Upcoming Events at Heritage Oak Winery
June and July 2016
Dear Friends,

So far this year, we have dodged problems with the grapes and fruit. Vines are growing nicely with the adequate rainfall we had this year, and the fruit is on track for a normal harvest.  In the winery, the 2015 whites have been bottled and look very promising. This month, I'll start bottling the 2014 reds.  Fun, fun, fun! Stop by and maybe you can help punch corks.

In the meantime, we've got a few things going on.  Hope you can come out and enjoy a few moments with us.  See below for details.

Tom Hoffman
Heritage Oak Winery
(209) 986-2763
2016 Stress Therapy Sessions Start Friday, June 17
Join us alternating Friday evenings from 7 to 9 PM on the patio at Heritage Oak and receive our version of stress therapy. While live music floats across the patio, sip a glass of wine and enjoy the sunset while our resident hummingbirds line up at feeders for a last drink of the day.

There is a $5 per person cover charge with wine purchase and a $10 cover charge without wine. Wine may be purchased by the bottle or glass. Sunset and feathered entertainment are free.

Seating is limited and reservations are required. Call 209-986-2763. Guests are welcome to bring their own food, but no outside alcohol please. 

The schedule for subsequent therapy sessions this year are as follows.
Friday, July 1
Friday July 15
Friday, July 29
Friday, August 12
Friday, August 26
2016 Heritage Oak Art Fair and Concert  
featuring 
The Stephanie D Trio

Saturday, June 18 from 11 AM to 4 PM.

Meet and view the artwork of artists and craftsmen from across northern California. Handcrafted jewelry, stained glass, photography, woodwork and more will all be available for purchase. 

A concert, featuring the well loved local trio, The Stephanie D Trio, will start at 1 PM with a performance.

Grilled hot dogs, chips and salad will be available for purchase between 11:30 AM and 2 PM. Wine will be available to purchase by the bottle or glass.

This is a free event. Families welcome. Late arrivals may want to bring their own seating as space will be limited.
.
Wine Club 
Bar-be-Que
Saturday, July 23 
from 6 to 9 PM

Join us for a summer bar-b-que in the covered area behind the winery. Wine and appetizers will start at 6 PM. Dinner will be served at 7:00. The musical entertainment, featuring a crazy-good female bluegrass trio from southern California called Calico, the Band, will begin about 7:30.

We will be serving a chicken and trip-tip dinner, with salad and dessert. All the wine and other drinks are included. The cost for this event is $45 for club members, $50 for non-members.

Reserve your place by downloading this  Registration Form  and return it to me by either mailing it to the address shown or emailing it to info@heritageoakwinery.com. Please respond no later than July 20th.
Up-Coming 
Bird Walks
Sat, June 18 at 8:30 AM
Sat, July 16 at 8:30 AM
Sat, Aug 13 at 8:30 AM

Local birding expert, David Yee, leads our series of monthly birding tours based out of Heritage Oak. April through October, the tours will begin at 8:30 AM and end at approximately 12 noon. November through March they run from 9:30 to noon. 

All events start and end at the parking lot at Heritage Oak, and will include walks through portions of vineyards, along the Mokelumne River bank and across riparian woodland. The instructional walks are geared toward birding enthusiasts of all levels and interested children are welcomed. Dress appropriately for the weather.

The cost is $20 per person. Contact David at 209 329-5490 or email him at  birdmanyee@gmail.com

Jim's Corner

2012 Petit Verdot

In a former life, I was a Civil Engineer, a world dominated by straight lines, right angles, repeatability, and predictability.   For me, that is not how the world turns here at Heritage Oak Winery, at least in the Tasting Room.   Wines don't follow the orderly world of civil engineering.  A wine makes up its own mind as to when it is ready, at the perfect balance of fruit, acid, mouthfeel, backbone.  And, oh yeah, they do get a gentle bit of coaching from Tom.

If you read my blog postings on the Heritage Oak website, you might recall last month I wrote about the goings...and then the comings of new wines and how the seemingly unorganized pattern of going and coming of wines in the tasting room can throw me for a loop.  Certain wines will suddenly start selling like hotcakes at the 4th of July breakfast, and suddenly they are gone.   And just as these "hotcake wines" disappear from the tasting list Tom surprises us with a new wine that has worked its way to perfection and is ready to introduce to the world.

Like last week Tom brought out the new French Blend.  It's wonderfully balanced fruity rich full bodied wine.  Okay so I get the French Blend worked into my engineering brain of predictability and we begin selling it and sales are pretty brisk.  Then Tom, the master of surprises from the barrel room, sends me a text with a picture of the 2012 Petit Verdot saying "It's ready, whadda think?"  

Tom already knew the answer, of course it was ready!  He reminds me of an engineering professor I had in college who would put this long, complicated equation on the board and solve it in record time saying "Am I right...of course I'm right".  And of course he was right as is Tom when it comes to his wines.  
Remember the 2011 Petit Verdot?  That truly elegant robust and delicious wine sold out in early April.  Well the 2012 Petit Verdot is its equal, if not better.

Deep red purple in the glass, fresh juicy dark fruit with whiffs of vanilla on the nose.   Succulent black plums and blueberries on your tongue in a perfect fruit/acid balance with a subtle yet supportive backbone to pull it all together.  Aged in new American Oak Barrels here at the winery for 30 months gives this wine a lingering oak finish. Overall a luscious, full- bodied wine that we are just releasing and it is indeed ready for your enjoyment right now and for years to come.  This wine is cellar worthy.

The tasting room will never be all straight lines, right angles and least of all predictable.  I'll just have to get with the flow and enjoy the results.  It's all fun! And I have it on insider knowledge (because I've seen the barrels in the back) that Tom has many tasty surprises in store for us in the upcoming months.  Stay tuned for more on that.

In the meantime, come on by to taste the 2012 Petit Verdot and all the other new releases.  Good stuff all the way around.   Enjoy the wine.  Enjoy the moment.

Heritage Oak Winery
10112 E Woodbridge Road, Acampo CA 95220
(209) 986-2763
tom@heritageoakwinery.com
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