tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26312186972649305502024-03-18T02:13:36.576-04:00The Thinkings of a WinemakerA sporadic set of ramblings and thoughts about life in the Pennsylvania wine industry. Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-2207495331720976062024-02-16T20:01:00.005-05:002024-02-16T20:03:36.162-05:002021 Cadenza Vineyards Petit Verdot<p> I can get very introspective when I think/taste/ponder our Petit Verdot. Mind you, Petit Verdot is not--in and of itself--a very introspective wine. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Petit Verdot is like the loud American crashing a French dinner party. Sure, you're curious about him--and there's something about his charisma--but ultimately he's still loud.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVuMP5kHBiK9rgRJRFzet-Kam2vvMsHsyJKRaTvP-_UvaKblCKnRbXXjIVMd8OQ3Vzz6D8hRe2Is2D_FVVS50RTc-JTOKxcEGAkZgmKUyRpVbfOUr7jUY3HDqWEp9I5DZ1VQMvlEz7yL8FIOL3N8yHsL3k9JdxFEUtps_2bBUnxeOnBlBX4-GFJrL4YeI4/s4080/PXL_20240217_005905195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVuMP5kHBiK9rgRJRFzet-Kam2vvMsHsyJKRaTvP-_UvaKblCKnRbXXjIVMd8OQ3Vzz6D8hRe2Is2D_FVVS50RTc-JTOKxcEGAkZgmKUyRpVbfOUr7jUY3HDqWEp9I5DZ1VQMvlEz7yL8FIOL3N8yHsL3k9JdxFEUtps_2bBUnxeOnBlBX4-GFJrL4YeI4/s320/PXL_20240217_005905195.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p>Petit Verdot makes me think. Deeply. When I was a young winemaker, I tasted wines with Cabernet Sauvignon at their core--thanks, John!--and I was mesmerized. It's not the same intoxicating infatuation one gets from Burgundy--Pinot Noir--but rather a synthesis of an analytic dialectic as it confronts the unquestionable mystery of sensorial apperception. </p><p>Years ago, when I asked my friend John--best intuitive winemaker I ever knew--how to compose the best wine he knew from this small place in Brogue, he responded with 75% Cabernet Sauvignon/15% Merlot/10% Cabernet Franc....and (if he allowed himself the luxury), he would drop the CS to 65% and raise the Merlot to 25%.</p><p>Fast forward twenty years and I'm tasting Petit Verdot that we've grown and bottled here in Brogue. (The 2021 vintage that we're about to release is in my glass tonight.) The thoughts race through the gray matter in my skull, and I consider the consequences. For a Bordeaux purist, to add more than 10% or Petit Verdot to a wine would render it a rustic/tannic/acidic monster. How more American can you get?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kwi4K-39YpQ7aUQnmjWn9yBadVRfQtgjt17NkStkAAI596-S3i-1tLeQbV54kA-ZeUx3uNIyYVQgvmcJZvYvGc3oPQzxcg2f5f0AE0CFkRZtvykAn4PJgdOq_22XSUpQ6pbVDL7XdXEt_Iq5Vo8hpqvsoRn-llIFK_RJY5k3lU2k72p03pw79V29etlC/s4080/PXL_20240217_005844904.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kwi4K-39YpQ7aUQnmjWn9yBadVRfQtgjt17NkStkAAI596-S3i-1tLeQbV54kA-ZeUx3uNIyYVQgvmcJZvYvGc3oPQzxcg2f5f0AE0CFkRZtvykAn4PJgdOq_22XSUpQ6pbVDL7XdXEt_Iq5Vo8hpqvsoRn-llIFK_RJY5k3lU2k72p03pw79V29etlC/s320/PXL_20240217_005844904.jpg" width="241" /></a></div> I get it. No one has ever accused me of being too delicate and sensitive and elegant when making wine. I like aggressive/in-your-face characters. I'm American. And--maybe more importantly--half-Vik...I mean, half-Swedish. No matter how much I studied Hindu and Zen Buddhist philosophy, nothing can outweigh the DNA that is Norse. I may love to consider the <i>koan</i> and how to <i>dharma</i> leads me to the release of <i>samsara</i>, but at the bottom of it all, I need a flagon of mead and a wallop on the skull in the form of Petit Verdot.<p></p><p><br />This--yes, this!--informs what I am as a winemaker. I make wine DAMMIT. Sure, I'm not in the perfect place to do so, and I don't have the funds to pay for a fancy dancy tasting room to taste the wine in. But what I make is unapologetically unrefined and uncompromisingly the best wine we can make, and it has character and volume and crass and opinion. It is Petit Verdot.</p><p> I can tell you all sorts of reasons why Jon never planted/grew/vinified Petit Verdot, and they really don't matter. John made wine here from 1978 through 2000. This is 2021, and the Petit Verdot we're releasing is pure and unadulterated. It's power and strength and concentration and structure. It's what Cadenza is about in 2024. End of story. <br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-21080742221734256862024-02-02T07:58:00.004-05:002024-02-02T07:58:55.123-05:00The Cadenza Bud-Count Pruning System<p> </p><p>Every year we prune our grapevines during the dormant season. Every
year. And by dormant, I mean winter. It's part of the rhythm of a
vineyard, and it's the most important task that we do. It sets us up for
the growing season by delineating the exact amount of growth that we
expect the vine to have.</p><p>Vineyards are rarely uniform. When we
plant a vineyard, for the first few years everything looks perfect. The
rows are all perfectly straight, and the vines consistent from end to
end. What's hidden at this time is the variability of the soils in
which the vines are growing. Each little bit of earth around each vine
is slightly different from its neighbor's plot. Perhaps a little more
clay, or less iron, or more rocks. Or even a little higher or lower,
thereby affecting the amount of water that flows past it during the
year. And even a little different bit of sunlight throughout the day
depending on any aspect change.</p><p>After a few years for those of us
growing vines on the East coast, we'll perhaps notice some holes in the
vine rows. Vine death is the most important impediment to the long term
health of a vineyard. Vines die due to freeze events, trunk diseases,
and a host of other reasons (including tractor blight.) It may not
happen to all vineyards, but it happens to most. By year ten or twenty,
a vineyard isn't looking nearly as uniform and perfect as it did when
first planted.</p><p>When growing fruit in this environment, it's
important to understand the healthiest vines are the ones that are in
balance. The variety (clone and rootstock) matches the soil and
climate, and the trellis design strikes the right balance between the
vine and its environment. This is the permanent structure that will
remain mostly unchanged throughout the life of the vineyard. On an
annual basis, though, the grapegrower has the opportunity to help the
vine achieve its ideal balance through the winter pruning process.</p><p>We
use a training system called VSP which stands for "Vertical Shoot
Positioning." It's kind of self-explanatory, but we're basically
putting a new cane from the vine on a fruiting wire every year. During
the growing season, that cane produces shoots (canes) from its buds
which we then position vertically in the trellis creating a canopy that
resembles a solar panel. The real question that determines the health of
the vine and the quality of the fruit in the upcoming year is: how many
buds to leave for the vine?<br /></p><p>Years ago, there was lots of
research done whereby one could weigh the prunings of a vine and
determine how many buds to leave. This meant that the person pruning
would have to tie up all the pruned canes and weigh them on a scale and
then do some calculations to come up with how many buds to leave. After
doing this for about three vines, most give up and guess on an average
number and prune the rest of the vineyard to that uniform bud count.</p><p>The
problem becomes a practical one. How does one efficiently address the
variability in each vine across an entire vineyard while at the same
time making it so that the work is as efficient as possible? </p><p>I
once spent a day with Lucie Morton, and she in passing made a comment
about vine vigor. She said that you can pretty accurately estimate how
many canes a given vine is going to push in the following growing season
by counting how many pushed in the past one. This sounds like such a
basic idea, but it is as close to a golden rule as I've ever found in a
vineyard. (Of course, there is vintage variable as well as health and
pest influences that can't be accounted for in this idea, but the kernel
is pretty accurate.) I took this idea and tried to form a system out
of it.</p><p>The Cadenza Bud-Count Pruning System is pretty straight-forward. I'll outline it in a few steps.</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>When
you go to prune a vine, count how many good canes are on the vine.
That's number signifies how many buds to leave on the vine.<br /></li><ul><li>A
good cane is one that reaches the optimal length for your trellis
system. For VSP, I consider that a vine that hits the top wire and was
hedged once.</li><li>If there's a bull cane (larger than the diameter of a marker), it counts as two canes.</li></ul><ul><li>A cane that only reaches halfway counts as a half cane.</li></ul></ul><p>There
are some other key factors to think about, and here's what I've found
as we prune our double-trunked double Guyot VSP vinifera vineyard
(planted 1 meter between vines and a 34" high fruiting wire).<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I
try to leave double the bud count on the entire vine, as we treat early
season shoot-thinning as the final "pruning" of the season. We cut
the canes to length and staple them to the fruiting wire. This is
basically like leaving a sticky note on the vine that explains how
vigorous the vine was in the previous season.</li><li>When we go to
shoot thin, all you have to do is count one cane to find how many buds
the vine was supposed to have, and then thin the vine accordingly. This
practice also allows for insurance buds that might have been damaged
due to freeze events or frost. </li><li>I do not count one-bud spurs
left for renewals for the next pruning season as part of the bud count
of the vine. If your vines are very well-balanced, you may need to
count those buds</li><li>We do this method across each block. If I find
that the vines are a little vigorous on the whole, I might add a base
number (such as two extra buds) to each vine. I try to do this block by
block as it makes determining the number of shoots to thin to easy to
determine. </li><li>If you end up *not* doubling the bud count (for
vines that have long internodal distances and where the canes would
otherwise overlap), just be aware that you don't have any insurance
buds. This is where I usually add a base number (say two extra) to the
bud count.</li></ul><p>It's easy to tell when a vine is in balance by
the size of the canes and the distance between the nodes. A vine that
has lots of shorter canes or has shorter internodal distances is most
likely suffering from having too may buds left on at pruning. A vine
with lots of bull canes and larger internodal distances has had too few
buds left.) </p><p>If this system doesn't work for you, it's probably
because something is mis-matched in your vineyard. In other words, the
three components of your vineyard are somehow out of balance
(site/trellis/vine), and you may need to consider some sort of
remediation.<br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-80535047419138435672024-01-31T17:28:00.001-05:002024-01-31T17:28:22.854-05:002022 Allegro Pinot Noir<p> </p><p>It's been years since we last released a Pinot Noir at Allegro. It's
a variety that captures the imagination of every winemaker at some
point (and most wine drinkers). Pinot Noir has been called the
"especially" grape, because almost everything that applies to most grape
varieties *especially* applies to Pinot Noir. Are grapes hard to
grow? Yes, especially Pinot Noir. Do grapes reflect the unique
characteristics of their growing environment? Yes, especially Pinot
Noir. Do you have to be careful making wine? Yes, especially Pinot
Noir. It's this last point that has always caused me concern, because
Pinot Noir requires a winemaker to show restraint and to be delicate,
two traits that no one has ever accused me of.</p>
<p>This varietal thrives in regions with cooler temperatures, such as
parts of Burgundy in France, Oregon in the United States, and even
Tasmania in Australia. Warmer climates tend to overwhelm the subtleties
of the variety leading to very warm and bland jammy characters. But
climates as ours are better--in my opinion for the style of wine I
enjoy--as the grapes benefit from a longer and slower ripening process,
resulting in a wine with finesse, complexity, and a distinctive
expression of its terroir.</p>
<p>I swore off Pinot Noir back in 2007 (an incredible vintage) when the
wine didn't show the potential I had envisioned. I gave it another try
in 2013 (a legendary vintage for us), and it was better but still not
quite what I was hoping for. Now, with the 2022, I tried again. A
glutton for punishment I am, and in a year that doesn't rival the other
two. (And in the meantime, I had pulled out all of our own Pinot Noir
vines back in 2015.) Nevertheless, we have a Pinot Noir in the bottle
and I'm not disappointed.</p>
<p>This is not an earth-shattering, read-all-about-it, how the heck did
that happen Pinot Noir. But it's a nice little wine, and it's worth
checking out. I've learned a thing or two in winemaking in the last
twenty years, and it shows in this wine. The wine has a very nice ruby
color, and the aromatics are a great blend of fruit-driven tenor and
savory bass notes. On the palate, the wine shows nice length and in
traditional Allegro fashion perhaps a surprising amount of tannic
structure. For fans of Oregon Pinots, this may disappoint, because it's
its own style. But this is Pennsylvania after all, and we're just a
bit different.</p>
Our Pinot should develop nicely in the next few years, but it's not
one to cellar for too long. It'll pair well with dishes like roasted
duck, salmon, or mushroom risotto.Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-71450486510546773872024-01-31T17:28:00.000-05:002024-01-31T17:28:12.165-05:00The Great White Wine Shortage of 2024<p>This is the story of The Great White Wine Shortage of 2024, as tale that has its beginnings way, way, way back in early 2022 when I was peering into my crystal ball and trying to see how much wine we would need to make it through 2023 and into 2024. As a winemaker, I also pored over spreadsheets, consulted long-term weather forecasts, and basically crossed my fingers and took a shot in the dark and hoped that I was making the right decisions. </p><p>OK, seriously, this is almost what I actually do. As most of you probably know, we supplement the grapes from our vineyard with fruit from other sources (mainly Adams county and near Erie.) Every year in early spring, I look at our current inventory levels, take an educated guess as to how much we'll sell of each wine in the next 18 months, and try to make sure I have enough bottles on hand. </p><p>I'd like to blame all of this on you folks, our loyal wine-drinkers. If you hadn't drunk as much Sauvignon Blanc, Steel Chardonnay, and Dry Rose last year as you did, I wouldn't be in this position. It would make my job a whole lot easier if you all would just let me know exactly how many days you expect to spend on your deck drink Riesling from May to August (and any other wines), and I'll do the math from there.</p><p>I think you see my problem. My crystal ball is pretty murky. When I was trying to predict how much wine to have on hand for early 2024 in the spring of 2023, I screwed up and didn't account for as much growth as we ended up having in 2023. Maybe chalk it up to my cynical nature perhaps. Or maybe the 2022s were just better than I thought (and if that's the case, watch out for the 2023s!) But you all proved me decisively wrong. <br /></p><p>We are starting to get some of the white wines bottled (the Steel Chard was bottled just yesterday.) But that didn't help our current wine club offerings. We unfortunately didn't have enough on hand to be able to offer the white wines to all of our wine club members. For perspective, we have over 600 members, so that means we need to have at least that many bottles for our software system to work properly. But what that also means is that we still do have Sauvignon Blanc and Steel Chardonnay available, and folks who come in to pick up their wine can still substitute those wines back in to their club selection for the month.</p><p>In any case, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, and hope you now have a better understanding of how this comes about. Now, I just hope I didn't screw up again for 2025!<br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-85681795134694506402023-11-24T20:29:00.001-05:002023-11-24T20:29:21.201-05:002021 Cadenza Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon<p> After 25 years of making wine in Pennsylvania, I sometimes reflect back on how little I know about what I am doing. It feels very Socratic. For those of you who didn't spend your years in school reading Plato, here's what that means.</p><p>In his Dialogues (written around 350 BCE), Plato's Socrates was known to make people question what they thought they knew by, you guessed it, asking them questions. People would walk away thinking that they didn't know anything anymore. In some ways, he was the original comedian (although his contemporary Aristophanes usually gets credit for that.) The crazy thing was that Socrates would claim that he himself didn't no stuff either, but what set him apart from most was that he knew he didn't know stuff. That's what set him apart.</p><p>I feel similarly to Socrates. I know there's a lot that I don't know. But 25 years ago--heck, even five year ago--I didn't know what I didn't know. At least now I know that what I didn't know then is something that I need to know sooner rather than later if I'm going to grow better grapes. </p><p>I've said it before, but I feel like I have our Chardonnay block (and wine) dialed in pretty well these days. I've discovered the style and the different methods that seem to really allow our site to be expressed in the glass of wine. I know most people couldn't care less about Chardonnay, but I don't care about that. When the Chardonnay is hitting on all cylinders, it's a remarkable wine for us.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbTJgX2H_cO78XWHfjDpANjkwz_VMoa9JwlDOzUyjGPO2I0XY-43T4o9MQMelNBwc45k3i8q9P9_cX0dSBDnXFaLtHmEwQ6jLKkSAJXm3EBkkC_dB9O62_96zVFPYwJ8SDON5rzdElrYdP7b1iwDFPVe4vU8lGdYbFwKKZK3trVkSoROTzi5GvGe1OqRz/s4080/PXL_20231124_234555640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbTJgX2H_cO78XWHfjDpANjkwz_VMoa9JwlDOzUyjGPO2I0XY-43T4o9MQMelNBwc45k3i8q9P9_cX0dSBDnXFaLtHmEwQ6jLKkSAJXm3EBkkC_dB9O62_96zVFPYwJ8SDON5rzdElrYdP7b1iwDFPVe4vU8lGdYbFwKKZK3trVkSoROTzi5GvGe1OqRz/s320/PXL_20231124_234555640.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br />Cabernet Sauvignon, on the other hand, has been the mystery that I have almost unlocked so many times and yet it often eludes me. Any winemaking strategy is about finding the synergy between the vineyard and the cellar. Sometimes the Cabernet fruit produces a wine with vigorous tannins and bracing acidity, sometimes we get gripping herbal tannins, and other times that wine is smooth and balanced. The 2021 vintage gave us the latter.<p></p><p>In 2021, we had a very cool spring followed by above average heat in the summer and early fall. This would seem to be a recipe for some stellar wines, but unfortunately Mother Nature subjected us to inordinate amounts of rainfall leading up to a whopping 11inches in September. (These are conditions that would probably induce heart attacks on our colleagues on the other coast.)</p><p>For us, the vintage yielded ripe flavors but without the concentration that usually accompanies those flavors. The Cabernet Sauvignon wine from 2021 is one of the more restrained and balanced wines we've ever grown here with a personality that makes me think it's ready to drink at a very early age. The good dose of Merlot also meant that it would be a little more rounded out and ready for consumption. </p><p>Stylistically, this is not the wine that I am shooting for. I prefer more robust and aggressive wines with distinctive personalities that rub people the wrong way a bit. This is not that wine. This is a measured wine that speaks of our vineyard through its flavors and of the vintage through its mouthfeel. It has a European sensibility to its balance, and sometimes that's just what I am looking for on a Wednesday night: a wine that won't hit me over the head, but just sits with me and let's me think in peace. <br /></p><p>Don't get me wrong, though, it does have some strength to its character. Even though I don't think it's going to be a strong contender for wine of the decade in 2030, it has a charm that only this vineyard can produce.</p><p>But I've been wrong before. What do I know anyway....Socrates, care to chime in?<br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-86085644990189730282023-11-22T17:37:00.001-05:002023-11-22T17:37:41.659-05:00To Grow Cabernet Sauvignon in Pennsylvania<p> I was asked by Paul Vigna a little while ago what my thoughts on growing Cabernet Sauvignon in Pennsylvania. Here's what I thought in October of 2023 after coming out of our earliest--and one of our best--harvests of Cabernet Sauvignon.<br /></p><p>__________________________________________________________________________ <br /></p><p>Having grown CS for over 20 years, I have a lot of thoughts. Couple
that with having an old vineyard and replanted vines, and then a brand
new planting, I can say it's hard to pinpoint what works in PA. I know
what doesn't work.<br />
<br />
*high yields<br />
*California clones<br />
*virused vines<br />
*medium to high vigor rootstocks<br />
*low density plantings<br />
*rockless soils<br />
*flat soils<br />
<br />
The vineyard here in Brogue was planted in 1973 at a 454 vines per acre
(12 foot rows and 8 feet between vines) to a variety of rootstocks
(Harmony, Salt Creek, 1613, 1616 among others.) The original clone is
unknown. Over time, the vines have periodically succumbed to different
viruses and issues (leafroll, crown gall, hard freezes), and dead vines
were pulled out. Vines were re-planted in the 80s and 90s, also to
unknown clones. I started replanting with 337 clone on 101-14 rootstock
over the years (know to carry leafroll virus I now know). It's been a
real learning experience. If I were to do it over again, I would have
chosen Riparia rootstock and a different clone.<br />
<br />
There's no question in my mind that we are--in southern York
county--near the most northern point in PA where CS can fully ripen into
an interesting and complex wine that speaks of the vineyard. We're
blessed with a longish (for PA) growing season, coupled with the fact
we've never had a killing frost in the spring. We receive good westerly
winds that help to dry out the vineyard, and though we are in a bit of a
rainshadow from the Soouth Mountain range (along western Adams county),
we still have issues with hurricane weather events as well as
northeasterly weather systems. Good years are more dry than wet, with
plenty of heat.<br />
<br />
I see CS and PV in similar light. They tend to be the "harder" of the
five Bordeaux varieties. I've always felt that CS is missing a full
mid-palate, but not as much as PV is missing it. I think that's more
personal preference of mine. I always like CS with at least 15-20%
Merlot blended in as it tends to fill out the mid-palate and integrate
the more stringent CS tannins into a semblance of suppleness.<br />
<br />
Our newest planting of CS (half acre) is clone 420 on Riparia
rootstock. It's also at 1895 vines per acre, meaning we should be able
to get a distinctly different view on CS than the older plantings. The
wine will most likely be riper tasting as young vines tend to
precociously ripen earlier in the season than older (15+ year) vines. <br />
<br />
Ultimately, I believe that CS is not the best Bordeaux variety for us.
It's probably the easiest to grow in the vineyard, but the results don't
seem to be quite as in line with my winemaking goals as PV and Merlot
are. But that could be because I haven't quite figured out the best way
to grow CS yet. Merlot has always been my favorite grape for us, but
it's lack of cold-hardiness is just heartbreaking when you lose 3000
vines. Petit Verdot doesn't have that problem, but is not truly a
standalone grape variety (it really needs Merlot and Cab Franc, and
maybe Malbec but we don't grow that variety yet.)<br />
<br />
I would not recommend that PA growers plant CS unless they have a site
that is really extraordinary. Sure, it has name recognition, but in
sub-par sites or in sub-par years, the wines are light and
uninteresting. There are better varieties to focus on. Vineyards are a
long commitment. Plant PV and Merlot instead. <br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-88573779381721697122023-11-19T19:20:00.003-05:002023-11-19T19:20:57.562-05:002021 Cadenza Vineyards Bridge<p> Bridge has always been a unique wine for me with a host of different personalities. It started out back in 2001 with the first vintage that I made here in Brogue (Allegro/Cadenza). The season ended prematurely with a frost on the mornings of October 7th and 8th, and with all the leaves falling off the vines it meant that grapes would be picked.</p><p>The Cabernet Sauvignon that was grown that year in Brogue was actually managed by Naylor Winery. Why Dick Naylor decided to sell back 1 ton of Cabernet Sauvignon to me is a mystery. (In fact, earlier that summer he had told me that he would sell me all the grapes from the vineyard, but he reconsidered when he saw what a great year it was turning out to be. I was at his mercy, of course.)</p><p>I also had committed to buying a ton of Cabernet Franc from Stewart Vineyard that year (and it's how I first met Nelson Stewart who would eventually become our vineyard manager here in Brogue.) The grapes arrived at the winery, and as we processed them John and I were immensely curious as to the chemistry of this early-harvested fruit. Back then, John used to use Brix levels--the sugar percentage in the grapes--to determine if the wine would be Cadenza caliber or not. These days we know that the correlation between Brix and quality it tenuous at best, but that's another story.</p><p>The fruit came in at 21.5 for the Cabernet Sauvignon and 22.5 for the Cabernet Franc, and John was happy to pronounce that blending the two would yield essentially 22 Brix (which was his magical cut-off number). I wasn't feeling as confident as he was, knowing I had big shoes to fill and that everyone would be watching what I did to see if I lived up to John's reputation. </p><p>So, I punted.</p><p>When it came time to bottle the wine in the summer of 2003, John had passed away three months earlier. I tasted the wine and it didn't quite seem like it was Cadenza quality, but it was a standout wine in my mind nonetheless. Since Allegro at the time had already had a couple of musical terms for wine names, we decided to use "Bridge" for this wine. This was going to signify that the 2001 blend (60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc) would be a bridge between John and Tim's Cadenza tradition and mine. Little did I know that it would take me another four years to finally bottle my first Cadenza.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nqxYL3e4JYzgw7mP4oD2B3rDlwRN_cqySL3B2PHRlrgUIIoMVpnE-OowULq2GndhQnM-bYBfkR_cExpraCkLeIw7GjSQ0kN3lqpz0lJErvrqC3nDmNun39hPFdB6VxFc1Dm1p2SN5E0pdkp7KxcWbNobvRYZjCevbrGiT24a1DoDxMvjlWf8iM4Fv8Sk/s4080/PXL_20231119_234153643.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nqxYL3e4JYzgw7mP4oD2B3rDlwRN_cqySL3B2PHRlrgUIIoMVpnE-OowULq2GndhQnM-bYBfkR_cExpraCkLeIw7GjSQ0kN3lqpz0lJErvrqC3nDmNun39hPFdB6VxFc1Dm1p2SN5E0pdkp7KxcWbNobvRYZjCevbrGiT24a1DoDxMvjlWf8iM4Fv8Sk/s320/PXL_20231119_234153643.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br />Fast-forward twenty years, and you have a bottle of the 2021 Bridge. Again, it's a blend. The fruit from 2021 was really nice, but none of the wines knocked my socks off (that's the technical terminology we winemakers use.) For once we had decent yields from our Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and for whatever serendipitous reason they were the shining stars in 2021. Now, I consider Merlot and Cab Franc as "softer" varieties due to their more approachable tannin structure. I feel that Franc tends to be a great blender with Merlot, adding aromatic appeal to what otherwise would be a darker and brooding wine. And both are helped in the structure department by Petit Verdot.<p></p><p>The 2021 Bridge is one of the most balanced and refined wines that we have bottled in the past few years. Usually my style is more forceful and abrasive, but the 2021 Bridge shows a refinement and balance that I am usually not capable of. It's almost European in its sensibility, while at the same time being approachable at this very young age. The Merlot brings darker fruit and body to the wine, while the Franc brightens the flavors and adds depth to the aromatics. They play nicely together while the Petit Verdot in the background holds it all together with its structure. </p><p>This one of our most hedonistic Bridge offerings we've ever had, reminiscent of the 2017, 2007 and 2006. Very Right Bank Bordeaux (for you traditionalists out there), but as with all of our wines--in the immortal words of John Crouch--"it'll pay you back if you hold on to it!"<br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-6456234372356495252023-01-06T20:28:00.002-05:002023-01-07T13:10:52.391-05:002017 Cadenza Vineyards Chardonnay<p> Chardonnay was the one of the first varieties planted in our vineyard back in 1973. Things were different back then--the row spacing was 12 feet, vines were planted 8 feet apart. The clone was called "Wente" and followed soon thereafter with Martini. We still have some of these old vines out in Block Two.</p><p>When my predecessor John Crouch first arrived here in 1978, he assumed he would be making Rieslings and sparkling wines. Back then, no one expected Pennsylvania to make anything but light, crisp wines. The trail from that point to the 2017 Chardonnay is a long and winding one, surprising yet inevitable.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpjdiIFh7HKjEkc_Xl6CcoTPw-Um8_ONkf6cNcOgP-XGyDUy329Wpk6dIdZ6_qMxgZvXjrB2_2Iu1Zm7N3n6rOPt-6DjxfkkaYUxP6IjKeRkD7QXmkUvEmmgFj7zaicN1Ay1OitP2Mrhb8ZHWPbN1XKCylsYrMP5rtEVPmSlVOdc-kzofcYmBLHbokQ/s4288/Chardonnay%20Cluster%20Covered%20by%20Leaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2848" data-original-width="4288" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpjdiIFh7HKjEkc_Xl6CcoTPw-Um8_ONkf6cNcOgP-XGyDUy329Wpk6dIdZ6_qMxgZvXjrB2_2Iu1Zm7N3n6rOPt-6DjxfkkaYUxP6IjKeRkD7QXmkUvEmmgFj7zaicN1Ay1OitP2Mrhb8ZHWPbN1XKCylsYrMP5rtEVPmSlVOdc-kzofcYmBLHbokQ/s320/Chardonnay%20Cluster%20Covered%20by%20Leaf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Over time, vines succumb to the other pressures of growing grapes here in the East. Our colder winters, winds, fungal diseases, and other pests mean that the average lifespan of our vines isn't quite what it would be if we were in more temperate climes. As the vines die, we replace them, but not always with the exact same clone. Over time, we added in the Colmar clone (76), some Dijon 96, then a host of other digits: 95, 124, 548, 807.) Each clone brings with it a special character or flavor. Yes, they all ripen at different times (the 96 ripens in September, the Martini in November), but when we pick them all together we get a melange of flavors that can really only translate to one wine: Cadenza.<p></p><p>I experimented around for years with different ways of making Chardonnay here. I tried native fermentations, cool tank fermentations, and even skin-contact fermentations. I finally have settled on the traditional barrel-fermentation, although we sometimes place the barrels in our reefer trailer to keep them from spiking high temperatures and blowing through a lot of aromatics. Chardonnay has an affinity for toasted French oak barrels unlike any other wine. Fermenting the wine in barrels softens the direct oak character, but underlying the pear and peach, caramel and honey characters are the hints of smoky toast and graham crackers that makes this wine seem more like dessert in a glass than most Chards.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEiMoh46cyJ9wZhSfm-O8qHcSRPbBdmKcYLRAlsEivhnGhROvyY41fY-dWH9FWd27RZo4fneZvFUlNH3GZGRJL2aWU8ETMBXW2Tjc_43Dm1YntGPdyMFx6xERYyyaKr2uMmHD3I_tyBhRKqiA9ijxYcoT6YdUkT6LtELMvpobGfgNuPyOY-JhnREyaQ/s4080/PXL_20230107_180758405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEiMoh46cyJ9wZhSfm-O8qHcSRPbBdmKcYLRAlsEivhnGhROvyY41fY-dWH9FWd27RZo4fneZvFUlNH3GZGRJL2aWU8ETMBXW2Tjc_43Dm1YntGPdyMFx6xERYyyaKr2uMmHD3I_tyBhRKqiA9ijxYcoT6YdUkT6LtELMvpobGfgNuPyOY-JhnREyaQ/s320/PXL_20230107_180758405.jpg" width="241" /></a></div> Usually we talk about wine and food pairing with regard to entrees. With the 2017 (and a lot of Cadenza Chardonnays) it almost might be better to speak in terms of desserts like poached fruits. The style of Chardonnay that I aim for isn't crisp, light Chablis or oaky, buttery California-esque. With the Cadenza Chardonnay, I'm looking for a luscious and balanced wine that makes you thinking that it has some residual sugar--it doesn't--and leaves your palate with a savory punch that makes you want <br />another glass. <p></p><p>I know that Chardonnays have fallen out of favor with a lot of wine drinkers. We Americans do like to try the "next new thing" whether it be food or TV shows or cell phones. I subscribe to that as well, but what I think is "new" about our Chardonnay is that it's unlike almost all the Chardonnays you'll find in Pennsylvania or even Maryland. John pioneered so much about Chardonnay here, and I'd like to think that all I did was tweak portions of it to bring our style into focus. It's smooth and powerful, complex and unique. </p><p> Hard to believe that the vines are a mish-mash of clones fermented traditionally in barrels and bottled up and laid down. Give this wine a few more years, and the honey flavors will really come alive and we'll all be looking for a great dessert to pair it with.<br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-74215692787712582752023-01-03T19:27:00.001-05:002023-01-03T19:28:12.418-05:002020 Cadenza Vineyards Petit Verdot<p> Back in 2014 when I was making decisions about which varieties to plant, it never dawned on me that Petit Verdot would be the one that excited me most. Sure, I'm still in love with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, but they aren't as exciting as Petit Verdot. What I see more clearly now is how they all need to play nicely with each other in a glass.</p><p>I remember first learning about PV years ago as one of the five Bordeaux grape varieties. It's name means "small green one" in French, and the vines have a tendency to produce small green berries (called asynchronous ripening for which Zinfandel is famous.) The green-ness sometimes carries over to the wine, leaving the tannins a bit "rustic" if one wants to be kind about it. (Sometimes honesty gets the best of me, and I'll call it like I taste it: the tannins can taste green. Ever taste the peel of a banana? Or the skin of a granny smith apple? That's what I'm talking about...in a bad way.)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQ5VxcUh0gps9SoHbPqbQsDAshZplwjknRujfC_PtRMsspcKnRAMi6ZjdRsFRRBsNs7BeuimoVe5MmGU5wKTzsh6YEazhFWMXlDy8q43qnsa7MC9lODPALU6pLs807b2F1sWPibLW0qbNongBHSOEl2bwY-OIWJIYPIS_swonlcTCEl2f8GslQe_Egg/s4080/PXL_20230104_000348653.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQ5VxcUh0gps9SoHbPqbQsDAshZplwjknRujfC_PtRMsspcKnRAMi6ZjdRsFRRBsNs7BeuimoVe5MmGU5wKTzsh6YEazhFWMXlDy8q43qnsa7MC9lODPALU6pLs807b2F1sWPibLW0qbNongBHSOEl2bwY-OIWJIYPIS_swonlcTCEl2f8GslQe_Egg/s320/PXL_20230104_000348653.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The background on PV in Bordeaux was that, traditionally, it would only fully ripen once or twice in every decade. This was probably true because the Bordelaise would reserve out their best parcels of land for Cabernet or Merlot. Lowly PV would get the less ideal locations, and was probably also ignored a bit during the growing season. Hence, the low quality fruit reputation.</p><p>Here at Cadenza it's been a bit of a different story. To be honest, it didn't get the prime vineyard location (that was saved for the sensitive Merlot), but we do put equal effort into growing and ripening PV as we do any of our other varieties. It's not the easiest vine to grow in the vineyard: it likes to put out three or even four clusters per shoot that need to be thinned out annually, and the canes can get a bit vigorous if not kept under control.</p><p>But it's the challenge of the vine that has me so smitten with it. I've seen glimpses of greatness in it, and I think in another decade or two I might figure out how to unlock a bit of it. Because it's a tough grape (one of the reasons I like it.) It survives winters better than Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and it resists disease better than both of them as well. The color is gorgeous in the glass (and it has color to burn) and the aromatics are full-on, punch-in-the-face fruit. </p><p>I liken Petit Verdot to blackberries. Every time I see them, I can't help but try them. But they always leave me, I don't know....empty. They have a bright character with lots of acidity, but the finish is always so....empty. The tannins have grip and power, but they leave my palate kind of....empty. </p><p>PV is what we refer to as a "structured" wine. In fact, it may be all structure. And, truth be told, I'm a sucker for structure. I remember someone once saying "I will fear no tannin" (Randall Grahm?), and that's me. But to tame these tannins will take a lot more work and understanding in the vineyard. Some grapes benefit from longer hang-times at harvest and others lose their freshness if left on the vine too long. I don't know this for sure, but I'm betting that there may not be a limit to the hang-time that PV can benefit from. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AtjJPidB0Y2ngX_83EzjgCPSDoRswj7EvAQHfKj0X5am-vEA7q8v4hPE8My1NMFNFk9sT6QHfYc2htAzJii8fg4ZRsbQC7ml_qhQzUe6SJLagHKTj3BDCiJnZNNdujy6KecgXHR0qiZ7fqOOBld18GWvUBEh-eXMpjZLSx0QjA2szc5aZA4StKR6Eg/s4080/PXL_20230104_000410645.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AtjJPidB0Y2ngX_83EzjgCPSDoRswj7EvAQHfKj0X5am-vEA7q8v4hPE8My1NMFNFk9sT6QHfYc2htAzJii8fg4ZRsbQC7ml_qhQzUe6SJLagHKTj3BDCiJnZNNdujy6KecgXHR0qiZ7fqOOBld18GWvUBEh-eXMpjZLSx0QjA2szc5aZA4StKR6Eg/s320/PXL_20230104_000410645.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>So what do we do in the meantime? In the cellar, it's always a blending game. The 2020 Petit Verdot was blended with 16% Merlot. I wish we'd had more than that, but it was all I could spare after putting together the 2020 Bridge blend. The role Merlot plays is one of a supporting cast in this wine. Consider this wine to be a soprano who is supposed to be backed by a full chorus. But in the cases of <br />the 2020 vintage PV, all the basses and most of the tenors are missing. What we're left with is a wine that has lots of high notes, but not the balance that could be achieved with more Merlot (or bass.)<p></p><p>It's this challenge that keeps me coming back to PV. We keep trying new things in the vineyard, and when they don't fully succeed, we know that we have some ideas in the cellar that can help us out. but once we get everything firing on all cylinders, this variety should be one of the two flagship varieties that this part of PA can be most proud of.<br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-70411072768744876262022-11-21T08:46:00.001-05:002023-11-22T17:32:33.506-05:002020 Cadenza Vineyards Bridge<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZMU9DnemyMmzPv2yuwDzbFZD8t3iAgJFMG50xdz5Wuz4MwdBCWB3tSlSjZAp5BCTPIj-6zmRCF3StP-Qb0lFWV1W3JmW-kXVeN752BcG-JQsu9qmeFERXYI3ZW-r0IJQQ1kOuKxC00UtazhiZwnQawVJRJuleobI6qS4HUOmM2-O7JLXlN-hA-aTiw/s4080/PXL_20221119_002954009.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZMU9DnemyMmzPv2yuwDzbFZD8t3iAgJFMG50xdz5Wuz4MwdBCWB3tSlSjZAp5BCTPIj-6zmRCF3StP-Qb0lFWV1W3JmW-kXVeN752BcG-JQsu9qmeFERXYI3ZW-r0IJQQ1kOuKxC00UtazhiZwnQawVJRJuleobI6qS4HUOmM2-O7JLXlN-hA-aTiw/s320/PXL_20221119_002954009.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>This might be the best thing that happened in 2020. In case you think you need more of a description, keep reading.<p></p><p>While 2020 was historic in many ways, for those of us making wine still had to make our way through the familiar work we've always done. Working outside afforded us the peace that the outside world (or inside-building-world) didn't always allow. It's a lot easier to social distance in a vineyard than in a winery.</p><p>This vintage was a struggle on the ripening side of the equation as evidenced by the lack of a Cadenza from that year. It really does seem fitting in a lot of ways. The Merlot and Cabernet Franc which had been through a difficult 2019 vintage still struggled to reach the ripeness needed for Cadenza, and so both of those lots were mostly declassified to the Allegro wines. The Petit Verdot soldiered on and gave us really nice fruit (see the 2020 Cadenza Petit Verdot in bottle we released last quarter). But the star of the show was the Cabernet Sauvignon, our oldest block of red grapevines in the vineyard.</p><p>I'm not sure why the Cabernet Sauvignon came through for us in 2020. There wasn't much crop on each vine which was conducive to better ripening for certain. Probably the age of the vines (a few of which still date back to the original 1973 planting) helped bring our better flavors. This block never seems to hit high sugar levels, while at the same time it never disappoints in flavors.</p><p>The 2020 Bridge is kind of a throw-back wine to the 2001 (which was 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc) and the 2015 vintages. Significantly, though, the 2020 brings much more mature and rounded tannins to the glass. The aromatics are classic young red fruit and hints of mature earthy tones. The acid level supports the subdued tannic structure, all the while filling a deep garnet color. The tannins aren't as ripe as I would have wished for, but there's an underlying strength that I think we'll be surprised by ten years from now. <br /></p><p>As always, this wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined (meaning we didn't take out any of the good stuff, but you may find some extra crunchies at the bottom of the bottle.) This wine will last most likely like any other Bridge: 10-20 years depending on how old you like your reds.</p><p>This will be a memorable wine from a year we'd like maybe not to remember. It's a wine that keeps the Bridge tradition alive all by itself. Sometimes we need a wine more than it needs us, and this is that wine.</p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-57906035367336446592022-04-11T07:57:00.006-04:002024-02-05T16:10:02.783-05:002017 Cadenza Vineyards Bridge<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: white;"> <span><span style="font-size: medium;">In 2001
John Crouch (Allegro's first winemaker) and I made the first Bridge
wine together. It was his way of sharing his winemaking techniques
with a young and naive winemaker. The wine was meant to be a
“bridge” between his Cadenza tradition and what I hoped mine
would be. Fast-forward nineteen years, and we're releasing the
seventh vintage of this wine. </span></span></span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
2017 Bridge is the first wine of its kind under the Cadenza<span>
</span>
Vineyards moniker. I <br />developed this wine in the Bordeaux tradition of
a "second label" to our Cadenza wines in the Allegro Winery
brand. Bridge plays the role of the more approachable wine of the
two. Due to vintage variations, the blend will change over the years,
as some varieties excel more in certain growing conditions. </span></span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
2017 was aged 19 months in new French oak barrels and then pulled
from barrels in the summer of 2019. The wine was bottled unfiltered
and unfined in early September with 2” corks. The final total was
only 134 cases of 750mL bottles and 6 cases of 1.5L magnum bottles.
</span></span>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQOegSs17RCyp4Zq4sPORH_17t0r4Pg7g6MfPaFlo_vpd9UyGyu7s17a2mdM08mDV9ZSIcvk4pE9ADBCJzZ01ESrQhYztffy_suHDlpCwu_VLbNEI-f_UVNpTIe-yJ06f-o7njKuyNn4BXm9lrc1_iE8_OYzqfwj55EDhHg4d-Ok6RK5jjvm8-3kaWg/s4000/IMG_20220410_200618.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQOegSs17RCyp4Zq4sPORH_17t0r4Pg7g6MfPaFlo_vpd9UyGyu7s17a2mdM08mDV9ZSIcvk4pE9ADBCJzZ01ESrQhYztffy_suHDlpCwu_VLbNEI-f_UVNpTIe-yJ06f-o7njKuyNn4BXm9lrc1_iE8_OYzqfwj55EDhHg4d-Ok6RK5jjvm8-3kaWg/s320/IMG_20220410_200618.jpg" width="180" /></a></span></span></div><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nice
deep colors and a rich aroma of fruit and oak make this a wine to
savor. The structure of the wine is firm yet supple, making it
perfect for pairing with beef dishes. This wine still needs some
time to come around fully (even though it's drinking nicely right
now). Maximum enjoyment will probably come sometime around
2022-2026.</span></span>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
wine exhibits deep almost purple colors and a supple tannic
mouthfeel. Expect the wine to age nicely for 8-10 years if stored on
its</span></span><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
side, somewhere cool without temperature fluctuations. Ideally, the
temperature should be 55°F, but at least below 65°F. I recommend
serving this wine at around 70°F with red meats. Since the wine was
never filtered, please stand it up a day before serving to allow for
any of the natural sediment to settle out.</span></span></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
<p align="center" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: medium;"><u>Blend</u></span></p>
<p align="center" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: medium;">Merlot
36% | Cabernet Franc 34% | Cabernet Sauvignon 22% | Petit
Verdot 7%</span></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
</p>
<p align="center" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: white; font-size: medium;"><u>Technical
Data</u></span></p>
<p align="center" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;">pH
3.62 | Titratable acidity 6.2 g/L | Alcohol 13.6% v/v</span></span></p>
Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-28007755198486435972022-04-09T20:37:00.001-04:002022-04-09T20:37:18.756-04:002019 Cadenza Vineyards Bridge<p>2019, the year before the year when things went abnormal. I liked 2019. 2019 was a good year, although not a great year. I've written about it before, but at the end of 2018 and early 2019 our vineyard suffered some crazy climate swings which ended up costing us dearly.</p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVHDruiuzGV5EzcyCZImoqAmaPv57EQVyqqMN7dbDZO7PXm4gX4Rcrooz4JoB12M2J6TMd8Cinwex7IPr5mFHHUUPVYRmR8IGWLNkZWftNXff5Bg7Q1oRAzPNBR5t6-mrMNoEbwsScw1ztwaRb8s1BJiI6_rPOd6s9Y9hSalN_Iga_jnf-KmWSE15zw/s4000/IMG_20220409_195430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2250" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVHDruiuzGV5EzcyCZImoqAmaPv57EQVyqqMN7dbDZO7PXm4gX4Rcrooz4JoB12M2J6TMd8Cinwex7IPr5mFHHUUPVYRmR8IGWLNkZWftNXff5Bg7Q1oRAzPNBR5t6-mrMNoEbwsScw1ztwaRb8s1BJiI6_rPOd6s9Y9hSalN_Iga_jnf-KmWSE15zw/w360-h640/IMG_20220409_195430.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br />The fallout of it all was that we were short on every red we grow: Petit Verdot suffered the least, but we had smaller amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Most importantly for an entire acre of Cabernet Franc, we only had three small clusters amounting to essentially 100% loss. In a normal year we should be producing 12-14 tons. In 2019, we harvested only three tons. An approximate ten ton loss.<p></p><p>Let's do some sad math: Ten tons is the equivalent of about 1500 gallons of wine. This equals about 7500 bottles which (at say, $30 per bottle) comes to an ungodly amount of dollars.</p><p> But that's not really what this wine is about. The 2019 Bridge is the summation, the liquid culmination, the vinous desublimation of a vintage. As winemakers and winegrowers, we all love a great vintage. When there's no threat of frost in the spring or hurricanes in the fall. We love dry Septembers and hot summers. Our jobs are easy those years.</p><p> But it's in years like 2019 that we learn stuff. It takes twice the energy and multiples of costs to bring the wines into bottles. So what did 2019 teach us? First off, that we really like Petit Verdot. The grape that everyone was told would never ripen here in PA is our standout. Great color and vibrant acidity and firm tannins. It forms the basis of this year's Bridge.</p><p>We also leaned that we need Merlot but can't count on it. We need it to fill in the structure that Petit Verdot provides us, but at the same time we know we're going to get burned by how sensitive a variety it is. It's skins aren't as tough as Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc or Petit Verdot. But CS and PV just scream out for some juicy Merlot to flesh them out. </p><p>Lastly, we learned that we need Cabernet Franc. This wine would have benefited from a bit of its firm mid-palate as well as its aromatics. We were always told that Cab Franc was a really good grape for PA (for all the wrong historical reasons that I will go into some day.) I've never believed it, but what I do know is that one of the reasons this wine is simply Bridge and not Cadenza is the missing Cab Franc....and the missing heat in the summer of 2019, but who's counting?</p><p> But what's important is what's in your glass. The wine is a deep garnet with hints of violet. The nose is dominated by sweet cherries and hints of oak. On the palate, flavors of blackberry and black cherry is enveloped by a mouthful of supple tannins. The acid level is a little too high for me personally, but most people will appreciate it when enjoying the wine with dinner (something from the beef department please.)</p><p>As with all Cadenza wines, this one has some legs to it. Expect it to keep getting better through the end of this decade. And by "better" I really mean "more interesting." If you like fruit, drink it now. If you like earthy complexity, wait a while. It'll pay you back for waiting.<br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-50470035378040889452022-02-17T20:40:00.003-05:002022-02-17T20:40:29.334-05:002015 Allegro Bridge<p></p> The last Bridge pre-Cadenza Vineyards. 2015 was not a stellar vintage (hence, no Cadenza wine that year.) It was the year that we started planting the vines that would produce the 2017 Cadenza, 2017 Bridge, and 2017 Merlot. But the 2015 was the quiet before the storm.<p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb0IJfiVWR5uV8AWAZzgW863m6UaASwWlQ7_9oiG6SV_aGCNhPw9iZadrWY3sxKSjqoi5iq4Hxm8A940T4PmLsUDXGuRosxgf9bw_18PPN1eJquZqFulapaR3pBmsPopWZ9oGWv0C_f2OiPYxK2rrgNw8QDOENAVASiCKAcyvoMu4I_MShjGuDYdy2wA=s4000" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb0IJfiVWR5uV8AWAZzgW863m6UaASwWlQ7_9oiG6SV_aGCNhPw9iZadrWY3sxKSjqoi5iq4Hxm8A940T4PmLsUDXGuRosxgf9bw_18PPN1eJquZqFulapaR3pBmsPopWZ9oGWv0C_f2OiPYxK2rrgNw8QDOENAVASiCKAcyvoMu4I_MShjGuDYdy2wA=s320" width="180" /></a></div>We've made Bridge wines a lot of time. 2001... 2006... 2007... 2012... 2013... 2014... Some years it was from estate fruit, some years it wasn't. in 2015, 100% of the wine came from our vineyard. <p></p><p> </p><p>The Cabernet Sauvignon was from vines that we now call Block Three (or the Crouch Cabernet). The Merlot and Cabernet Franc was from Block Five (which we pulled out after the 2016 vintage.) This was the last hurrah for some of these grapes. </p><p>In typical fashion, we fermented this fruit in small one-ton bins and did punch-downs multiple times per day. In that year I was still doing what I called "submerged cap fermentations" where I would put a HDPE plate over top of the fruit between punchdowns and hold the cap--basically the skins of the grapes--under the level of the juice thereby hopefully extracting more character from the skins. (I have since disavowed the practice as we now do tank fermentations.....the submerged cap idea was a shit-ton of work. Was it worth it? I don't know. But I've always been about trying to get the most out of every harvest. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZTXPvbG_uCX-FqMwZu8t4b073E2zRH5EnXs1EzAlJSuUNWihWp0dxsRhb59K2s1I6bf4Hf-pcSXZe0s_RCiDmzmtf7rhImuwtS8_w3aSgDqmPz2h7OU1BUYs29n0atj-So9Nz2-zAQQ9ViCzvC2V3093XLBcyto9QRRU_qTqAfGiPlBCHCvzIbZP7fA=s4000" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZTXPvbG_uCX-FqMwZu8t4b073E2zRH5EnXs1EzAlJSuUNWihWp0dxsRhb59K2s1I6bf4Hf-pcSXZe0s_RCiDmzmtf7rhImuwtS8_w3aSgDqmPz2h7OU1BUYs29n0atj-So9Nz2-zAQQ9ViCzvC2V3093XLBcyto9QRRU_qTqAfGiPlBCHCvzIbZP7fA=s320" width="180" /></a></div><p></p><p></p>As an aside: On a personal level, I've never thought I was very talented in the winemaking department. Hell, we all have the same information and opportunity to make great wine in any given year (apart from perhaps some financial handicaps.) That said, the one thing I knew in any given year--whether we made better wine than our colleagues or not--would be that no one would out-work us. If making better wine just required more work/calories/dedication, I knew that was a game we would not lose.<p></p><p></p><p>Was it worth it? To make better wine, yes? But was the submerged cap bullshit worth it? ...I don't know.</p><p>In any case, the wine today exhibits lots of Cabernet character in the nose, with the Merlot filling out the mid-palate like it should. I can't taste the Franc, but it might be there someplace. This is a solid wine, definitely a Bridge wine. But it's taken about six years for it to get to the place where I am happy with it. I'm guessing it will drink nicely from now until probably 2024 at least.<br /><br /><br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-62854291504546692872022-02-12T19:02:00.000-05:002022-02-12T19:02:27.863-05:002012 Allegro Winery Chambourcin<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdCuYXMwVKlyr65rU-Eu7soLvGUlUvqt0tIZDEUdTfnpCcHImFVP6ysNEPoEKy6m1_AJWatgZClctszAKpFIsq8-DtRGvABXk2wNeahW0L5koqI5GnSCN7zNO6L93yNYwevdSz6GDgUQNuOsVDcFd0gCa0If_JHhKqcV6ScdYPRh1W5sT3ziy6rwobFA=s4000" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdCuYXMwVKlyr65rU-Eu7soLvGUlUvqt0tIZDEUdTfnpCcHImFVP6ysNEPoEKy6m1_AJWatgZClctszAKpFIsq8-DtRGvABXk2wNeahW0L5koqI5GnSCN7zNO6L93yNYwevdSz6GDgUQNuOsVDcFd0gCa0If_JHhKqcV6ScdYPRh1W5sT3ziy6rwobFA=s320" width="180" /></a> I'm sure some of you know the love/hate relationship I've had with Chambourcin. Not sure what made me pull this old bottle out tonight, but I did. OK, maybe it had something to do with Mike Fiore pulling a 1989 out of his cellar. I'm not in his league when it comes to Chambourcin, but I'll at least throw in my $.02 on it.</p><p> </p><p>Back in 2012, we were still doing our glossy, musical instrument-inspired labels. This one was a guitar because I always thought that Chambourcin wasn't a really serious grape and therefore it shouldn't be a violin or cello or something else serious. Not sure I quite agree with that now. We loved those images, and they worked really well in our tasting room and on our wall of wine. But we found that when they sit on a shelf with other wines (or on someone's table) they didn't quite have the same cache. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHxKxSF8j7QZ_nXHMQk2R046YkPeDwwIPYf5U5-XSKVkDZbIf0fQwLNUO3hBGlPACSjtA96j1SmsCYz1MY2q9jRV2ZBalRMcSPZ3P5VNuYP-KWDLjirvk9GSISkkyqbIrkZNqxQfNqg6GbwGuNg09laAn5ZzMZEpO3TYRKylCmjI-t_maVAyiZwLD5Sg=s4000" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHxKxSF8j7QZ_nXHMQk2R046YkPeDwwIPYf5U5-XSKVkDZbIf0fQwLNUO3hBGlPACSjtA96j1SmsCYz1MY2q9jRV2ZBalRMcSPZ3P5VNuYP-KWDLjirvk9GSISkkyqbIrkZNqxQfNqg6GbwGuNg09laAn5ZzMZEpO3TYRKylCmjI-t_maVAyiZwLD5Sg=s320" width="180" /></a>There's a story about me and Emery going to Total Wine in Maryland to do label research before we decided to re-design our labels. I remember putting a bottle of ours on a shelf and wandering away someplace. When I went back to find it, I couldn't. Man, that hurt. And was way more telling than I would like to admit to. Hence, our current label design. <br /></p><p> I was really trying to be as frugal as possible back then. We had a printer that was using flexo-printing for us with four color plates. I realized that if I put the vintage on the back only (and not on the front) I could save about $120 per wine label each year. That was huge, so that's why the vintage isn't on the front.</p><p>Also, I had a theory that people didn't read back labels. To prove that fact, I wrote these short half-poetic haiku-ish three-line vague sentences that were supposed to convey something about the wine. The one for Chambourcin (being a "cross" between French and American grapevines) was par for the course. I don't think a single customer ever said anything about them. It's one thing to piss someone off for what you wrote, but deafening silence is even worse. It meant no one even had the heart to say anything they were so non-plussed by what they read (if they read it all). Suffice it to say, I stopped doing these pretty quickly (and went even more minimalistic in the future.)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBdV89QUh5S8QuvNEjcsHuSSClN_vTFuTKtrB1V19PySZtbcreXit6JzCvY8sSEY_Ijbfxj4DjGq3_IVAa8eeSnVf_pEPp86BgsWQz1A5OXLmWeaFCbtog0BKgs7SW5YXsCZ_tl6T1lsv_QSE7lctkd7Q994i0X5i7SVSmk1byzmH1KgxrYKbW8YQcUg=s4000" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBdV89QUh5S8QuvNEjcsHuSSClN_vTFuTKtrB1V19PySZtbcreXit6JzCvY8sSEY_Ijbfxj4DjGq3_IVAa8eeSnVf_pEPp86BgsWQz1A5OXLmWeaFCbtog0BKgs7SW5YXsCZ_tl6T1lsv_QSE7lctkd7Q994i0X5i7SVSmk1byzmH1KgxrYKbW8YQcUg=s320" width="180" /></a></div><p></p><p>Back to Chambourcin: I wrote a blogpost (my most read post of all time) in 2012. (Here's the link: https://allegrowines.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-wife-is-freak.html) I remember a colleague of mine in a meeting insinuating that my post might have the distinction of someone bringing a libel suit against me for all the bad things I was saying about Chambourcin. Believe me, the post doesn't say anything bad about Chambourcin <i>per se</i>, just about bad Chambourcin wines. Me thinks the winemaker protested too much (and hath a skin that is not thick.) Now, as for what I would tell my customers about Chambourcin in the cellar, that might have warranted libel, but luckily what happens in the cellar stays in the cellar.</p><p>This is all a long-winded way of answering the question: is the 2012 any good any more? Well....it's fine. It's always been fine. It's a bit past, has some oxidized notes to it. But it's fine. Color's not so great, aromas are ok, but it's fine. Tannins are non-existent, acid it still a bit high for me, but it's fine. Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine.</p><p>Fine. <br /></p><p>And for me, that's always been the problem with Chambourcin. It's strength is that in weak vintages, Chambourcin makes really nice wine. And in great vintages, it makes really nice wine. </p><p>Will it blow your socks off? Nope. </p><p>Will it disappoint you? Nope.</p><p>Chambourcin is the safe choice. The bran muffin of wines when what you really want is Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIMTMdRqbhbWDb32RB0eVfGZjnOSDwtILl_VoaSLPK4fEnartfMsnc2hwAEH8bDiGZf-FBuZkDTSeQZaPMYCRa33qs6uvmYL6LAL8BInpZAVcdk-lASrWwm8PnHfe55YW2NHOiD6rrC6o4hm0xAgsFtin8CmhiWFHls6FbffD8X_X621B5ag2LNHajig=s320" width="180" /></div><br /><br /><br /><p><br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-4296249220814854002022-01-01T16:44:00.001-05:002022-01-01T16:46:10.186-05:00Why We Don't Have Many Cadenza Red Wines Among Our Current Offerings<p> If there was one question I was asked more than any other during our December Cadenza wine club pickup, it was this: "why aren't there more reds?" Believe me, it's not a fun question to answer. I understand that most of you probably signed up for the club based on the red wines that were promised. </p><p>It's probably best for me to try to explain the past few years, and in order to do that, I should talk about our vineyards some more. Here's the map.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbPNS-TpnA9u8B4CspAjL3v5xAj5rURIRVkUL32AB09xChfoTVkJaW-W4um6ELrpoxTKOcWu9NnEvjluKUan0xioeZtOVbWiAG18_TQpOPWaoAht5tV3CFKoEl2LuYTFGPbUvdRSDUAnFWtPht_gv1FcP0KOPI7FDIsGNUNj7Woj6f6ZXrVVXFUSD3oQ=s2200" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1700" data-original-width="2200" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbPNS-TpnA9u8B4CspAjL3v5xAj5rURIRVkUL32AB09xChfoTVkJaW-W4um6ELrpoxTKOcWu9NnEvjluKUan0xioeZtOVbWiAG18_TQpOPWaoAht5tV3CFKoEl2LuYTFGPbUvdRSDUAnFWtPht_gv1FcP0KOPI7FDIsGNUNj7Woj6f6ZXrVVXFUSD3oQ=w640-h494" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of Cadenza Vineyards in Brogue PA<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>We have four red Bordeaux varieties planted here. Theoretically, I could see us making no more than six wines in a perfect year: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Bridge, Cadenza. That said, none of the past few years have been perfect.</p><p>2017 was the first time we had all four varieties online at the same time. And we released three wines (Merlot, Bridge, Cadenza). This was a great harbinger of things to come (or so I thought.) Given the fact that this was mostly the first harvest from these baby wines, the future looks extremely promising.</p><p>In 2018, disaster struck twice. First in the form of a wet and cool summer which brought disease-pressure and all sorts of bad things. Harvest weather was decent, but the fruit we brought in was scarce and of only average quality. All the red wines were declassified to the Allegro label. (You can find them in the 2018 Allegro Duet.) </p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhR3dhftpKOdEJ9T3sHD-UMEZfdpDc07uJdY80VKT_As8q0yQPprNY9bqjX_X5ahC_OFawpOPV-QupGl80guIiPN_s5TGjdyV11w09yxjeD0s0WAhrabOnX8DrJGLlVfDfMTweg1BFEAK0AKD5H0BIcA_Me5ysc9-xwpou8s_sWMBs_PYn9cN5YmP703Q=s1421" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1421" data-original-width="799" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhR3dhftpKOdEJ9T3sHD-UMEZfdpDc07uJdY80VKT_As8q0yQPprNY9bqjX_X5ahC_OFawpOPV-QupGl80guIiPN_s5TGjdyV11w09yxjeD0s0WAhrabOnX8DrJGLlVfDfMTweg1BFEAK0AKD5H0BIcA_Me5ysc9-xwpou8s_sWMBs_PYn9cN5YmP703Q=w225-h400" title="Pile of vines to be burned" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pile of vines to be burned</td></tr></tbody></table>At the end of 2018--with the vineyard soaked and the roots drowning in water, we had a cold snap in November. Under normal circumstances, the vines would have laughed at 15 degrees, but a temperature that cold that early with their feet so wet was disastrous. We lost around four thousand of the ten thousand vines we had planted. To add insult to injury, all the primary buds on the surviving Cabernet Franc vines were dead meaning we would get zero grapes from them in 2019. The Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon faired only slightly better. </p><p>With that winter, 2019 was basically finished before it even started. Through it all, the Petit Verdot was almost bullet-proof. The 2019
Petit Verdot along with a few other small lots became the 2019 Bridge.</p><p>2020 came with its own host of issues. The vines that had not had to work as hard in 2019 due to the budkill we had were now full of vigor and set a massive crop. The Cabernet Franc and Merlot wines were nice, but again mostly declassified to the Allegro label. There's good chance we'll get a varietal 2020 Petit Verdo, though, that we will hope to bottle in early 2022. </p><p>As for 2021, it's too soon to get really excited, but the quality across all four is back closer to where 2017 was. The Cabernet Franc and Merlot seem to be the standouts for once. In early 2023 I'm hoping that we'll have at least three new reds to show the world.</p><p>We're going to start re-planting the vineyard this coming spring. We have about two thousand vines ordered to start the process. It'll be a long re-building couple years. <br /></p><p>Thank you all for your patience through these times. I know you all signed up for all sorts of red wines, and I hope to be able to deliver those to you in the coming years. In the meantime, if you feel like helping out planting, feel free to contact me in April. We'll have to do it all manually this time rather than using tractors and lasers. Again, insult to injury.....</p><br /><p><br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com2Brogue, PA 17309, USA39.872185300000012 -76.4844519999999911.561951463821167 -111.64070199999999 68.182419136178851 -41.32820199999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-10860292479025841162021-12-18T17:05:00.001-05:002021-12-18T17:05:28.570-05:00Farm to Table: Pennsylvania Wines in Pennsylvania RestaurantsI've been making wine for over twenty years. All kinds of wine for all kinds of people. I've always said that the easiest part of the wine industry is the winemaking, and I still believe it. The hardest part is selling it (growing it is a close second.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRmAgLlAu3yk5CRfMC8ISanzuxT415YbomWrcI1FCABL-X1aAOEXolIisJOhKYdGPImWYkXbMzYmVqIiCY-gqqR6-EXmapIAr1IJg2QSeXt_i_AWT5GtUj8CUo9j6GQnnJnGL-mw-XWEh5/s1600/DSC_9048.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRmAgLlAu3yk5CRfMC8ISanzuxT415YbomWrcI1FCABL-X1aAOEXolIisJOhKYdGPImWYkXbMzYmVqIiCY-gqqR6-EXmapIAr1IJg2QSeXt_i_AWT5GtUj8CUo9j6GQnnJnGL-mw-XWEh5/s320/DSC_9048.jpg" width="320" /></a>Pennsylvania has one of the most unique liquor sales and licensing systems in the U.S., and I've yet to meet very many people who feel confident in understanding all of the regulations. I grew up in the Midwest, so it's a minor miracle I ended up making wine here on the East coast. That said, I sometimes feel as if I take more pride in supporting local products than folks who have lived here their entire lives.<br />
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Years ago--when I first entered the wine industry--"local" wasn't really a thing. In 2009 when the country was beginning to struggle with the effects of the Great Recession, there was a movement towards "Buy Local" and "Farm-to-Table" restaurants. Like most small businesses, we persevered through those tough economic times because of the people who went out of their way to find us on their "stay-cations." Social media might have allowed us to share our story with the world, but it really enabled us to connect with the folks down the street.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJl1BEmdB5M8yGTncAGnGt0ki6LcispBi4FIYXzn-Dyg57ha2JXrW81YyF7vhIQSOWtWKe4rlKqWNOk63RJxu0-Yx8QAFSl1PvLc7AjFu5bmJ7ST5N_VuiLroRCffb8PsVzh7qoIS15LP/s1600/DSC_0069.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJl1BEmdB5M8yGTncAGnGt0ki6LcispBi4FIYXzn-Dyg57ha2JXrW81YyF7vhIQSOWtWKe4rlKqWNOk63RJxu0-Yx8QAFSl1PvLc7AjFu5bmJ7ST5N_VuiLroRCffb8PsVzh7qoIS15LP/s320/DSC_0069.JPG" width="320" /></a>What is unique about Pennsylvania wine is that no other alcoholic beverage reflects its local roots more than wine. Locally grown malt barley and hops account for less than 1% of the ingredients in PA beers and even less for PA spirits. More than 70% of Pennsylvania wines, on the other hand, are from grapes grown in the Commonwealth (and most of the balance of the fruit is grown in East coast states like New York and Maryland.) <br />
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All of these wines are available to any Pennsylvania restaurant or tavern, directly sourced from the winery. Most wineries are even happy to deliver the wine directly to the restaurant as well as do select tastings for staff and customers. We're proud to make wine here, and proud to share it with our neighbors.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1tTiOTVLQBmArEDmB5DvlM0act_Lq2H2DqvSqlkROs_EuIiekgFP1AV6fzSfFqFfrjUDY5XmiQZED_XWSDuZcbp_560JJf09RMbZ_LCSE7xgqnl-BNKjo8jvEHFBA5rSby95ifikzw6a_/s1600/ALLEGRO-1015.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1tTiOTVLQBmArEDmB5DvlM0act_Lq2H2DqvSqlkROs_EuIiekgFP1AV6fzSfFqFfrjUDY5XmiQZED_XWSDuZcbp_560JJf09RMbZ_LCSE7xgqnl-BNKjo8jvEHFBA5rSby95ifikzw6a_/s320/ALLEGRO-1015.JPG" width="320" /></a>I once knew a chef in York county who used to say "Eat like you live here," and I couldn't agree with him more. We're all local to where we live, and there's nothing more important for us than to be part of and support our community. The next time you go to a restaurant and see locally grown tomatoes and locally raised beef and locally made cheese, be sure to support what they are doing.<br />
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And if you see that they only have wine from California or France or Australia, tell them you like to drink like you live here, too.<br />
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#drinklikeyoulivehereCarl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-33528048903709409782021-11-28T19:43:00.001-05:002021-11-30T08:38:59.024-05:00Thoughts on PA wines and Allegro in particular......<div><br />
Here at Allegro we've been growing grapes since 1973 (original plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay vines still surviving) and making wine since 1980. We're situated in York county, just north of Baltimore, MD. The Chesapeake Bay acts as a huge influence on our weather patterns here, pulling air across from our west and keeping us pretty gusty. We refer to these as the "Winds of Brogundy." (That's a small joke nobody seems to get). The South Mountain range on the east side of Adams county (40 some miles to our west) breaks up the storms that are coming from that way, creating a nice rain shadow for our vineyard.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUNAeJxsgKKsrgaVqG_juTAr8t_po2oUs_KHZAGNJkix1GKHFMRwMljoaekmhtW76KRaY5b_4YWHoVLdJMS_SK4Y30IEEsfnd6gfhk1bFGUfE5SFFJKx0rBoeIfiNRAtDm55RbkXBHwTQ/s2048/DSC_0035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUNAeJxsgKKsrgaVqG_juTAr8t_po2oUs_KHZAGNJkix1GKHFMRwMljoaekmhtW76KRaY5b_4YWHoVLdJMS_SK4Y30IEEsfnd6gfhk1bFGUfE5SFFJKx0rBoeIfiNRAtDm55RbkXBHwTQ/s320/DSC_0035.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div> </div><div>("Rain shadows" are geographic areas that receive little or no rain due to climatic and geographic influences.) <br /></div>
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We're sitting just shy of 700 feet elevation, so our diurnal shift is pretty small in the summer (and winter). This is not an ideal site for Riesling or Pinot Noir, so we've finally begun replanting those blocks over to Bordeaux varieties (better suited to warm nights.) Our soils here are well-drained with a low pH keeping vigor well in check (but brings with it its own issues.) Whereas a lot of places on the East coast can put a crop on young vines in the second year, our third year usually only sees half crop level. Some vines struggle to produce on the fourth year. Naturally low vigor is one of the keys when Mother Nature is regular in her summertime precipitates.</div>
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<div>The soils are on 2-7% slopes, full of schist, and significant clay and iron. Our most recent plantings have involved a lot of Merlot to take advantage of the soil similarities with Pomerol. Merlot also likes clay for its water-holding capacity in late summer, since drought conditions tend to make it shut down. </div>
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Our current vineyard contains Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Viognier, and Albarino. There's been a lot of focus on Bordeaux reds in the southeastern portion of this state, as too far north tends to be too cool to consistently ripen them.</div>
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Since we've been making wine for over thirty years, we've found that the PA wine consumer is pretty much like wine consumers in other states. There are a lot of sweet wine drinkers who are very accepting of local wines, and there are a lot of dry wine drinkers who don't accept that the wines made in their state are worthy of seeking out. With the downturn of the economy in 2008, these attitudes have slowly started to shift in a cultural evolution towards supporting and taking pride in local products. Our winery has seen production growth in every year since 2001, and significant growth in the past five years. </div>
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On the winery side, while PA has always been know for hybrids and native wines, there is now a growing percentage of us winemakers who are staking our collective future on vinifera grapes based on a 40-year track record. We believe that the future in our region will be dominated with Petit Verdot, Merlot and Chardonnay.</div>
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<div>We here at Allegro think that certain parts of PA will eventually produce wines on par with the best in the world. We have great (low-vigor) soils, and a continental climate conducive to growing excellent fruit. Many strides have been made in the quality of our wines in the past fifteen years, and we're only now starting to understand the direction we should be taking our industry. I'm very optimistic about our future on the national stage </div>
Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-34112984200995054792021-11-27T20:51:00.007-05:002021-12-18T16:30:32.127-05:00Why We Took on the Pinnacle Ridge Wines<p>(I tried for a long time to come up with a less crass-sounding title for this post, but in the end I've reverted back to who I am. Simple and pretty direct.)</p><p>Pinnacle Ridge Winery was founded by Brad Knapp back in the 1990s (exactly when I don't know.) I remember first meeting Brad in 2000 at the Split Rock Wine festival in the Poconos. I was working at Mount Nittany Winery and had just (literally three weeks earlier) become a father for the first time. (I was running on about four hours sleep.) I still remember tasting his Veritas and Chambourcin and maybe something else, and even my rookie palate could tell he was doing something special.</p><p>Fast forward a couple years, and he and Joanne Levengood and I started tasting wines together. This group would eventually go on to produce three vintages of Trio, but in the early days we were just tasting barrel samples together. What made it work for us was the fact that we all wanted to make better wines, we all had thick skins and could handle criticism, and we all had something to contribute. (Well, on that last one...maybe not me quite so much. Maybe they were just humoring me letting me taste with them in the early days.)</p><p>Turns out, Brad is originally from Indiana (the state, not the town in PA) and went to Purdue. Strange coincidence, I also am from Indiana, and even stranger, we're from towns about 45 minutes apart (and about ten years as well.) Maybe it was the Midwestern personalities jiving, or maybe it's the fact that he was a Ph.D chemist and I wasn't (but I was raised by a physicist and a biologist.) But we became good friends over the years and I have always had an enormous respect for Brad's wines. </p><p>Everyone knows about Brad's sparkling wines and how they have won medals and acclaim for years. What I found most interesting about his winemaking skills was first and foremost his ability to insight the effects of the vineyard on the wines. He made distinctions of cropload, training techniques and rootstocks on the quality of the resultant wines. He worked hard to find a way to make really great Pinot Noir, the most heart-breakingest grape of them all. His 2008 Pinot Noir still stands as a benchmark in my palate's archives.</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPQ54aqIR1RANZupJp81ymahIlPtu3JgS2_cSkrvQovCS9JkPFbU1CP1ZlpGmuEfkgtMdpa2rJ3BsfjeirKBAFtpfL45xIUGT985YsIdWDQz4gFEGGPhK4yGYrA9AfDo8FZcDX90x1cEYAlBcIbsMj4OVWM6QGbGjgYEt6teWgMd0VtO3L7dEKsJ6orA=s2558" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2558" data-original-width="2103" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPQ54aqIR1RANZupJp81ymahIlPtu3JgS2_cSkrvQovCS9JkPFbU1CP1ZlpGmuEfkgtMdpa2rJ3BsfjeirKBAFtpfL45xIUGT985YsIdWDQz4gFEGGPhK4yGYrA9AfDo8FZcDX90x1cEYAlBcIbsMj4OVWM6QGbGjgYEt6teWgMd0VtO3L7dEKsJ6orA=w329-h400" width="329" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brad (left) and Carl (March 2021)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />And then he made a switch. Sometime around 2014 or so, he started focusing on aromatic whites. Honing in on the phenolics (tannins) of the fruit processing, he was able to dissect the mouth-feel of these varieties and morph it in the cellar into something pleasing and enticing. There is a seductive sweetness to his white wines from this period that--although dry--psychologically plays with your taste buds to make you think you are tasting dessert when it's still an appetizer.</p><p> For a winemaker to be able to do sparklings, dry reds, aromatic whites and whatever else is more than admirable. The East coast is full of winemakers with one or two of these skills, but not all three usually. Brad was pretty unique in this. You all who were his customers knew this. <br /></p><p></p>So, I knew for a couple years that Brad was considering retirement. When he asked me towards the end of 2020 if I was interested in purchasing the Pinnacle Ridge brand, I declined because we were trying to figure out what was best for Allegro and--more importantly--I didn't feel like I could/should fill Brad's shoes with regard to his wines. Sure, I had been making wine for over 20 years, but Brad's wines are finesse wines. I make big Bordeaux style reds with big tannins. White wines with structure from skin contact and barrel-fermentation. To try to take on Brad's style as well as my own didn't just seem daunting, but almost anathema to who I was as a winemaker.<p></p><p></p>But then I remembered I am pretty ADD. I like new stuff, all the time, and different stuff, too. And I like a challenge. When Brad mentioned a second time to me that he was still selling the Pinnacle Ridge brand, I knew I had to say yes. Partly for myself and how it would push and challenge me to be a better winemaker. But also partly to be able to keep his legacy of winemaking alive in Pennsylvania.<p></p><p>As we start to re-establish the Pinnacle Ridge brand in the Philly area (Lansdale, specifically), I hope you get a chance to come out and taste the wines that we have been working on. They'll never be quite the same as Brad's, but hopefully they'll have Brad's spirit and character in them. For certain, they'll have the respect of Brad's wines, and hopefully they'll also take you someplace new.</p><p>Cheers,</p><p>Carl</p><p>Winemaker, Allegro Winery/Cadenza Vineyards/Pinnacle Ridge Winery<br /> <br /></p><br />Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-29755780314027315642021-08-24T20:54:00.004-04:002021-08-24T20:59:43.971-04:002012 Allegro Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon<p> You're probably reading this because you received this bottle in your Cadenza Vineyards wine club shipment this month. The first question most likely is: "why's an Allegro bottle in here?" And then you read the word "Reserve" and remember that, before Cadenza Vineyards, all we had was "Reserve" wines under the Allegro brand.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is a special wine. Sure, all the wines we make are "special," but the reserve wines are like Easter lunch as opposed to Saturday night on August 14th in 2021. Sure, the beef you grilled that night (or the Thai takeout you picked up) was pretty good, but the you reserve the best meals for the holidays or with special people. It's probably the origin of the word "reserve" come to think of it.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 2012 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is no different. It's better than a Tuesday night dinner, but man will it elevate whatever you're having.</p><p>The 2012 vintage was unique, and I hesitate re-hashing it here since I already did so here: https://allegrowines.blogspot.com/2020/11/2012-allegro-bridge.html That said, it was a roller-coaster and warm. Too warm at times. It was my eleventh vintage here, and I was just starting to get a handle on grapegrowing. There's a point where you move from "holy hell I almost screwed that up" to "I should have tweaked that a little differently in hindsight." 2012 I was between both of those points.</p><p>In the same way, the wine has that same personality. It's remarkably balanced for a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon. Sure, there's a touch of Merlot and Petit Verdot, but the flavors and mouthfeel are all pretty dead-on at this point. Don't bring up the point that it's a nine year old wine to me....this was a tough wine and I'm counting my lucky stars that the fruit held up as the tannins were tamed. </p><p> </p><p>Truth be told, I released the 2013 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon first and held this in reserve. I was fearful that this stringent structure would scare people. That was worry well-wasted. It did scare people. I had good folks asking me about this hard wine and if it would ever come around. I assured them it would, all the while worrying that it never would and I'd either need to make it up to them or--worse--be wrong. Turns out, neither came to pass. In the words of an old boss of mine, "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes." </p><p>And maybe this time the nut was me.</p><p>So, what is this wine about? It's an anomaly wine for Pennsylvania. No one in their right mind--in a blind tasting--would ever think this wine was from York county...or Pennsylvania...or the East coast for that matter. And they'd think it's probably about four years old. It's not.</p><p>The wine has cool aromatics of leather and currants and dark fruits. No hints of wood, but little bits of leather. The mouthfeel is full and yet the memories of the tight tannins are there on the front of the palate, reminding you that, yes, this is Cabernet Sauvignon. All structure and barely enough fruit to cover up to be decent. It's taken nine years to get here, but just like the vintage that spawned it, it's been quite a ride.<br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-38190190186771887192020-11-23T11:05:00.001-05:002020-11-23T11:05:16.930-05:002012 Allegro Bridge<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpiuROeZiLccPOQ49MXDEkR2KReH4kRKwxSBDAvJQkDTAvabTWHBKfE_7uPi1iyOD3f4KX9tO8XZqETXKKq0GCsvDQTe9cXP9hIV1uvjZ97KPN_zVGt_7lHug5KVjYY6kRNnTofDC4ntY/s1845/Bridge+Front.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1845" data-original-width="1038" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpiuROeZiLccPOQ49MXDEkR2KReH4kRKwxSBDAvJQkDTAvabTWHBKfE_7uPi1iyOD3f4KX9tO8XZqETXKKq0GCsvDQTe9cXP9hIV1uvjZ97KPN_zVGt_7lHug5KVjYY6kRNnTofDC4ntY/s320/Bridge+Front.jpg" /></a>What I remember about 2012 was that it was the first time we had to deal with multiple frost scares in the same year. We had an astoundingly early budbreak, and if I remember correctly, we had three nights where the temperatures dipped below freezing here in the Brogue.</p><p>I know I had discovered a new material to spray our vines with called KDL from Agro-K. It was a mixture of potassium (K) and dextro-lac (sugar) that I sprayed on our vines the day before a frost event. It seemed to have worked just like putting salt on icy winter roads. The green leaves took up the mixture and it lowered the freezing point of the moisture in the cells, thus allowing them to escape unharmed.</p><p>With such an early start, it meant our growing season was extended significantly. Here in Pennsylvania, that's a double-edged sword. Yes, it allows us more days to ripen our fruit, but at the same time it means more days that we have to ward off the evil rots and mildews that try to ruin it. It was a long year, but we were rewarded with remarkable wines.</p><p>The Bridge from 2012 was the fourth time we had made this wine. I have always described it as our "second" wine. Not quite Cadenza, but damn good, and the 2012 is no exception. It is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon from our old vineyard, with almost equal parts of Merlot (also from us) and Petit Verdot (from Maryland.) </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktHslObDHuVgVDohEqRqTNC-yYKasLQ8e3zEsW-4UmnVg-oJekPtNGAQ3E57gHbiZ3v24cI7oWcEKLYEGUBMMa3eOx-Dhu49zrJB-ORNhyphenhyphenW3LgV4-fLzJpZ_l6vz1X84Ai1HE7S9gFDJb/s1987/Bridge+Back.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1987" data-original-width="1118" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktHslObDHuVgVDohEqRqTNC-yYKasLQ8e3zEsW-4UmnVg-oJekPtNGAQ3E57gHbiZ3v24cI7oWcEKLYEGUBMMa3eOx-Dhu49zrJB-ORNhyphenhyphenW3LgV4-fLzJpZ_l6vz1X84Ai1HE7S9gFDJb/s320/Bridge+Back.jpg" /></a></div>This wine was tough as nails when I first bottled it in 2014. I remember tasting it with the 2013 a year later and pulling it off the shelves and putting it in the back until it was closer to drinkability. I had some serious doubts that I didn't voice, but I worried if it would ever come around. And it finally has.<p></p><p>Today, the wine is a medium garnet color with enticing aromas of cherries and spice. There is a sweetness to the tannins with a meaty finish. This wine is at its peak finally, and is a wonderful meal partner. </p><p>I'd be careful pouring it due to some sediment at the bottom. Keeping it upright for a day before opening it helps as well. I also like to pour older wines down the sides of my wine glass like I would a beer as this seems to help keep the older aromas and flavors from escaping so quickly. Older wines seem to winnow out in your glass with too much air. It makes them seem thin. Pouring them carefully means the fruit helps to stay in your glass to beat the tannins and acid into submission, making for a more enjoyable experience.</p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-2799721667292511372020-11-23T06:00:00.012-05:002020-11-23T07:13:48.986-05:002019 Cadenza Vineyards Albarino<p> Albarino was an interesting choice to put in a Bordeaux vineyard. I've been pretty clear from the beginning--mostly because of John Crouch--wrong or right--that this little place in the Brogue was meant for Bordeaux varieties. </p><p>I've removed Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Riesling (all with ancestral homes further north than Bordeaux), Nebbiolo, Seyval Blanc, Traminette from our current plantings. None seemed to do the site justice. In their places, we now have Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. (And, Viognier, but that's for another post.) (And, yes, we have Chardonnay....everybody has Chardonnay.....)</p><p>Why Albarino? I remember talking with Ed Boyce at Black Ankle Vineyards in Maryland when I was considering planting the variety. They had added Albarino and Gruner Veltliner to their French plantings, and there had to be a reason for it. I mentioned to him the other whites I was planting that year: </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABZuRTnZBohu5DL2IoNcAxdosmSWH6d7ecY3WGCGUxaFw4uHm04LG18e714KpD-Br1gsRFK8wnt1V3c75MYmZxGTlyYJWCfSJBRaqLKt6wTQkcknjQANDazay4-L9g4TKDeWIC7PWkqTL/s1949/Albarino+Front.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1949" data-original-width="1096" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABZuRTnZBohu5DL2IoNcAxdosmSWH6d7ecY3WGCGUxaFw4uHm04LG18e714KpD-Br1gsRFK8wnt1V3c75MYmZxGTlyYJWCfSJBRaqLKt6wTQkcknjQANDazay4-L9g4TKDeWIC7PWkqTL/s320/Albarino+Front.jpg" /></a></div>Sauvignon Blanc: likes to rot<br /><p></p><p>Semillon: likes to rot</p><p>Viognier: irregular yields from not so good to bad usually</p><p>I needed something in case the other three had issues. When I asked him about Albarino, he said it was really different in the vineyard, but bullet-proof.</p><p>Did I have any experience drinking Albarinos? No, so I set out to find the few that were in our local stores. It's home is in Galicia (northwest part of Spain) and has an Atlantic coast, so lots of seafood. I figured we have the Chesapeake with crabs so the food pairings might work.</p><p>What did I find? They're solid wines. They don't sing like some Sauvignons nor do they over-power like some Chards, but they are a great middle-ground. I was a bit turned off (and worried) by the acidity I found in some of them) as my palate seems to have been drifting away from acidity for the past decade or so. I was hoping that the wines that would come out of our little plot of ground might be a bit less edgy.</p><p> Our first harvest from our 2016 planting was in 2018, a disastrously difficult vintage. We did manage a crop on the Albarino, though, but the acidity was bracing. I de-classified the wine to our Allegro label and the wine proceeded to sell out. It didn't bode well for things to come.</p><p> In 2019, we had a significantly different set of climactic circumstances along with an even nicer yield from the Albarino block. We set about starting the fermentation in tanks and then ran the wine to barrels. Sounds like heresy, but I'm a firm believer that our Cadenza label will be known for barreled wines. (Of course, these were older barrels with no oak flavor left to give....) </p><p> We stirred the lees in the barrel for numerous months, softening the wine and adding body. What I was looking for was to add a roundness to the wine to off-set any edgy acidity it might have. I didn't need to worry.....</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4uO1dLNpPWEQUh8OkOJ6hewbzjoJVDoOyXIFmOm4hnutSc-X8vizL9iSEg9vXiXk-isTDdCXhWayi_Q3OJotB5Hvb9HwqGfjNUvODtAlXtc-I3WG43jRATyTGgZkcjaX6kkihAWb71Rqg/s2032/Albarino+Back.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2032" data-original-width="1143" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4uO1dLNpPWEQUh8OkOJ6hewbzjoJVDoOyXIFmOm4hnutSc-X8vizL9iSEg9vXiXk-isTDdCXhWayi_Q3OJotB5Hvb9HwqGfjNUvODtAlXtc-I3WG43jRATyTGgZkcjaX6kkihAWb71Rqg/s320/Albarino+Back.jpg" /></a></div> We bottled the wine in the summer of 2020 and we're releasing it with this (December 2020) wine club. The wine ended up a light golden color with aromas of honey and light nectarine. The mouth-feel has a roundness and smoothness that belies its heritage, making it seem medium-bodied and approachable. There's enough acidity to keep the wine from feeling fat, but not enough to get in the way.<p></p><p>A couple weeks ago, Kris prepared a shrimp and pasta meal, and the wine just soared that night. I couldn't believe how good it was. Check out her blog post at <a href="https://www.tastingallegro.com/wine--food/a-ridiculously-good-pair">https://www.tastingallegro.com/wine--food/a-ridiculously-good-pair</a> to read more about it.</p><p>This wine should be spot-on next summer for more meals like that one, and hopefully there will be some left by then.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-2170867607595345302020-11-03T11:44:00.004-05:002020-11-04T07:40:14.536-05:00Cadenza Vineyards Bottles in the Tasting Room<p> One of my favorite sayings comes in the form of a Chinese blessing: "May you live in interesting times." Some people might--with a perspective of the past year--consider this more of a curse, and I think we could have a peaceable discussion about the merits of both ways of interpreting the saying.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYr9aIg9arLGgZ2yal8T4rBt5WKs_rFjWZuP0g_t84K6Mf3bOrKAwI6-4EsdjUaPuTiyIwXrUaSyK8jKaM4dEvUujeC3r4Krkgo5f86NY1CE7nKFJHupj8U2Lc30o0jDUIEXI0rB5wFZ7C/s2048/IMG_20201103_133248.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYr9aIg9arLGgZ2yal8T4rBt5WKs_rFjWZuP0g_t84K6Mf3bOrKAwI6-4EsdjUaPuTiyIwXrUaSyK8jKaM4dEvUujeC3r4Krkgo5f86NY1CE7nKFJHupj8U2Lc30o0jDUIEXI0rB5wFZ7C/s320/IMG_20201103_133248.jpg" /></a></div>In either case, things are strange, and we've all had to adapt in one way or another. One of the changes I've reluctantly agreed to is to shine a little more light on our Cadenza Vineyards label. Since the release of the first vintages back in 2018, I've kept a pretty tight control of these wines. We didn't have that many to begin with, and subsequently we did not open the Cadenza wine club up to more than about 100 memberships.<p></p><p></p>This was a very prudent thing to have done, since our 2017 was pretty small and the 2018 was virtually non-existent (only two white wines and no red wines made the cut to be called Cadenza.) In 2019 we had another small harvest, but we were blessed in 2020 with a much larger one. Perhaps this is the best news we've had in 2020!<p></p><p>Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have noticed a slight drop in our membership along with some folks skipping a shipment or two. I totally understand this. Wine is a luxury product, and these are uncertain times. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OPD-scDon4cF13uo6odr-FFtw515H_KIr57bVmin1p2C5ppzDi4adjdvidpBj1PFN6hEaMKMW4OrWcsnhXkz51TrctJpXLkrxzo1G8WETIkOhfePnRwOS8gnvlt5LPmCAA7j_nWkLZzq/s4000/IMG_20201103_133153.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OPD-scDon4cF13uo6odr-FFtw515H_KIr57bVmin1p2C5ppzDi4adjdvidpBj1PFN6hEaMKMW4OrWcsnhXkz51TrctJpXLkrxzo1G8WETIkOhfePnRwOS8gnvlt5LPmCAA7j_nWkLZzq/s320/IMG_20201103_133153.jpg" /></a></div>Because we have been unable to do our traditional tastings--sharing wines and conversation with guests--our opportunities to have the wine club grow have been few and far between. To that end, we decided that it would be a good idea to at least place the Cadenza wines in the tasting room so that we can start a conversation about them. I resisted this from the beginning, but I feel that it's the right thing to do. <br /><p></p><p>We will be opening the tasting room up for bottles sales soon, and when you're in there next picking up some bottles, please look on the wall to your left and ask about the bottles with the "C" on them. Our staff will be happy to tell you the Cadenza story and talk to you about the wine club. You can also purchase these bottles to take home today if you'd like. (Cadenza wine club members get special pricing, of course.) <br /> </p><p>Keep an eye out for next month's release of our first Cadenza Albarino as well!<br /></p>Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-66570294840052400052020-04-22T15:24:00.000-04:002020-04-22T15:24:42.903-04:00The Quiet Sounds of SummerToday is another day in April, much like the last few weeks have been. We hope all of you have been staying safe as we adjust to the current ever-changing situation in our worlds. What doesn't change is that the vines don't care what's going on in the world for us....they are just starting to come back to life.<br />
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Much has changed since we officially took over the former Naylor facility on February 20, 2020. It's crazy to think that only a month after signing documents on one of the most significant projects I have undertaken in my life would be eerily quiet. All the plans that we had set in place to start ramping up this spring have suddenly changed.<br />
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As the situation with the current lockdown and soon re-opening of our state continues, I am working hard to understand how Allegro will transition back to normal as well. Both the "how" and the "when" are extremely difficult and important issues for us. We're used to sharing glasses of wine and stories and space with all of you, and now we're not sure what is safe.<br />
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We have been one of the fortunate businesses that was allowed to stay open and keep operating. We were deemed "essential" due to being an agricultural manufacturer. I'm sure you all would agree with me that wine is essential to life. And we have been very fortunate that our (now smaller) staff have stepped up and are making sure that the vineyards are still being tended to, the wine is still getting bottled, and the cases are still getting shipped and delivered to you.<br />
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What has changed is that we cannot do the events that have been playing an ever-growing role in our business. Our Wine Club Mixer will not be held next month, and we'll be doing curbside pickup and shipping (UPS and our Home Delivery program.) We had to cancel a wedding fair, a library tasting, and numerous other social occasions. We've had to end the tastings in our winery and other locations, and totally close our farmer's markets locations.<br />
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As for the next few months, my crystal ball is not working very well. Sure, Pennsylvania will start to open back up again, hopefully as soon as we can safely. But I do know that it's going to take a vaccine and herd immunity to get us to the point where we all feel comfortable and normal again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisK1y4bRv0m0Wx3l1bRtkbH7dY6Wd3RXafOc0Yy-gk3QIFLHGrPz83B77SkEutbRSA-zdwdyR4-C8q4INzXRHm7-rLL88ka7fOTui65i6Tw9FvNfEPK8wh-GFdpAEZyMYmD6Es4SAjXlRU/s1600/Naylor+Event+Venue+Cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisK1y4bRv0m0Wx3l1bRtkbH7dY6Wd3RXafOc0Yy-gk3QIFLHGrPz83B77SkEutbRSA-zdwdyR4-C8q4INzXRHm7-rLL88ka7fOTui65i6Tw9FvNfEPK8wh-GFdpAEZyMYmD6Es4SAjXlRU/s400/Naylor+Event+Venue+Cropped.jpg" width="400" /></a>That said, the chances of us being able to host large public events in the near future looks very slim, and with that I feel compelled to announce that Allegro will not be hosting a Summer Sounds Series this year, nor probably our Harvest Party or any of the other larger events we were hoping for (such as a Cider festival as well as other wine festivals.) Most of these events require a minimum of 300 tickets sold to break even, and all of my sources are telling me that it will be a while before that will be allowed. And even though the venue is outside, it would only be possible to have perhaps 75 people socially distancing responsibly under cover.<br />
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This is a tough decision for us as a lot of my financial forecasting and planning leading up the purchase of the former Naylor facility involved these type of events. It will make it more difficult for us in the short run, but hopefully you all can support us until we all get back to normal at some point.<br />
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Thanks for reading through to this point, and thank you for supporting local businesses at this time. We're all going to make it through this together.<br />
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Take care,<br />
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CarlCarl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-73491585607687848962020-02-21T04:58:00.000-05:002020-02-21T04:58:53.613-05:00A New Era for AllegroYesterday the news from last year actually became official: Allegro Winery finalized the purchase of the former Naylor Wine Cellars property in Stewartstown. I know that most people were probably under the impression that this happened almost a year ago, but these things take time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East Side of the former Naylor Wine Cellars</td></tr>
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Dick Naylor passed away on December 10, 2018, and a few weeks later the long-time family friend and accountant to the Naylor family, George Dotzel, called me to see if I had an interest in the property. This led to numerous meetings with him and Janey Potter (Dick Naylor's daughter) regarding what the future of the property would be. In the end, it was decided that Allegro Winery would purchase the assets and real estate while Naylor Wine Cellars would continue on at their Queensgate location until their existing inventory was sold.<br />
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Through it all, we have been making preparations for what the future of Allegro looks like and how we can best use the property. First and foremost, it had become clear in recent years that we needed more production space. Sure, we built on a 3,000 sq ft addition (two-story barrel room and warehouse) in 2016, but within two years we were already stressing the limits of what we could hold in that new space. I jokingly told folks in 2016 that they weren't allowed to complain about needing a new building for five years....that ban only lasted for two.) Our increased sales through all three state-wide warehouses along with the groceries stores was taking a toll on our floor-space. We were playing a vinous version of Tetris, and it was only a matter of time before our game was over.<br />
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I had started looking around for a site where we could actually build something to suit us, perhaps ten acres where we could put a 5,000 sq ft building and further our expansion......maybe plant some more vines as well. There were a couple places closer to us that would have worked, and then fate intervened.<br />
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When I first came to Allegro in 2001, I knew that I was fulfilling a dream. But it turns out it wasn't just my dream, but also that of the Crouch brothers before me. I was 31 years old when I showed up, and it turns out that John had also been 31 years old when he came to Allegro back in 1978. Serendipitous and crazy how we would both be the same age coming to the same place for the same dreams. Seems like a lifetime ago that I was hanging out with him eating takeout pizza and drinking Cadenza.<br />
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I was also keenly aware of the Dick Naylor at the time. He operated one of the largest wineries in the area and had been a good friend of John's as well as Mike Fiore (from Fiore Winery in Maryland.) I was pretty amazed at the size of the operation he ran. It was similar in size to the furniture plant I ran in a former life, and I never dreamed that I would need a winery that size. Now we do.<br />
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What this aquisition will afford us is a lot more production space. Besides helping to supply wine for Allegro's enormous recent growth, we're going to be able to take on new ventures. <br />
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<li>There's an incredible event pavilion where we will continue to host musical events every summer as well as weddings and other events. (Looks like I'm going to have to take down my old descriptions of Allegro as a place that doesn't do events!)</li>
<li>The vineyard is 11 acres of mostly hybrid grape varieties that will help us control more of the supply chain of grapes that we need for our wines.</li>
<li>With the new space available, we can finally start to release a couple more brands that we have been working on. As a winemaker, there's lots I'd like to try to do, and not all of them fall under the "Allegro" umbrella. Our RAVE cans were the first foray into this....there will be more.</li>
<li>The extra space will most importantly allow us to undertake a new project we're calling "Pennsylvania Wine Works" where I hope to be able to help other wineries expand their production through custom winemaking. It will also be a channel where new vineyards, wineries, or even restaurants and private individuals wanting to get a start in this industry can find the resources to make wine. </li>
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I know that there will be confusion about what is actually going on, and I'm sure that it will take a while to get it all figured out. This Stewartstown location will be a second winery location for Allegro where we will sell Allegro wines and host events. When people heard the news about this, they automatically assumed we'd be making Naylor wines (we're not). Some thought we'd be moving away from Brogue (we're not). We're just going to do there what we've always tried to do in Brogue: sell wine. But this time it'll be a little more convenient for most involved.<br />
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This little winery out in the middle of nowhere has now grown to be one of the largest in Pennsylvania. Out of 270 wineries, we're ranked around 10th in production size. We currently make more than three times the amount of wine than all York county wineries combined. (In 2020 we'll bottle over a quarter million bottles.)<br />
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It's hard to imagine when I think back to 2001 that we would be here today. Back then, in my first year, I bottled 20,000 bottles with lots of help from friends and anyone else who was willing to help. Fast-forward almost twenty years--I'm now almost 50 years old--and we're purchasing the property that was Naylor Wine Cellars. And in a serendipitous turn of events, I believe Dick Naylor was approximately 50 years old when he founded Naylor back in 1978. Strange how these things happen.<br />
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It's times like these when I finally get perspective on life. We really are just standing on the shoulders of giants.Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631218697264930550.post-63709834790209519022019-12-18T06:09:00.003-05:002019-12-18T06:09:44.877-05:00'Twas the Night Before Christmas (at the Mall)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjZroF9TUWMz2Ei_kw35Z2za6MRMVB3ziYRB98a046myJ1D2QZn4Zcgra5tGKM5A4v0E7lBZLIHPkuBNZ_an_G2JpiGwL4MssMQ-cLvY1jSE6yK6siZmfxevukBmX7Mimll6hPbG0TWQI/s1600/DSC_0061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1072" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjZroF9TUWMz2Ei_kw35Z2za6MRMVB3ziYRB98a046myJ1D2QZn4Zcgra5tGKM5A4v0E7lBZLIHPkuBNZ_an_G2JpiGwL4MssMQ-cLvY1jSE6yK6siZmfxevukBmX7Mimll6hPbG0TWQI/s200/DSC_0061.JPG" width="133" /></a>About ten years ago, we had a kiosk set up at the mall in order to bring our wine to where people were (<i>en masse</i>.) We were desperate.<br />
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Looking back on that experience is surreal. Driving my truck through the hordes of shoppers twice on Black Friday in order to deliver twenty-five cases of wine through the back doors of the shopping complex. Crazy holiday music non-stop. Frazzles customers who were thrilled to taste a little wine in their frenzy. Amazingly tolerant staff working under stressful conditions.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnh_b8wS9LRc0UbLPUyf26yP69PrvopkMVKXXVs2p6nCbr2b3A7B7t4q6m_ofiVgBfVHbxb3bYbi1USOHPGjKz4XA9o-Ps7aPhxSrJK3-zaBMyIWxEnTrzKOWU-LfNXBgk8LUyHCRIF5rD/s1600/DSC_0231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnh_b8wS9LRc0UbLPUyf26yP69PrvopkMVKXXVs2p6nCbr2b3A7B7t4q6m_ofiVgBfVHbxb3bYbi1USOHPGjKz4XA9o-Ps7aPhxSrJK3-zaBMyIWxEnTrzKOWU-LfNXBgk8LUyHCRIF5rD/s320/DSC_0231.JPG" width="320" /></a>All the while knowing that our very existence may come down to what the weather forecast was and if Christmas fell on a Friday or a Monday (the latter being far better, since it meant two insane shopping days over a weekend.)<br />
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We're eternally grateful for all who helped support our little shop back in those days, as well as all the staff who put in countless hours for us. <br />
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Years ago, my wife Kris wrote a poem about Christmas time at the mall to try to capture the feeling and to show her appreciation. Here it is (inspired by "Twas the night before Christmas").<br />
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‘Twas the month before Christmas, and all thru the mall,<br />The frickin’ Christmas tunes had been echoing since early Fall,<br />The rock wall was hung all in mistletoe,<br />In hopes that to ring the bell the climbers would go.<br />The wines were all dressed up, red and white in their bags,<br />With promises of “Merry Christmas” attached to their tags.<br />And Carl in his delivery van, and I in my truck,<br />Were waiting and waiting, wondering “Hey, what the ---heck?”<br />When suddenly into the parking lot drove such a crowd<br />We woke up from our slumber—and, man, was it loud!<br />Quick to the cash register, we flew like a flash,<br />We checked for the register tape, we brought extra cash,<br />The ones in the right-handed part of the drawer<br />Kept getting so low, we had to keep bringing more:<br />We kept to our wondering bankers returning<br />To replace all the dimes and the quarters we were burning.<br />With a rush and a clatter customers came on so fast,<br />We knew that our quiet days were a thing of the past.<br />More rapid than credit cards charging they came,<br />And they pushed and they shouted and they called them by name:<br />“Now Vidal, now Fusion, now Proprietor’s Red,<br />On Celeste, and Apple, and Aria,” they said:<br />“To the top of my glass, to the top of my tree,<br />Harmony, Harmony, Harmony, Harmony, Harmony, Harmony, Harmony!”<br />Like super-people who, when asked to be great,<br />Open up early, and stay open late,<br />So to the Galleria, like eagles we flew,<br />With a van full of wine, wine racks, vacu-stoppers, mulling spices, and chocolate drops, too!<br />And then, like super-heroes, we had at our store<br />The most perfect people, doing all, and more:<br />As we answered their phone calls and brought them more wine,<br />With every check-in, they said: “Oh, we’re fine!”<br />“We’re ready to sell, and we’re doing so well<br />That you’re out of Harmony again, and, oh, did we tell<br />You that the register’s broken, it’s gone straight to hell,<br />It climbed up the rock wall, it kicked at the bell,<br />A bundle of beeps it’s given us, and we’re tired<br />Of telling it it may not be rehired:<br />Our customers, they love Apple! They love all this wine!<br />They frickin’ love Fusion! Our z-outs, how fine!”<br />The promise of December, we held tight in our wishes,<br />And the smell of success, it smelled—oh, so delicious!<br />We had a bevy of great people, coming through for us daily,<br />And they never complained! They just said to us, gaily:<br />“You are busy, we know, but we have on our shelf<br />No more dangle snowman wine toppers; we sold them ourself!”<br />So with gas in our car, the handcart in our trunk,<br />We delivered and delivered and delivered all the junk<br />And the wines, and went straight to the mall,<br />And filled up under the table, and turned to you all,<br />And laying our handtrucks underneath all the load,<br />And giving our thanks, down the hallway we strode:<br />We’re grateful and humbled, to our team we give thanks<br />For all of your hard work, all of our empty tanks,<br />And we hope you all know, sure as Vidal comes in blue:<br />There’s no way, without you, that we’d’ve made it through!Carl Helrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06376820281206653136noreply@blogger.com0