Brothers and Sisters of the trade,
Our bodies are weary from the road. Our wives miss us, despite the weight we've gained. There are holes in our clothes. Our yards are overgrown. Unopened mail is stacked high. The vines are growing lonely. There is even talk of summer mustaches and more tattoos.
But we've really made good friends with Delta and Priceline, and it's been such a great pleasure to visit with you guys, the ones out there fighting the good fight, pushing family-owned, soul-soaked juice. We are so optimistic about what is ahead in the world of wine. People are opening their minds and that's all that really matters.
Someone said recently that we as the trade should stop confusing consumers with complicated words such as terroir. That's funny. If a consumer can understand anything, it's terroir. They might not be able to pronounce it, but they can certainly understand the idea of representing a place, of having an identity. Perhaps we at HFE give consumers more credit than they are due, but we don't think so. People are getting what we're doing. If you ask us, assigning numbers to wine is confusing. Talking about where it came from... not so much.
We have just released the 2010 CMS Red and our proprietor, Tom Hedges, says this is the kind of vintage you wait a lifetime for. The best in the history of the estate. It's going to be fun to sell. If you didn't get your hands on a bottle of our Red Mountain Rose of Cab Franc, make some noise and we'll make more next year. But only if you like it so light in color that you might confuse it for something from southern France. We're still working on our Champagne project; stay tuned. For you friends over in the old world, Hedges wines will now be available in three new countries: Belgium, Turkey, and Germany. Another major highlight... if you haven't gotten your hands on a bottle of the 2010 Descendants Liegeois Dupont Syrah, our single vineyard, young vine bottling, do yourself the favor. It's a terribly haunting wine.
Apropos this vintage, here's what our fermentation artist, Pete Hedges, had to say last week: Winter was mild. No freeze damage. Bud break is just beginning, so ahead of the previous 2 years but a little behind an average year. With an expected "normal" summer as La Nina moves out of the north Pacific we should catch up development-wise. 2012 should be a good one for grapes.
So as we finish up the first half of the year of travel, we just wanted to say thank you. Can't wait to share a glass again with you soon. And in the meantime, join us on Facebook. It will be the only page you don't hide all year.
The Hedges team joins us in toasting to your health and happiness.
Strength and honor.
Christophe and Boo Guardians of Red Mountain Hedges Family Estate 
|
