So here’s the thing…we have been very lucky with the weather since we finished harvest. Not much in the way of snow just yet but it is getting colder at night and, of course, we always have the wind! I went back to our Lower Mainland house for a few weeks at the end of October. When I left, there were still leaves on our vines but when I got back, this is what I saw! Yes, the wind did its job and stripped every last leaf off. The vineyard can now take its long winter’s nap. The vines did a great job for us this year and in spite of a challenging last half of the growing season, we are pleased with our 2018 wine so far.
Our crop was slightly heavier than anticipated so we had to scramble and buy more barrels for the 2018 red wines. They are finally all slumbering, aging nicely in their cozy little vessels. Getting the grapes from the field, crushed, fermented, pressed and into barrel is a staggering amount of work for the winemaker and we thank him for his hard work and dedication. We ended the season with 83 barrels of red wine that will be ready to sell when we open the tasting room in the spring of 2020. Just to give you some perspective, that is almost 25,000 bottles! Oh my!!
This Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be our last days in the tasting room for this season. We had intended to close the shop on the 27th of October but so many wineries were still open, we couldn’t resist the chance to continue the fun. We are almost sold out of our Gamay Noir, Roussanne and Cabernet Merlot – if you are in the Oliver area, come and see us! We are offering discounts on all purchases for our final 2018 weekend in the tasting room. I couldn’t resist throwing a few Christmas decorations around just to add a little festive spirit to the place. And, of course, I am playing Christmas music…
Even though our tasting room is closing, we are still able to ship wines. I mentioned in our last newsletter that shipping on a 12 bottle order to a business address in B.C. is free, the same shipment to Alberta is $25. Anywhere else in Canada is TBD. Our last day to ship will be December 12th. And you never know, if you have a Lower Mainland address, you may just find me on your doorstep handing over your 12 bottles just in time for the holidays! That would be fun for me!!
Truly, we have had a really great first sales season here at the winery, exceeding even our most outrageous expectations. We have met people from all over Canada, the U.S. and even Europe. We will take the next few months to make plans for the upcoming season which will most likely include a wine club. We hope you will consider joining. And if you have visited us in Oliver, we thank you very much and hope you will visit again next year.
Jamie and I wish you all the very best over the festive season. We wish you happy times with family and friends, we wish you peace and quiet at this hectic time and we wish you safe travels whether across town or across the globe. Enjoy yourselves! And enjoy a bottle of B.C. wine or two.
