By Jim Hutchings,
With the arrival of April, I look back on the busy month we leave behind. March is the true beginning of the year for me from a winery perspective. It’s when the vines start to awaken and the weather (typically) begins to turn from the blustery cold winter to the beautiful springtime.
Vino in the Valley is what brings many of our longtime customers out of hibernation as well. While I see many customers several times throughout the year, there are others who I look forward seeing on their annual pilgrimage each March. It’s a good time to reflect on what’s new on our wine list from their last visit and think about what’s in the works for the year to come. This year we saw Cabernet Franc (a favorite grape of mine) taken off of the list but in its place is a real winner: No. 36, a Merlot-based blend which shows how great Merlot from the Lehigh Valley can be. Some of our Cabernet Franc has made it into this blend as well, so that old friend is not too far away.
The conclusion of March also officially kicks off our 2015 festival season - we’ll be setting up with some of our other winery friends this Saturday, April 4 at Bear Creek Mountain Resort for their Spring Wine Festival. That fun festival gets us chatting with our fellow winery workers and prepares us for the rest of the summer festivals including Split Rock in June, Penn’s Peak in July, and of course the many Lehigh Valley Wine Trail events hosted at each of the nine member wineries for the rest of the year. March is over, winter is over… we’re looking for the next new and exciting release out of our winery so bring on the summer and another fantastic growing season in the vineyard!