Bottling, Bottling, and more Bottling…

We’ve already bottled eight different wines this week, and after tomorrow there may be a couple more varieties to add to the list! Eight varieties in 4 days is great, but the best part is that three of them are NEW! The winery now has a Muscatto, a Chambourcin, and a Blackberry/Raspberry Port. Rosatto Muscatto is made from the Muscat Canelli grape, while the Chamboucin was grown in our own vineyard. In the past most of the winery’s grapes have been used in blends, so we are very exited to have a wine made entirely from our own grapes. Pirate’s Pour is unlike any other port you will sample. It is based on our Port of Chamboucin, but they are nothing alike. The Blackberry and Raspberry portion set it apart from any other port wine and make it a great holiday dessert wine.

We finally pressed the last grapes of the year! I’m just glad we had a roof over our heads, that rain was cold! Today we’re finishing our next Celebration & our next Wedding White. Also, we should have our NEW Muscato finished up before Christmas this year.

We have a whole lot of wine that needs to be filtered soon. Most of it is fruit wine like Blackberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, and Raspberry. Those wines always filter hard, so hopefully they go through the filter alright. We recieved the first of our apple yesterday, and the rest is coming soon. The last of the grapes for this year should be in next week. Overall, the harvest season is slowly coming to an end, but the wine work never stops.

The grapes just keep coming. Since my last post we’ve been busy with Chambourcin, Seyval ,Syrah, Traminette, Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Vidal Blanc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Just pressed the Merlot and Cab.S. this morning, and we were under cover before the rain started! All is well in winery world.

Labor Day is for working, right?

Today we’re just trying to catch up on everything that has been neglected lately. We’ve pressed 16 tons of grapes in six of the last seven days! That gives us over 3000 gallons currently fermenting, but not without some excitement. We had a blown tire on I-75, in the rain, with 6 tons of grapes on the trailer and then the press broke down. So there have been a few minor setbacks, but what fun would this be if it was easy?

Its almost that time of year when wineries everywhere go crazy! We’re expecting grapes from Mercer County here next week, and I can’t wait to see how our new(to us) crusher/destemmer works!

Year’s End!!

Looks to be a great year….pressed the last of the grapes in December this year….11 degrees outside..YIKES!! Wines looks to be good to very good, but only time will tell. The local grapes looks to be yielding some VERY nice wines. At this time, there will be four additional vineyards being planted specifically for The Winery at Versailles, and two potential newcomers. Now is the time to sit a minute, relax and reflect…then back at it for next year’s plans. Happy New Year!!

Mid-September, and we now have over 15 tons fermenting…..our own(Steuben-Chambourcin) plus all Mercer county grapes. We received Ohio River Valley grapes today, and will receive more in the following week. After that, it looks like the Lake Erie Grapes will be coming in, and then on to grapes from Pennsylvania(sister winery). It appears that the harvest will be light, but relatively disease free. Busy time of the year, as we will be looking for more grapes to compensate for shortages. It’s always a little nerve-wracking as we try to forecast for the next year and a half….and not over-purchase, yet provide for future growth!!! The new press facility seems to give us more room, and we are working the bugs out of the two new presses!!!

It’s Started!!!!

Have received the first load of grapes from Mercer County…and the the wine is fermenting well. Steuben..from which we make our Mustang Rose’ will be harvest tomorrow, the pressed on Wednesdayis sceduled to be picked tomorrow(9/7)…Vidal on Friday, Ohio River grapes in the next several weeks…hectic time of the year!!!

Early August, and the grapes are into “veraison”, or the beginning of ripening…critical time and we may yet lose the entire, or a substantial portion of this year’s crop. The good news is that everything to this point looks good!!! We are trying to finish a new press facility to enable us to take in far more grapes, and support the newly established vineyards in the area more efficiently. The Mustang Rose’, which is very popular will run out soon, but this year’s crop will come entirely from Darke County!!!! Mercer County grapes are ahead of schedule…so it’s going to be hectic from now till January 1st!!!!