February 13 - Spring Preparations in the Vineyard

A big thank you to all those that came out to celebrate our first Festival of Ice here in the Lake Erie North Shore at Aleksander Estate Winery (AEW). The skies opened up and brought us beautiful sunny, warm weather making it a great day to stand by the fire and enjoy the fruit flambé prepared by Chef Jeff Wright, the AEW 2006 Icewine to complement, and the always entertaining company of the AEW staff. With a taste of the warm weather to come, we are now preparing and anticipating the 2009 growing season in the vineyard. First on the agenda – pruning. This is my favourite time of the year in the vineyard as I look forward to sore hands, legs, muddy boots, cold weather and never ending rows. Aside from that, pruning season is where we prepare the vineyard not only for the year ahead, but for years to come. This is what I love. You direct the vine and its growth to ensure it has as much opportunity as possible to get maximum sunlight, airflow, spacing and grape ripening. Being a dreamer, this is one of the best opportunities for reflection on life. It gets you out of the office, out of the winery, outside into the fresh air and within the energy of the vineyard, human history and culture. This is the birth of the winemaking process, and if you can get this right or do this well, the rest will be much easier. New this year, we are starting a vineyard tour (one for each part of the growing season – spring pruning, summer growth, and fall maturation). Join me Saturday March 21st for the first of this 3 part series of the vineyard walk where we will explore some of the issues that we consider when preparing for the growing season and the birth of wine. We will also be trying some of our 2008 barrel samples for the first time with guests. Space is limited so if you are interested, sign up today. This is a day I am really looking forward to. Until next time, Cheers!