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 is in full swing and we've finished with our preparations for another year making awesome wines! We're getting ready to release our new Petite Sirah and
we've recently passed the 300 wine club member mark! So we're planning on celebrating with our annual Harvest dinner, featuring a pig roast, on October 6th. Meet some more friends and family, learn of other events in the next couple months and read more about our Annual celebration.
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by Operations Manager, Joe Salman
August 14-18th
The 14th was the start of harvest. We not only concentrated on varieties that go into Sparkling wines, but also a harvested Gewurztraminer that is used not only as a stand alone varietal but also a blender for Pinot Gris. This week of harvesting was entirely done in the early morning hours between 3am - 7am to ensure the fruit would be cool by the time it got to the winery. I have chosen to show the grapes on the day or night they were harvested to give you an identity of the fruit variety that goes into the wines we all love.
The first couple days was the Gewurztraminer to the right. These tiny orange-brown clusters take a long time to harvest by hand.
The following harvest was a day we were able to pick up the pace and harvest two truck loads of Pinot Noir (shown below) and Chardonnay. As I mentioned these were harvested at lower sugar levels to be made into a sparkling wine.
To finish up the week we harvested Chardonnay, stay tuned for what those grapes look like at higher sugar levels and more time on the vine.
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Cellar News
Preparing to Make Some Amazing Wines - Harvest 2018
By the time this newsletter is out, Harvest 2018 will be in full swing at Grand Island Vineyards! So we're already busy in the cellar preparing for the first load of grapes. And that means we've been cleaning! Not the most exciting topic, but nonetheless incredibly important for everything we do. While everything is cleaned at the end of harvest, sitting all off season can take its toll, so all of the processing equipment, stainless steel parts and fittings, hoses, bungs, and everything else that will come in contact with the wine must be fully cleaned and sanitized again. Here at GIV we use a cleaning process using a product similar to Oxyclean to guarantee our equipment is fully clean and can be sanitized effectively.
The reason we take this process so seriously is because cleanliness is incredibly important when it comes to wine quality. If our equipment wasn't sanitized properly it would allow bacteria to grow exponentially in the wine before the yeast can begin increasing their numbers and metabolizing sugars. This can lead to an increased amount of acetic acid in the wine, and any number of other off aromas caused by a wide range of bacteria. It's because of this that keeping everything clean and sanitary really is one of the most important things we can do as winemakers to keep wine quality as high as possible!
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Tasting Room
Tasty Drinks and Fun Events all Summer in the Tasting Room!
By Tasting Room Manager Tess Jonson
GIV had their very first sold out event, Franc 'N' Ribs! It was a beautiful evening with the patio full of guests, wine glasses full and the Burgess Brothers knocked it out of the park with the perfect amount of smoke on those ribs to pair with our newest release, 2016 Cabernet Franc.
If you missed out on Franc 'N' Ribs, don't worry! Our next event is just around the corner, Harvest Pig Roast. Join us October 6th @
5:30pm for a night of good eats, excellent drinks and live music.
I'm also very happy to share with all of you that GIV hit the 300th wine club member mark in August! Thank you members and guests for your loyalty and continuing to bring new guests to share and enjoy our little oasis.
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GIV Wine Family
Say Hello to Ana Horn (Rodriguez)!
Meet Ana, one of our most appreciated and valued Grand Island Vineyards family members! Although relatively new as a wine club member, Ana has been friends with many wine club members and absolutely fell in love with the Winemakers RED blend. She was introduced to the winery by a friend and just loves the friendliness of the Grand Island Winery staff and really wants the winery to grow and experience the ambiance and staff so they can get a true appreciation for what we all know and love.
Ana is currently working for Costco and is an undergrad at Consumes River College. When asked about any previous interesting work, she simply said no. She currently resides in Elk Grove and enjoys her favorite Grand Island Winemakers RED blend with dinner. She likes to point out that she ALWAYS has a bottle of GIV RED with dinner. In fact, when asked what her favorite non-GIV wine is, she said she doesn't even have one because the RED is that good!
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Wine Spotlight
Introducing the 2016 Petite Sirah!
By Winemaker David Shattuck
We are very pleased to be releasing the 2016 Petite Sirah at the Harvest Dinner this year. This extremely limited release comes from a block of vines that are 46 years old. The vines produce a dense, rich wine with the big flavors one expects from a Petite Sirah. This wine pairs beautifully with BBQ or braised meats. Be sure to come try this wine and grab a few bottles of it before it is gone.
This wine opens with a intense note of blackberry, brambles, and earth. Interesting counterpoints of candied orange peel, marionberry, and baking spice prevent the aroma from being one dimensional. The wine shows delightful hints of coconut, smoke, and forest floor intermingled with ripe blueberry and pluot. The american oak helps tame the firm tannins of this wine by providing a sweet whiskey lactone note to the wine
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Wine Club
Grand Island Wine Club - Discounts, Parties and Live Events!
What's a great gift? Wine! What's awesome to see waiting for you at your front door when you come home? Also wine. What is always happy to see you, besides your pets of course? Wine! Wine. Wine. Wine.
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 - Pig Roast!
Grand Island Wine Club - October 6th - Price: $40 for Wine Club Members, $50 Non-Members
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 loyal 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, September 7, 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 live music by Mike Kalend we've chosen just for this event! Indoor and outdoor service is available in an intimate setting to enjoy all that Grand Island Vineyards has to offer.
Indoor and outdoor service is available in an intimate setting to enjoy all that Grand Island Vineyards has to offer.
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!
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