Dear Friends,
It is exciting for us at this time of year to taste the new wines as they develop and near bottling and release. We have provided below the schedule of the first releases for 2012. We hope you will share our pleasure as you sample the offerings.
Last year David and I visited the falconry center at the Greenbrier Resort and loved it. We have been wanting to share a bit of this experience at the winery and were excited when we were contacted about having a bird show-and-tell by the Wlidlife Center of Virginia. If you enjoy nature and like learning about it, this occasion on April 7 may be just the opportunity for you.
Cheers, Margo and David Pollak
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Wines and New Releases
2011 Reds. We just tasted the 2010 reds which will be bottled the first week in March. 2010 was a hot summer so these will be big wines, but the oak is well integrated and the tannins are soft. After 5 months of bottle aging, they will be ready for release in the fall.
2011 Whites. The great news is that the 2011 whites are rapidly coming out of bottle shock and are showing amazing fruit. So, for our Pinot Gris fans, we will release the 2011 Pinot Gris February 17th.
The 2011 Viognier will be released March 24th. We are down to the last three cases of 2010 Viognier so the new release will come not a moment too soon.
2009 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This special wine will also be released March 24th. It will be the only reserve vintage of this varietal for the next three years.
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Vineyard Notes  It is mid-February and, thus far, it has been a mild winter so Turtle and his crew are ahead of the game in the vineyard. We prune in two steps. The first pruning takes each cane down to 4 to 5 buds. This allows us to remove most of last year's growth and clear it from the vineyard.
The second and final pruning takes each cane down to two buds. We will not do the finish pruning on the varietals that are most susceptible to frost (namely chardonnay, pinot gris and merlot) until just before bud break in late March. Even dormant, the vineyard is beautiful.
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Food and Wine
We will gradually be introducing more food this summer as we support local artisans. Already our own chef Barry, working with caterer Every Day Gourmet, has created some items to pair with our wines. Most recently, his cordials, combining chocolate, a Pollak wine and fruit have been a hit. Offer to guests with a glass of your favorite wine for a special treat at home.
We welcome hearing about your favorite recipes that we can share with others. On that note, we recently enjoyed a Patricia Wells' recipe for a daube of beef made, not with red wine, but white - in our case a bottle of 2010 chardonnay. Tomatoes and generous amounts of tarragon were significant other components that made this dish an interesting and memorable meal. ( See Patricia Wells at Home in Provence.)We favor red wine with meals unless it's raclette. With the daube, we had a well aged petit verdot, but this daube would go well with a chardonnay. It is deliciously versatile.
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Barrel Tastings
 We have scheduled two weekends of special tastings in the barrel room, right after Nick returns from a well deserved vacation in Italy. March 24-25
March 31-April 1
Come by, talk with Nick and Benoit, and taste five extraordinary wines: 2011 chardonnay
2011 merlot
2011 petit verdot
2009 Reserve cabernet sauivignon
2010 Mille Fleurs
Of special note, there will not be a reserve cabernet sauvignon in 2010 or 2011, so this will be a limited and very special wine.
Special tasting fee: $10
complimentary for case club members.
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Wings Over
Wine Country
 Mark your calendars for April 7th when we will host a fund raiser for the nonprofit Wildlife Center of Virginia. Bill Sykes will bring two wonderful "ambassadors:" a hawk and owl.  Bill will be available to teach us about these magnificent birds. You can see more about this great organization at www.wildlifecenter.org.Set the date aside, visit the winery, and also see bud break in the vineyard. |
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