SnowfarmA


	March 2005 Vol. 9, No. 1 THE MICHAEL JACKSON TRIAL EDITION, WHERE AT LEAST IN THIS CELEBRITY TRIAL, UNLIKE O.J.'S, THE GLOVE FITS! And Maybe I Just Don't Understand California, But Didn't The Judge Realize That He Was Adding To The Already Circus-like Atmosphere When He Let Ryan Seacrest And His American Idol Audience Select The Jury? Moving on to news that has not been altered by plastic surgery (it's sad; I remember when Michael used to be a cartoon character), on May 15^th we will be opening our second satellite tasting and sales area! Without knowing us better, the Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor agreed to house us in their gift shop. The museum itself is fascinating (it's like the Smithsonian Institute of Marble), and our space is beautiful; you will be able to wander about marble artwork while tasting our wine, or take a bottle outside to the marble sculpture garden. For information about the museum, including directions, you can check out their website at or call (800) 427-1396. We will be open daily from 9:00-5:30 from May-October (our Waterbury location will remain open year round) and our number in Proctor is (802) 459-3450. And just when you thought the only thing you'd get when an Enologist came to Proctor would be a Proctorologist ... (Editor's Note: You had to see this one coming, and, no, this does not lead us full circle back to Michael Jackson's glove). Moving On To The Vineyard Update, Is It True That Our Leaders Chose To Ignore The Kyoto Protocol Dealing With The Greenhouse Effect And Global Emissions Because They Thought It Dealt With The Whitehouse Effect And Global Admissions? In any event, something is up. We haven't had a "normal" winter in years. Brutally cold temperatures in December lead to some bud loss, which could translate into less production. But it's still too early to tell (besides, we still have another month of potentially cold temperatures to deal with, but, at least now we have sufficient snow cover to insulate the vines). In other words, after re-reading this section, we don't have a clue about how the weather will behave for the rest of the winter. But I do know that come May, we will be adding another acre of Vidal, which we use to make our Ice Wine. And Speaking Of Our Ice Wine ... We expect to be bottling and releasing approximately eight hundred bottles of the '04 Vidal Blanc Ice Wine in May. The cost will be $35/bottle upon release. According to our Special Request List, we already have commitments for over 80% of the wine upon release. If you are interested in adding your name to the Special Request List, please e-mail or call us. There is a six bottle minimum for shipping requests (not all of it has to be Ice Wine). Turning to other matters, recent releases include Martha Stewart, our '04 Estate Baco Noir ($13.95), '04 Estate Seyval Blanc ($12.00) and '04 Snow White ($11.25). Other releases expected this year include our '04 Estate Riesling (dry), '04 Estate Leon Millot, '04 Crescent Bay Red, Apple Dessert Wine, and a Light Port ('04 Estate Frontenac). You Know That The European Union Expansion Is Aggressive When They Invite Antarctica And Mars To Join. But rumors are unfounded that the EU also offered membership to soon to be her own country Kirstie Alley. However, turning to our own expansion, after working through a very trying permit process this fall, the Town of South Hero has allowed us to increase the number of on-site events that we can host during our season. As a result, we have invested in a twenty by forty foot awning with side flaps available for private events starting May 1st. Call or e-mail me for pricing details. On June 11^th, we have our first rain/shine public event beneath the awning. We will be hosting a Cheese-makers Farmers' Market, where you will be able to sample and purchase cheeses directly from members of the Vermont Cheese Council. Vermont artisan cheesemakers are producing an amazing array of cheeses, and I am excited to have them onsite. And of course, we will be presenting many more on-site events once we get back into full swing. The "Music In The Vineyard" Thursday evening summer concert series will commence on June 16^th and run twelve consecutive Thursday evenings, ending on September 1^st. There will also be the traditional July 4^th concert. For those concert evenings where neither the series sponsor nor concert co-sponsor has reserved the space under the awning, it will be available for rent (think "Concert Skybox"). Once I have set the schedule of performers, I will post it on the "Events Calendar" on our website. And if interested in this year's Mozart Festival, the date set is August 3^rd and the performance is entitled, "Paris Bistro". Please call the Mozart Festival office at (802) 862-7352 for tickets as we are simply the host site (and as our site has always been sold out by Memorial Day, please call them early). Random Stuff (Because If I Don't Write It Down Now, I'll Never Remember It Later) The famous Old Tavern at Grafton (one of seven AAA four diamond award winners in Vermont) featured (and will continue to feature) our wine on their "Savor and Sip" Menu until they close for the season on March 13^th. Chef Kevin Takei paired each appetizer and entree on this menu with a different one of our wines. For instance, he paired a savory Ducktrap Farms Salmon Cheesecake and Preserved Tomato Coulis appetizer with Snow White, while he paired a Duo of Vermont Fresh Ravioli, Wild Mushroom Duxelle and Roasted Pepper with Smoked Provolone, in a Herbed Bourin Cream Sauce with our Leon Millot. Innkeeper Kevin O'Donnell reported that the wines have been very well received with many of patrons surprised by the quality of Vermont wine. Based on the response, we will be part of another "Savor and Sip" menu this summer as well as added to the Old Tavern's wine list. For more information about the Old Tavern, please call them at (802) 843-2231 or check out their website at (or www.windham-foundation.org). Finally, just prior to us re-opening for the season, we are very excited that we'll be presenting our wines at the Dorset Inn on April 29^th at a food and wine pairing dinner. I wish that I had details to report, but we are still working on them. In any event, I will post details on our website once finalized, or you can also contact them for details and/or room reservations at (802) 867-5500 or check out their website at www.dorsetinn.com. With Their Season Canceled, NHLers Can Put Down Their Stanley Cup and Pick Up Their Stanley Tools Because we have space available in "So You Want To Plant Grape Vines", our intensive, four day workshop. In lieu of training camp, we will combine 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. A $100 deposit is required. If interested, contact us 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. Snow Farm Employment Comes With A Catch... 22 I recently received an e-mail from a young woman living in Chicago who worked at Snow Farm this past summer (I won't say who, but she performed Janis Joplin's "Bobby McGee" at least a hundred times at our "Bonfire and Karaoke Night" last fall). Anyway, in her e-mail, she indicated that she had just returned from traveling in Eastern Europe, was still pondering what she was going to do when she grows up, and wanted to find out whether I would write a letter of recommendation on her behalf if something materialized. She was a great employee, so I felt that I would have no trouble writing a letter for her (especially knowing that Janis Joplin's job is available). I wrote back indicating my agreement to write a letter on her behalf as I have done for other Snow Farm employees in the past (and despite my letters, all of these individuals got into the graduate schools that they applied to or the full-time jobs they sought). Now since she didn't seem to have a plan, I also informed her that after three years Brian Smith, our assistant winemaker, left to pursue a degree in enology at Fresno State leaving Patrick, our winemaker, in need of an assistant. But, if she was interested in Brian's job ... she'd need a letter of recommendation!