just finished planting 900 replacement vines for the 1200 or so we lost. It will take us over 5 years to get back to where we were before.
In addition, some of my grower’s vineyards have been decimated. Expect to see fewer wines offered here over the next few years as we recover from the damage. The 2014 vintage itself was decent from a quality or flavor standpoint, but hard to work from a chemistry side. We did bring in about 15% in from outside the state to augment what we produced. The return of Mystic Red (a semi-sweet Syrah I made from California grapes) is a good example of how I used them.
We are nearly out of 2013 Chambourcin and Omaha Red. The 2014 vintage is good, but I do not know when it will be available. The 2014 LaCrosse is more like a blend between a Sauvignon Blanc and a lightly oaked Chardonnay this year. There will be no Cardinal Red for 2014 due to the losses last winter and we only have about a 15 cases of it left. We ran out of Soaring Eagle, but do expect some back this summer. Oh, and all of the non-barrel aged wines have been bottled for the year. So come on out and enjoy!
Cheers,
Jim