This weekend, plan a trip to your neighborhood winery and discover a new wine or new release. Ask questions about how the wine was made, where the grapes were sourced from, about pruning and bud break. Enjoy tasting wines and perhaps purchase a bottle to take home with you to enjoy with dinner during the week.

Messina Hof Winery & Resort, Bryan, Texas is offering a Wine Appreciation class, “Wines and Chocolates” on February 28 at 3pm. Reservations are necessary and the cost is $19.95 per person. Classes last an hour & a half and include light cheeses.  Most classes have five to eight wines so Messina Hof suggests lunch at the Vintage House. Make reservations for lunch.

On February 28, Three Fox Vineyards in Virginia is having a Three Fox Piano Lounge and Burger BBQ between 2 and 5 pm. Music and grilled burgers are a great combination.  Burger plus potato chips are $5 and with the purchase of wine, half-price.

Want to enjoy wine and dinner, then go to Foti’s Restaurant in Culpeper, Virginia. On February 28, Chris Pearmund of Pearmund Cellars, Winery at La Grange and Vint Hill Craft Winery will be hosting the dinner at 6pm. Cost is $85 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Call 540-829-8400 for reservations.

Barrel Oak Winery offers a variety of events almost every week. Check out their events for February 27 and 28^th. This weekend’s events include A Paws For The Cause: Charitable Chili Over A Dog At Bow, Haitian Relief on Saturday (10% of every bottle sold goes to Haiti relief). Other activities at the winery include a watercolor exhibit, music and the opportunity to purchase jewelry. Be sure to check the days and times.

Check with wineries for details of their events. Enjoy a relaxing visit to a winery this weekend!

Cheers! Kathy

This cooler than average spring is coming on the heels of a cooler than average winter in the Baltimore area of Maryland. This provides ideal temperature growing conditions for the potatoes I planted the first week of April. Assuming that I get a modest two pounds per hill, with the fifty hills of potatoes I should be able to harvest 100 pounds. That will give me a ten-fold increase in my initial investment in seed potatoes. Where else in this economy can you get a ten-fold increase in an investment in four months?

I began to wonder about wine. If one spends a modest $15 a week for wine, in four months the wine’s cost is $195. That will give you 13 bottles of wine. In the same time and with the same price, you can buy a high level wine kit and make 2 ½ cases of wine. This is better that a 50% increase on your four month wine investment.

If wine kits aren’t for you, there are other options. Many wineries, check in your area, have programs where you can make wine at the winery. Costs and quality vary widely. Kathy and I are going to make a barrel of California Sauvignon this fall at Vint Hill Craft Winery in Vint Hill, Virginia. We are hopeful that we can make a wine equivalent to a $60 or higher California Cab at half the cost. However this will take a couple of years. There are other wineries that you can produce smaller batches using carboys. If you enjoy white wines that are not oaked, you can make them in less than a year at a winery and just a few months using a wine kit.

Don’t be worried about making your own wine. Winemakers are the most giving and helpful people in any industry. If you ask ten winemakers for help, you will probably receive help from ten winemakers. Although their ideas may differ.

Just as you can save money by harvesting fruit and vegetables that you plant yourself, you can recession proof your wine by making it yourself.

Even though Vint Hill Craft Winery is not currently open to the public, we had the opportunity to visit Vint Hill and meet with Chris Pearmund from Pearmund Cellars. After visiting the site, we are even more excited about Vint Hill Craft Winery. This winery is filling a need for wine enthusiasts who want to learn more about wine and winemaking.

Chris gave us a tour of the building that is under renovation to becoming the first winery in the D.C. area to offer people the opportunity to participate in making their own barrel of wine.

Chris believes that with extra steps taken during winemaking, the quality of wine that participants will be producing will be high. For example, when the grapes arrive at the winery they will go to a sorting table to remove the MOG (Matter Other than Grapes). The next step will be the grapes going through the destemmer. Chris is adding another step to the process by having a second sorting table available. After the grapes leave the destemmer, they will go on to the second sorting table. It is here that the jacks – small green pieces that attach grapes to the bunch – will be removed. According to Chris if the jacks are not removed, they will leave harsh flavors in the finished wine.

While workers were busy with hammers and saws, Chris gave us a brief history of the building and enthusiastically pointed out the different areas where the equipment will be located on the first floor. The tasting room will be located on the second floor and visitors will be able to see the work taking place below. The tasting room will also serve as a classroom for participants who will learn what they are to do before actually working on each step of creating their wine.

Vint Hill Craft Winery is scheduled to open July 2009. If you are interested in producing a barrel of your own wine, you can find more detailed information on the Vint Hill Craft Winery website. Participants can sign up now.

Cheers, Kathy

Discover the fun, enjoy the satisfaction and learn winemaking at Vint Hill Craft Winery.

Vint Hill Craft Winery offers the opportunity for wine lovers to craft their very own barrel of wine. Vint Hill Craft Winery is the creation of Chris Pearmund, owner and executive winemaker of Pearmund Cellars and business executive Ray Summerell.

Here on the East Coast, wine enthusiasts will have the opportunity to produce their own barrel of wine. The location is particularly beneficial to those who live in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia. The closer you live to Vint Hill Craft Winery, the more you will be able to participate in producing your own barrel of wine.

The first production will take place with the 2009 harvest. Participants will have the opportunity to choose what grapes they will use, where they will be sourced from, aging in American, Hungarian or French oak and much more. Members will be able to participate as much or as little as they like. There will be an emphasis on learning the process of winemaking.

People are already signing up for this opportunity. Space is limited to 150 barrels; so don’t wait until harvest to make your decision. For more information, visit the Vint Hill Craft Winery website.

Cheers, Kathy

The April newsletter from Wine Trail Traveler is now available. Check out the articles about  Autographed Wine Bottles, Springtime at the Wineries, Produce Your Own Barrel of Wine on the East Coast Vint Hill Craft Winery in Virginia and be sure to take a look at the recipe for Mediterranean Chicken Breast with Risotto and Sauteed Zucchini offered by Thunderbolt Winery in California.

Anyone yearning to produce their own barrel of wine will enjoy learning about the possibilities at Vint Hill Craft Winery in Virginia. Participants may participate as much or as little as they wish. The first bottling will be using 2009 vintage from California and Virginia, depending on the decision of each participant. 

Link: April Newsletter

If you would like to subscribe to the free online monthly newsletter, send an email to newsletter. Write subscribe in the subject line.

Cheers, Kathy