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: Harvest 2018 continues, all leading up to our annual
Harvest Dinner.
We're up to 47 truck loads now, you can imagine all the wonderful wine our amazing winemakers are working on. Learn how we choose the grapes and how we know when they're ready. See some great events coming up, meet some friends and family and get the skinny on when new wines are available. We hope you will join us for our Harvest Dinner, our way of thanking our beloved friends and family who made this all possible.
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Vineyard News
Harvest Continues and Now it's September!
by Operations Manager, Joe Salman
 When I spoke to you last about the August harvest, it was a nice and easy time of "a truck load here, a truck load there...." kind of thing, but now it has gotten real. September has been a blur of varieties, wineries and grape loads. During the peak of things, 47 truck loads were picked, I caught a cold, and coached an under 8 soccer game all in the same week. I am so very ready for the upcoming Harvest Dinner!
See some of the varieties we picked in September: Chenin Blanc, Fiano, Symphony, Reisling, and the bottom right corner is Chardonnay that is much riper now when picked than when it was shown last month for sparkling wine.
Varieties that I forgot to picture: Pinot Noir, and Merlot (maybe next year)....
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Cellar News
The Process Behind How Grapes are Chosen, Picked and Bottled
One of the first decisions that we have to make in the wine-making process is when to pick the fruit. On the vine, as the grapes continue to ripen, they will taste less green and herbaceous and begin to taste more varietally correct. This is when the sugar level increases and the acids begin to decrease. Our goal is to find the perfect balance point where the berries taste flavorful and ripe, have the proper amount of sugar and haven't lost the mouthwatering acidity. The way we do this is very simple. We spend a good amount of time in the vineyard.
Once or twice a week we gather berry samples in order to check their sugar and acid levels. This allows us to watch the trends on a weekly basis to determine how much the sugar is increasing and acid is decreasing. This allows us to better predict when it will be the ideal time to pick.
As time goes on and fruit gets closer to being ready we then walk the vineyard to taste each and every row of vines. We check if the berry as a whole is tasting more varietally ripe and less green and we pay a lot of attention to the skins as well. This allows us to check how the tannins are progressing to try and predict where the wine will be at the end of fermentation. Finally we will even look to see if the seeds themselves are still green or beginning to ripen into a darker brown. We even check the insides so we can taste the seed tannins to know what they might be bringing into the finished wine as well.
Overall, deciding on when to pick grapes at the right time is a mix of both art and science, and since all the grapes we use at GIV are estate grown we're able to spend as much time as we need in the vineyards. This allows us to make the best decisions possible for our wines.
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Tasting Room
Getting Ready for the Upcoming Harvest Dinner (and Pig Roast)
By Tasting Room Manager Tess Jonson
Time is flying by here at Grand Island Vineyards. The Harvest Pig Roast is just around the corner and if you haven't purchased your tickets, you'd better get to it! Tickets are selling fast and we don't want to turn anybody away. You can reserve your seats and RSVP by
clicking here.
The Harvest dinner begins with guests being greeted with a glass of tropical sangria and a whole hour of amazing passed hor d'oeuvres. This will be combined with our releasing the highly anticipated 2016 Petite Sirah and even a few surprise tastings. Dinner, an amazing Pig Roast provided by Kilted Pig BBQ, begins as we sit and enjoy table service so everyone can enjoy their favorite GIV wines with dinner.
Our meal will be followed by a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with Velluto and then we will dance the night away with the very talented band "The Why Nots". Sounds like fun, right? We truly hope to see you there!
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GIV Wine Family
Say Hello to Cameo King!
Meet Cameo King, one of our great staff and Wine Club member since early this summer. Cameo resides in Courtland, CA and has a great connection with everyone at Grand Island Vineyrads and the wonderful customers she has great conversations with. Cameo has an Associates in Art and is pursuing her Bachelor's in Interior Design!
Cameo came to love Grand Island Vineyards one Sunday when she was driving with her boyfriend JJ and they stopped by to taste some wine. Having loved both the wine and the experience so much, she signed up with Connie and became members that very day. They really look forward to the After Dark Events because they can sit back and relax, take in the beautiful views and drink the fabulous Grand Island Vineyards wines. Her favorite wines are the Cab Franc, RED blend and the Pinot Noir. Her non-GIV favorite wine is the Coppola Claret Black Label.
Cameo and JJ enjoy these wines sipping on their boat dock at sunset. A fun fact about Cameo is she loves to go antique shopping and shoe shopping, but then again, who doesn't after a few glasses of wine ;)
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Wine Spotlight
So Many New Wines and Some Family Reserves....
By Winemaker David Shattuck
Fall is an exciting time for winemakers. We're in the middle of harvest at this point and all the new, fresh fermentation looks spectacular. As some of you who have been by the winery the last couple weekends have had a chance to taste, the new white wines are absolutely delicious. I recommend you come by and taste a freshly fermenting white wine this weekend if you have the chance. However, not everything we work on this time of year is focused on harvest. Today, Ed and I were able to taste the soon be released Salman Family Reserve wines!
The first wine we will be releasing is a wild barrel fermented Chenin Blanc. This wine is amazing with very tart and funky notes that pair well with the standard melon and tropical flavors of Chenin Blanc. This wine has been stirred on lees and been aging in barrels for over a year at this point. We expect to put it in the bottle in December and it will truly be a special white wine.
The second reserve wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. All of the components in this wine had extended skin contact during harvest last year. The display a very dense fruit core with an incredibly luxurious mouthfeel.
If you are interested in tasting these wines or some of the fresh fermenting wines, we will be pouring them during the Harvest Dinner on October 6th.
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Wine Club
Grand Island Wine Club - Discounts, Parties and Live Events!
More Wine, all the Time! What can we say? We LOVE our wine. But you don't just have to get it at the winery, we'll deliver it right to your front door. Imagine.... you open the door and there's a box full of delicious wine, just waiting to be opened. Nirvana. And then you realize you saved 15%!
For roughly $35 - $45 a quarter, Wine Club Members receive an initial three bottles (shipped or picked up at the winery) and the ability to customize each order from our many, many wines.
All Wine Club Members also receive an ongoing 15% off any bottle purchase as well as 20% off all case purchases! Members also have access to wine family only wines, discounts on live events, exclusive Members-Only quarterly parties and one free group tasting for up to 20 people per year!
To enroll in the
Wine Club,
or to access your existing account and make changes on which wines you would like to receive each shipment, please login using our
online access area.
To verify your account upon signup (via Billing Information or by Email) you can do so at our online
Account Verification
page.
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Annual Harvest Dinner - October 6th
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. | Price: $40 for Wine Club Members, $50 Non-Members
Tickets are going fast for this annual event! This year, in celebration of our Annual Harvest Dinner AND our 300th Wine Club Member, we decided to change it up! We are not only releasing our Petite Sirah, but we're doing it with a fully catered Pig Roast with Kilted Pig! Their specialty is on-site BBQ for a unique experience and proclaim themselves as the home of inventive BBQ flavors and friendly service! Sounds perfect as we want to celebrate with the people who helped make it happen! Meaning our making it to this level at the winery.
The Kilted Pig has many years of food business experience and brings unique experiences and spicy dishes that will enhance and grow this BBQ experience. Food will be cooked on site at the Winery as they have their own 20 foot wood smoker trailer with a warmer tower and Santa Marie Grill, propane stoves and prep table areas.
Kilted Pig also offers custom BBQ rubs and sauces.
Discount pricing is in full effect, only $40 for Wine Club Members and $50 for non-Members. Seating is limited so consider reserving your seats early, for our third annual Harvest Dinner. If you have been at either of the other two, you know how special this is to us and how much we enjoy giving back to our beloved customer base.
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Upcoming Events
View all events, R.S.V.P. or get tickets to Grand Island Events and Tours here!
GIV After Dark - Friday, October 5th, 2018
 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! This monthly event, during out after hours is the perfect place for live music and delicious wines. Buy your favorite wine by the bottle or by the glass and enjoy live music by
'Sunday Morning', that we've chosen for the event. Indoor and outdoor service is available in an intimate setting to enjoy all that Grand Island Vineyards has to offer.
Annual Harvest Dinner - Saturday, October 6th, 2018
 Join us in celebration of the 2018 Harvest! With a roasted pig for dinner, a first taste of our heavily anticipated 2016 Petite Sirah and more, you won't want to miss out.
Gourmet appetizers to begin the night and for
dinner, a roasted pig with sides & any wine desired can be purchased by our members and guests alike for your dinner.
Complimentary Sangria will be available and our dessert wine, Velluto, is provided for a sweet finish to your dinner.
A tasting of our 2016 Petite Sirah and a rare opportunity to have a taste of a fermenting white wine, fresh from the tank. It's sweet, spritzy, full of delicious tropical fruit notes, and very different from anything in a bottle. Guests can even p
urchase futures of Pinot Noir 2017. Featuring
Live Music & Fire Pits. Finally all
guests get an additional 5% added to their normal discounts when purchasing wine to take home that night!
GIV After Dark - Friday, November 2nd, 2018
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! This monthly event, during out after hours is the perfect place for live music and delicious wines. Buy your favorite wine by the bottle or by the glass and enjoy live music that we've chosen for the event. Indoor and outdoor service is available in an intimate setting to enjoy all that Grand Island Vineyards has to offer.
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