Fall is upon us, and that means harvest time, and that means grapes are being picked and pressed.  The end results of all that is lots of work in the winery!  I thought you all might enjoy an update on what is happening at Wyandotte during this busy time.

In the past 30 days we have purchased nearly 4000 gallons of juice.  We are trying very hard to buy as much as we can from Ohio sources, so we have been working with various vineyards in Northern and Southern Ohio to obtain varieties like Riesling, Vidal Blanc, Niagara, Catawba, and Foch.  Some of our juice is coming in from the west coast, California Syrah and Oregon Gewürztraminer for example.  We have not found any good sources for fruit (non-grape) juices in Ohio yet, so we are still working with a vendor in upstate New York for cranberry and raspberry, and plum.  We will keep looking in Ohio, and if anyone has any good sources please let us know!  The notable exception is that we are getting our apple juice from Apple Hill Orchards near Mansfield, Ohio.  They did such a good job for us last year, and our Apple Hill Wine was so well enjoyed, that we are sticking with them for another season.  As an aside, a trip to Apple Hill Orchard is a great day trip, and well worth the drive. 

When all is said and done, by the end of November we will have purchased about 4700 gallons of juice.  The winery is full of the smells of grapes and fermentation as we get it all started, and so far everything shows a lot of promise!  We will keep you up to date as the wines progress, and you should start to see new releases in the late spring/early summer 2010.  There will be some new wines released before year end from juice we have been working since late last year, so keep your eye on our website, e-mail newsletter, and Facebook for those announcements.

For a big winery 4700 gallons is nothing.  For us, that number represents significant growth in production over last year, and brings our total production for the year well above what we had planned.  Valerie and I are blessed to have the best customers and friends in the business, and we thank you very much!

Well, back to the winery!  I sure have a lot to do!

Robin Coolidge – Winemaker