Monday-- “The Sun stands Still” Tis the Winter Solstice
December 20, 2009
With the skies being quite cloudy and overcast it is doubtful that we will be seeing the sun rise over the vineyards of Glenora and along the shores of Seneca on this the last day of Fall 2009. Our temperature is a chilly 21 degrees and the wind coming out of the North northwest at 7 miles per hour is making it feel even colder.
It has been quite awhile since we have made any mention of the broken Finger Lake—Keuka. However credit must be given when or where it is due--so—it appears that Keuka will once again be able to claim the credit of “freezing over” (a farmer’s term for the lake has ice cover”) this year. This “claim” is based on the fact that the water temperature of Keuka is currently at a very chilly 44 degrees while the water temperature of Seneca (home of the Finger Lakes Wine Country’s Banana and Pineapple grape growing belts) is a balmy 55 degrees. While a frozen lake is great for ice skating, ice boating and filling the ice house it makes it more challenging for those whose vineyards are located there. The good news for the growers along the shores of the broken Finger Lake is that a new grape variety has been developed and named, Petite Pearl, in Minnesota that can endure extreme cold temperatures. Petite Pearl will most likely get a warm welcome from the Keuka folks.
In the vineyards—pruning and more potash applications this past week. We did see some cold temperatures for a very short period of time on Thursday evening, nothing of consequence but a reminder that we need to be getting some bud samples in so that we can benchmark any bud mortality that may take place during the course of the winter.
And speaking of winter, tomorrow Monday December 21st will mark the longest night of the year, almost 15 hours from sunset to sunrise. The good news is that after Monday the nights will be getting shorter.
In the cellar—At Knapp there were some wine transfers that took place this past week along with keeping the still running. The Glenora team was busy raking and filtering and did a custom bottling project this past week. The Glenora team also now has Mother Nature on their payroll as they are using her to assist in cold stabilization. This is done by transferring the wine from tanks inside to tanks outside and taking advantage of the cold weather to chill and cold stabilize the wines. While this is extremely energy efficient (no carbon foot print and it gives us carbon dioxide credits) it does contribute to global warming as a result of the heat transfer from the wine to the environment.
It over, our presence at the Windmill for 2009, that is. Windmill Larry reported in last Saturday evening stating that once again his sales were up for that day over the same day last year. When the editor saw Larry the next day he was all smiles—not if they were from the great day of sales, or knowing he did not have to go back to “The Mill” until April.
Last weekend was also the last of our off premise festivals/events for the year as well. Attendance at both the Chocolate and Wine Event (Rochester) and the Pride of New York event at the Desmond in Albany were less that was expected. This is most likely due to the time of year and the fact that there were similar events held during the month of November.
The Knapp Team welcomed a new peacock to its fowl family last Sunday afternoon. He has been named Clyde-Also, The name was going to be Clyde-2 in honor of the first Clyde who “flew the coop” but 2 become too, which became also.
The winner of the first annual Glenora Gingerbread House contest was announced on Friday afternoon. Leslie Wysowski who was the proud creator of house #5 was the winner and will receive a prize of a case of Glenora’s finest. We are now putting the names of all of those who submitted e-mail votes “in the hat” and will be drawing the name of one person who will also get a case of Glenora’s finest as a thank you for taking part in the contest.
Thought for the Week: Change - In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy
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