Father’s Day – It is Summer 2009

June 21, 2009

From the weather along the shores of Seneca and over the vineyards of Glenora one would not know that summer arrived this morning at 1:45 AM. Our temperature is a cool 60 degrees and the wind is out of the west northwest at 6 miles per hour—showers are being forecasted.

In the vineyards—depending on the vineyard location is was either a wet week or a very wet week. It seems that the vineyards located in the northern part of Finger Lakes Wine Country received much more precipitation than those in the south. At Glenora we received .85 inches for the week (Sat-Fri), while Knapp received over an inch on Thursday alone. Consequently the vineyard teams are on top of their protective spray programs. The rain has also aided vine growth so we  have to move our catch wires (to hold the shoots upright allowing for protective spray coverage). The folks at Cornell (Geneva) tell us that our degree day measurement is right on target when it comes to an average of several years—but about a week behind 2008. Bloom is still taking place—lots of variation—some sun and dry weather would really help in that arena.

Bottling took place at both Glenora and Knapp this past week. At Knapp the Production Team bottled Sangiovese and Limecello, and at Glenora it was Bobsled Red. In addition Knapp Team moved a fair amount of bulk wine in preparation for some upcoming custom bottling projects, while the Glenora Team spent a fair amount of time working on some custom label projects—the biggest being our Eldridge Park Carousel label which will be “spun out” on the first of July.

On the road—there are a ton of things happening in that area for both Team Glenora and Team Knapp. On Friday we had a tasting at Empire Wines & Spirits in Albany. Friday was also the start of the Women’s Weekend in Ellicottville—we are there! Yesterday we were at tastings at the Owego Strawberry Festival and the Genesee Country Museum. As well we have a three day event taking place—Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the New York Food and Wine Festival in the 1000 Islands—Clayton, NY. Festival coordinator Barb Crosby who is at the 1000 Island Festival is reporting good sales, Saturday much better than Friday and Knapp is in the lead with sales—with sweeter wines from Glenora and Knapp being the top sellers. And, amazing as it seems to the editor, Barb reports that there are still plenty of people who are at the tasting who are now aware of the fact that wines are being made in the Finger Lakes and in some cases even an awareness of them being made in New York.

If you have not been at Verasions this week you should stop by and see the new additions. Bill Spotts, Sherry husband, has created a beautiful wine bottle display rack which is on the patio. The rack is a replica of a bottle drying rack used by the French in the late 1800’s—it is beautiful. Additionally we installed our “fire-pit” on Friday afternoon. It is located between the patio and the vineyards—a perfect spot to end the day with friends and a glass(s) of Glenora’s finest.

There was another beautiful wedding at Glenora yesterday. It was definitely a “destination wedding” as the bride and groom both live in New York City and guests came from as far away as Oklahoma and Germany. While the heavens opened up (rain) for most of the day the good Lord smiled on the couple (clearing the rain) in time for their cocktail hour on the terrace.

We were also honored to host the 80^th birthday party for Howard Kimball yesterday evening. Howard was/is one of the founding partners of Glenora and led our marketing efforts in the early years.Last evening Chef John (Knapp) and his Vineyard Restaurant Team presented their second wine dinner of the 2009 season. These dinners are planned to take place each month. The 32 guests in attendance enjoyed a dinner that had a bit of an Asian theme that was paired with wines from Zugibe Vineyards, Knapp Vineyards and Glenora. As always Chef John and crew did and outstanding job and, as well, the wines were well received with lots of comments from our guests. Prior to the dinner the guests were invited to the “cellar” were they tasted samples of the 2005 Knapp Seyval and the 2008 Seyval that is being considered for bottling soon. Each person had the opportunity to taste samples of un-oaked Seyval; Seyval aged in 2006 French Oak, and 2007 French Oak. We will use the results of that tasting to assist us in our selection for bottling—the 07 oak was preferred by 15 people, the 06 oak by 8 people. What better way to determine what the customer wants than to have them involved in the process of making decisions.

Thought for the week:  Values-Beliefs  -  It is best not to challenge the beliefs and values of others without being sure that you have better ones to put in their place.

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