THE REALITY TELEVISION SERIES EDITION, WHERE MY GREAT NEW IDEA IS TO FOLLOW THE EXPLOITS OF A NUMBER OF CONTESTANTS WHO  MAKE PHONEY PROMISES, DOUBLE-TALK, AND SLANDER EACH OTHER UNTIL FINALLY ONE IS VOTED ON TO BECOME PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ... WAIT A MINUTE...

Vol. 8,  No. 2
October 2004

And Speaking Of Politicians ...
I spoke to our Governor, James  Douglas (who was elected after our former Governor decided that Vermont was just too small a place to scream), after a recent luncheon dealing with the rising cost of healthcare.  I told him about our low cost healthcare program:  we get outside to harvest and drink red wine at lunch, and the prognosis is that we're going to live forever.  He seemed interested and indicated that since he's added some pounds during the campaign season, he might just check out our program.

And So We Are Still Harvesting (and Drinking) ...
The quantity is a bit off, but we're feeling pretty good (and not just from the drinking).  First, the quality of the grapes harvested is exceptional.  Second, on a per capita basis, we can probably boast of one of the highest yielding vineyards from Ontario on east.  Because of years of mild winters, most other vineyards allowed the trunks of their vines to grow tall, while we, with the third of the Three Little Pigs' mentality,  continued to undertake the painstaking work of maintaining our trunks low to the ground in order to have snow cover or simply radiant heat to protect our vines against our winter lows.  This winter, a cold air mass stalled in the Adirondacks, causing it to become colder still, before heading on a rare trip back west.  Lost production and, worse, lost vines is reported wide-spread throughout the industry.  One vineyard in the Finger Lakes reported the loss of 165,000 vines and will have to replant 24 acres.  And despite the shortage of flu shots and the recall of Vioxx, we were stll able to keep on top of our disease control, which was no easy feat given how wet a growing season.  So, with virtually no vine loss and only the Pinot Noir, Riesling, Vignoles (for a late harvest style wine) and Vidal (for our ice wine) to bring in, we can consider this year's harvest a success (of course, we are the same group that considered the J. Lo/Affleck movie, "Gigli" a success, so always remember your source). 

Now, Moving On To Something You Really Care About ... Cat Stevens.
So, I heard that the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens boarded a flight from England to the U.S. but was sent back because he was on a no-fly list.  Well, I asked myself, why is anyone surprised that Cat Stevens is on a no-fly list?  Everyone knows that Cats can't fly.

Didn't care about Cats?  Then how about wine?  The bad (and good) news is that we have very little wine left to release this year, with the `03 Vidal Ice Wine and `03 Pinot Noir selling out almost as soon as we released them.  At press time, we continue to have the double gold medal winning `03 Baco Noir, `03 Seyval Blanc, `03 Snow White, `03 Chardonnay and `03 Leon Millot.  Basically, all the we have left to release this year is the `03 Estate Baco Noir.  Given the lesser production from the vineyard this season, we are going to forego producing a Nouveau this year.  We need the Leon Millot for a stable table wine as well as a light port that we are experimenting with.  We're also experimenting with producing a Sauterne style wine with some of our Vignoles (in addition to our true Vidal Blanc Ice Wine), so we've got some truly exciting things going on here (again, remember your source, but, hey, may the source be with you).   

And Just As Exciting, We Continue To Get As Much Exposure As A Sunbather In St. Tropez.
Snow Farm made the Travel Section of the August 29, 2004 New York Times.  This brought a host of new visitors (which kind of surprised me, given the price of gasoline...leading to a thought.  If a barrel of oil is so expensive, why don't they just find cheaper containers?).  Anyway, the writer enjoyed both the experience and our wine, especially the Pinot Noir and Riesling .  We also hosted Marion Frahm, a renown travel writer from Germany as well as Edie Davalia, who will be doing an article for New England Journey.  Also, on October 10, 2004, Andrea Immer, on the Fine Living Channel, named our Riesling as the wine to drink in her program, 50 Wines, 50 States.  Oh, and despite the allegations of steriod use, we tested negative and the Champlain Islands Chamber of Commerce named us the "2004 Business of the Year" (and now I'll finally get to find out if they take awards like this away after they've read the newsletter).

And Speaking Of Space
We again plan to offer two workshops next year.  The first, "So You Want To Plant Grape Vines", will be an intensive, four day combination of lectures, discussion and hands-on fieldwork for individuals interested in planting grape vines in the North, be it in their own back yards for personal enjoyment or on a larger scale for commercial purposes.  Topics to be covered include, among others,  site selection, site improvements, vine choice, vineyard layout, equipment, planting, trellising, pruning, vine and grape protection, and canopy and soil management. The workshop will be lead, primarily, by Patrick Barrelet, Snow Farm's winemaker and vineyard manager.  Patrick, a Quebec native who continues to commute down from Bedford, Quebec, received his education in France, with a degree in viticulture from CFPPA de Beaune in France, a Diplome Technicien Oenolgue from the Universite de Dijon in France and studied under Michel Roucher-Sarrazin of Puligny-Montrachet, considered one of the top five winemakers in Burgundy.  The dates for this workshop will be May 2 - 5, 2005 from 8:30 until 4:30.  The cost for this workshop is $425, which includes a copy of the book, "From Vines To Wines",  handouts, lunch, and six bottles of wine.  If interested, contact the vineyard ASAP as we will be limiting the workshop to ten persons.  The follow-up to this workshop will be a four day workshop tentatively slated for October dealing with harvesting and winemaking.  Participants from the first workshop will have priority with regards to the second, but details will follow in a later newsletter.

And If That's Not Inspirational Enough
The University of Vermont is asking us to collaborate with them with regard to two grant proposals involving the study of disease and insect challenges in cold climate grape production.  Their request recognized Snow Farm as the leader and pioneer in the field.  And for those of you who haven't met Brian Smith, Brian has been working as Patrick's assistant winemaker and assistant vineyard manager since his graduation from UVM in 2001.  I am sorry to say that Brian will be leaving us at the end of December to pursue a degree in Oenology from Fresno State.  Anyone interested in taking Brian's position come April 1, 2005, just contact me to set up an interview.  Don't read too much into the fact that Brian felt that he needed to move to the opposite end of the country from Patrick in judging whether you feel you can work for Patrick  (Of course, now that I think of it, Kate March, whom Brian replaced as Patrick's assistant, immediately moved out to Seattle after she left here - so maybe there is more to Patrick's managerial techniques than  meets the eye).   

Still, Until Proven Guilty, I'll End With A Tribute To Brian
We've all been bribed before.  Okay ... maybe not.  But apparently, towards the end of the summer, we had a couple show up to the winery a little too late for the 2:00 p.m. tour and, apparently, this couple hung out in the tasting room for a while.  And, rumor has it that once they were the only customers in the tasting room, they asked Brian if he would give them a tour.  And seeing how Brian looks like a college age kind of guy, apparently, the couple told Brian if he would give them a personal tour, they would give him some, well, some pot.  Now, like all Snow Farm personnel, Brian had to go through mandatory education training by the Vermont Department of Liquor Control, but I'm not quite sure that they covered the issue of what to do when someone tries to barter pot for a private tour.  Brian did turn down the offer  (I can see some of you grinning, but he really did ... no, really; we had the same number of bags of chips in inventory the next day).  But I am starting to question why we suddenly becamea haven for Phish fans.   
 
Anyway, until next time, thanks for your continued support, and who's your daddy?

Harrison