It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Usually you hear this lyric on the radio in the month of December every year, and it rings true for many of us every Christmas time. But for those of us in the wine growing and wine making world, September and October are the two most highly anticipated months of the year.

Why is that?

Because since January we have been tending to and nurturing these grape vines. In the dead of winter, we were pruning each vine individually, one by one, standing knee deep in snow and sub zero wind chills. In April and May we were sculpting them to their proper bud count. In June, we removed weeds and thousands of excess shoots from the vines. And in July and August we pulled individual leaves from the vines and clusters of grapes multiple times to allow maximum sunlight and airflow to kiss each cluster of grapes.

And now after nearly nine months of nurturing each of the over 11,000 vines, and continuous measuring of sugars, acids, and pH, and tasting, we wait with anticipation to bring in the harvest of nearly 40 tons of grapes from Parallel 44 and Door 44 along with another 120 tons from eight other vineyards across the state of Wisconsin!!!

The next month and half you will find us harvesting, crushing, pressing, and fermenting these grapes into vintages of wine that may be the best we have ever produced. As I like to say, now our mission over the next 6 weeks is to capture, finesse, and highlight the magic that Mother Nature has put into those millions of clusters of grapes that you will some day experience as balanced, flavorful, and uniquely Wisconsin wines from ground to glass.

If you have time, I invite you to visit us over the next 6 weeks, and see, smell, and taste what is happening.

For us winemakers, this is our Super Bowl. It is an almost every day, all day activity. We have one brief moment, only once a year, to pour our heart and soul into a possible vintage of a lifetime. Come see and taste for yourself!