The Bridge News
December 2019 - Vol. 33
Welcome to the Bridge
Bridging all aspects of our Winery from the Vineyard, to
the Cellar, Winery Grounds, Tasting Room and beyond. Our ongoing newsletter is an ideal way to stay up to date with all aspects of the Winery
and our newest wine releases!

In this Edition: Happy Holidays from all of us here at Grand Island Vineyards. In these winter months, we offer a look into what happens in the vineyards and what we're planning for next year.  Our Winemakers reveal what they are planning and where the bottling will take us.  We're quickly approaching the Holiday in the Vineyard event where we combine wine, food, shopping and vendors into an entire  weekend festivity!  Learn what's going on in the Tasting Room, meet some more great friends and family and get an update on our two great wine clubs!
vineyard
Vineyard News
What Happens in the Vineyard during these Holiday Months?
by Operations Manager, Joe Salman

Happy Holidays! As I mentioned before, harvest is over. As much as I want to, it's not time to hibernate, at least not yet...  

During the later part of October and November, our goal was to put the vines to rest happily.  Much like kids, putting the vines to rest on a full stomach is what we do here in the vineyards as well. 

Vines store energy in their roots and woody parts during this time of year.  At this point, we say they go to sleep during dormancy.  As I write this, leaves are falling off the vines at a pretty good pace. But not to worry, the irrigation water mixed with a healthy soil will supply the vines everything they need to come out of dormancy next year in full force!  

And speaking of healthy soil, we are planting our winter cover crop of various grasses, vetch, beans and peas.  This is a soil building mix that besides adding organic matter to soil and making a diverse soil environment for microbes it also provides actual Nitrogen to the soil off-setting conventional fertilizer that might be required. It might not be the most exciting time of the year, but it is very important.  

Happy Holidays to you, from all of us at Grand Island Vineyards!

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cellar
Cellar News
Selecting the Wines for January Bottling
By Winemaker Ed Seikel

Our January bottling is fast approaching, so we've been busy nailing down which wines will be ready, and which wines still need more time. We do this by David and I tasting through every single barrel and tank we have, and then begin narrowing down our choices. While I'm sure we won't get a lot of sympathy , it certainly makes for a couple very long days!

Some wines are easy choices. Many of our 2019 whites, as well as our Ros é , are meant to be bottled early. We will for sure be bottling our GIV Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Symphony, Ros é , and Rouge et Blanc, as well as a new Riesling!

It gets more difficult when we're looking at our barrel aged wines, but we're very excited for this year's selections. We'll be bottling more Winemaker's Red, a 2018 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, and TWO new limited releases for the GIV label: a 2018 Petit Verdot and a Merlot we are naming "Block 2", after the vineyard block the grapes come from.

Cases will be sold at a discount to avoid running out. I know we had more than a few wines sell out this year so if there are some wines above that have you particularly excited keep an eye on David's Wine Spotlight to stay up to date on our newest releases!


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tasting
Tasting Room
'Tis the Season. For Awesome!
By Tasting Room Manager Tess Jonson

GIV will be hosting their 3rd Annual Holiday in the Vineyards on November 30th and December 1st, noon - 4:00 pm. This will be an amazing one-stop shop this holiday season. We have.... gifts for members, sweet treats, barrel tasting, and even vendor appearances from Stella and Dot, Makers Luck from Etsy, Lands End Treasures, Chefs Olive Mix, She Hauls Beef Jerky and Marty Stanley Art. 

This year we have also added FOOD! American River Provisions will be joining us both days with their wood-fired pizza truck and boy does it look tasty. YUM!

If you missed out on our Salman Family Reserve weekend of tasting, there's good news for you! During Holiday in the Vineyards, GIV will once again be pouring only Salman Family Reserve wines and the Grand Island Vineyards After Dark which is becoming a new fan favorite. This weekend an extra 10% discount will be added to all Salman Family Reserve wines, along with the barrel tasting you will definitely not want to miss this weekend!

We will also be hosting our toy drive again so please bring a new unwrapped gift and we will treat you to a glass of wine! 

Hope to see you all there!!


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family
Wine Family
Say Hello to Debbie and David Silva!

Debbie and David reside in Sacramento, South Land Park and have been Grand Island Vineyards wine club members since early September 2019. Both having worked for Cal Trans and attending Sac City College, it's easy to see how they have so much in common, resulting in being happily married for over 36+ years!

Our Connie can be thanked for bringing such nice people to us, as they met her at Twisted Rivers and she told them they should come and visit us.  Connie also knew and went to school with David's cousins in west Sac.

Debie loves the RED while David is a fan of the Petite Sirah.  Their other favorite wines include, Clo du Val Cabernet Sauvignon for Debbie and Stag's Leap Merlot for David. As for how and when they enjoy their wine, their favorite is doing tastings with Melanie and Tess!  An interesting fact about David it that he used to work at Tower Records where he sold music to an old SF 49'ers QB by the name of Joe Montana!  



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spotlight
Wine Spotlight
Understanding Commonly Misunderstood Wines
By Winemaker David Shattuck

In this issue of three wine spotlight, I am going to be focusing on three misunderstood wines.  Popular culture references from movies and social zeitgeists can sometimes have a negative effect on many people's opinions  of certain types of wine or how/when to drink those wines.  Today I am going to shed some light on this and focus on Merlot, Sparkling wine, and Orange wine.

I am sure many of you have seen the movie "Sideways" where the main character proclaims "If anybody orders Merlot, I'm leaving.  We are NOT drinking any $#%^ing Merlot".  This movie led to a surge in sales of Pinot Noir compared to Merlot.  What is frequently not understood about this movie is that the main characters most treasured bottle of wine is a French Bordeaux that is made, predominantly, OF Merlot!  

I imagine many of you have also heard that Merlot is a weak wine or somehow lesser than Cabernet.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  We are releasing a Merlot to the Grand Island label that is dense, rich, silky, packed with dark fruit, and a complex wine.  Ed and I both believe if you give this new Merlot a chance, it may become one of your favorite red wines to drink.

The next misunderstood wine is Sparkling wine.  Frequently Sparkling wine gets relegated to a mixer for morning drinking in the form of mimosas or popped open for a special moment.  However, Sparkling wine is one of the most versatile wines with food.  It can pair with the lightest dishes like oysters or salads because it is low in tannins and doesn't overpower the light flavors of the dish.  It can also pair with some of the heaviest red meat dishes.  The high acidity levels of sparkling wine cut through fat, meat, and rich sauces very well and provide a nice counterpoint to those dishes.  

Frequently, when I struggle pair a single bottle of wine with everyone's dinner dishes at a restaurant I turn to sparkling wine and everyone ends up surprised and happy.  You really should consider g rabbing a bottle of the Bridgehead Bubbles and try pairing it with your next dinner. It is delicious.

Finally, I am going to talk about a new project we are working on.  The term Orange wine refers to fermenting a white wine on its skins instead of removing the skins from the juice.  Why would we do this?  The answer is because it makes an incredibly unique type of wine that you will not find in many places.  It is richer and fuller bodied than an average white wine with fruit expression more similar to a red wine than the normal white wine.  We think you will really enjoy trying it!
 
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club
Wine Club
Wine Club is an Excellent Gift to Give or Get!
By Wine Club Ambassador Melanie Jonson

GIV WINE FAMILY (3 bottles, quarterly shipments, 15% discount on GIV and Bridgehead)

Hey, members! The 2018 GIV Fiano, 2017 GIV Cabernet Sauvignon and BRIDGEHEAD Bubbles are still waiting for you in our tasting room if you haven't picked up. It's a busy time of year, we know, but we picked wines that would especially suit the holidays. They go with a special little gift from us to you. With love!

You can stop by the winery any Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm to pick up your wine. It might be getting rainy, but through wind or storm, we will still be open on those days. Warm up a little with some wine and take shelter in our tasting room.

Have questions about your wine club? Want to know something specific for an event? Then feel free to contact us via telephone, email, or come to our tasting room. Our hours are Friday through Monday, 10 AM to 5 PM. We also recommend that you add  wineclub@grandislandvineyards.com t o your contacts to ensure emails don't end up in your spam folder.

RESERVE CLUB (2 bottles, biannual shipments, 20% discount Salman Family Reserve)

Like our Family Club, Reserve Club has wines for you to pick up too. And an even more special gift for you to pick up along with the Reserve Pinot Noir and Reserve Chardonnay. These are great wines to share at dinnery with the family. Happy Holidays!

Those of you who are a part of both of our clubs, GIV Family and Reserve, remember that you get a 20% discount off all wines! Yes, even Bridgehead and our Grand Island Vineyard label.

If you are not already in the Reserve Wine Club, or to access your existing account, please sign up or log in using our online access area on our website. To verify your account upon sign up (via Billing Information or by Email) you can do so at our online Account Verification page. 


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events
Upcoming Events 
View all events, R.S.V.P. or get tickets to Grand Island Events and Tours here!

Holiday in the Vineyard
Saturday

The first day of a one stop shop for holiday fun and a good way to knock out some of your Christmas shopping at the same time!

Event Duration: 4 hours - Noon - 4:00 pm
Price: FREE!

   
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Holiday in the Vineyard
Sunday

The second day of a one stop shop for holiday fun and a good way to knock out some of your Christmas shopping at the same time!

Event Duration: 4 hours - Noon - 4:00 pm
Price: FREE!


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GIV After Dark

Join us in GIV's tasting room, during our after hours, for live music and delicious wine! Buy your favorite by the bottle or by the glass and enjoy the talented musicians we've chosen for the night!

Entertainment: TBD
Event Duration:  3 hours - 5:30 to 8:30 pm
Price: FREE! 

 
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Visit our Online Store for Tickets and/or to RSVP
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