Tassel Ridge Winery–July 2009
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Saturday, June 27—Artist Brian Barkey display features functional stoneware and pit-fired pottery
12:00–4:00 p.m.
Artist Display—Artist Brian Barkey works with a variety of mediums, most often with functional stoneware and pit-fired pottery. No two vessels are alike, as each pottery piece is uniquely marked by smoke from the second pit firing. Various fuels such as firewood, straw, branches, dried leaves and wood shavings are used in the pit firing. The stoneware is dishwasher safe, microwave oven safe, and can be used in the oven. Brian also works with wildlife and landscape artwork in pencil, watercolor, acrylic, or oil paint. He has been a guest artist at Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, and Muskies Inc events. Brian teaches and resides in Knoxville IA. The display of his works will be in the Visitors’ Gallery at the Winery.
Saturday, July 4—Celebrate 4th of July with a Red, White, & Blue BBQ and Lawn Games at Tassel Ridge Winery
Lawn Games: 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Lunch: 12:00–1:00 p.m.
Price for lunch is $15 per person, plus tax. No charge for the lawn games.
Celebrate the 4th with a game of croquet or bocce ball on the beautiful lawns of Tassel Ridge Winery. Enjoy a grilled steak sandwich accompanied by crunchy cabbage salad, 4th of July cookies, and our special wine-a-ritas. Advance reservations required by Thursday, July 2.
Saturday, July 18—Come and See Our Brand New Mechanical Grape Harvester
10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Stop by to see Tassel Ridge Winery’s new mechanical grape harvester (shown here before it was unloaded from its trailer). The harvester will allow us to improve the quality of our wine because we will able to pick our grapes at the peak of perfection rather than having to wait while manual pickers get the crop in. This is especially important if wet weather is on the way since rain will cause the sugar percentage in the grapes to drop. The harvester will allow picking of grapes at two acres per hour or about six tons per hour. It works by shaking the grapes from the vine. We’ll have someone present to answer your questions.
Sunday, July 19—Asian Fusion Wine & Food Pairing Dinner
Wine Tasting: 6:00 p.m.
Dinner Seating: 6:30 p.m.
Price is $55 per person, plus tax
Join us for an Asian-inspired dinner beginning with Chef Hang’s special spring rolls and Vietnamese steam balls followed by spicy sour chicken soup, Asian grilled pork tenderloin with hoisin sauce, jasmine rice, grilled bok choi, and sticky rice with mango. This 5-course dinner will be paired with select Tassel Ridge wines. Advance reservations required by Wednesday, July 15.
Saturday, July 25—Join Tassel Ridge Winery for Dinner and Wine Tasting on the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad Dinner Train
Arrive: 5:00 p.m.
Boarding: 5:15 p.m.
Departs Boone: 5:30 p.m.
Returns to Boone: 7:30 p.m.
Price is $60 per person, plus tax
Experience an enchanted evening on the historic “City of Los Angeles” dining car while enjoying a prime rib dinner and wine tasting featuring Tassel Ridge wines. This relaxing, climate-controlled two-hour scenic ride through the Des Moines River Valley features historic 1950’s railcars used on the Union Pacific Railroad’s “City” trains. This is an event you won’t want to miss! Advance reservations required by Tuesday, July 21. Contact Tassel Ridge Winery at 641/672-WINE (9463) as seating is limited.
Your copy of the Summer 2009 Tassel Ridge Winery Events Program can be accessed here!
In the future, we will put our events programs on our web site and will let you know about the fact they have been posted with a note in our e-letter. The Summer 2009 edition can be accessed here: http://www.tasselridge.com/images/Events-Prog-Sum09.pdf.
It is a 4.86 mb PDF.
Wine-a-ritas and Tickled Pink Make a Great Summer Beverage
Put a half package of our Wine-a-rite mix and half a bottle of our Tickled Pink in a blender, and then fill the blender with ice. In about two minutes, you have five wine-a-ritas (adult slushies) that offer lots of cooling power in hot weather. And, they are great with home made enchiladas, tacos, and burritos.
Tickled Pink in a 750 ml bottle is priced at $10 retail
Wine-a-rita mix in a bag, $11 plus tax
(note: many retailers carry our Tickled Pink wine. If you can’t find the Wine-a-rita mix, we will be happy to ship it to you).
Tassel Ridge Wins Ten Medals So Far in 2009 Competitions
We’ve entered our wines in several competitions this year and brought home ten medals as follows:
2009 Indy International Wine Competition:
SILVER—Finalé Blackberry; SILVER—Edelweiss; BRONZE—Candlelight.
Eastern Wine Competition:
SILVER—Red, White, & Blue.
Tasters Guild International Wine Competition:
SILVER—Twilight.
National Women’s Wine Competition in
Santa Rosa, CA, March 2009:
SILVER—Prelude; BRONZE—American Chardonnay.
Dallas Morning News Wine Competition, February 2009:
SILVER—Finalé Premier Red.
Grand Harvest Awards in Windsor, CA, February 2009:
SILVER—Chocolate Granfinalé.
Florida State International Wine & Grape Juice Competition in Tampa, FL, February 2009:
BRONZE—Finalé Blackberry.
Our Game Plan for Steuben Going Forward
Last month, I reported that our two acre block of Steuben at our Newport Lane vineyard had croaked! We’ve since learned that Steuben has a bad habit of not hardening off for winter when it is growing in rich soil. (Grape vines protect themselves from cold winter temperatures by forming a tough woody skin or bark on the outside of the vines as they prepare to shut down for winter). It just assumes that it lives in Florida or somewhere that it is warm. In a winter with the very cold temperatures we experienced this year, this will cause every part of the plant above the ground to die off.
The bad news is that we won’t have any fruit from this vineyard this year…or, for that matter, for the next two to three years. The good news is that the root system is alive and well and in most cases, it will cause new canes to grow as if we had just planted new vines.
We also had a case of downy mildew in this block. Our advisor didn’t think that this infestation caused our problem, but it probably made it worse. We will take special care to spray an anti-fungal and mildew after harvest in the future on these vines.
We will start looking for some Steuben fruit or juice!
What Is Happening In Our Vineyards?
Our warm wet weather has made it difficult to get out into the vineyards every day. Heavy rains at night combined with hot, humid weather in the daytime, is just great for growing grapes, fungi, and weeds. We’re going to have a bumper crop of grapes and in fact, we will be dropping some fruit in order to improve the quality of what we do harvest. We are working hard to control growth of fungus and weeds…a never ending job!
We are tying and suckering, mowing all vineyards (weather permitting), spraying fungicide and insecticide, and weed-eating.
After removing some experiments and two varieties that did not do well for us, we now have 56 acres planted, 46 acres producing this year, 33,206 total vines, and 13 different grape varieties growing. They are (listed in order of vine count):
Variety |
Vinecount |
Acres |
|---|---|---|
Edelweiss |
9630 |
17.4 |
Marquette |
6434 |
8.9 |
St. Croix |
5544 |
10.2 |
Sabrevois |
2825 |
5.2 |
Steuben |
2806 |
4.2 |
Frontenac |
2400 |
4.0 |
La Crescent |
1000 |
1.8 |
LaCrosse |
819 |
1.5 |
St. Pepin |
813 |
1.5 |
Foch |
456 |
0.8 |
Brianna |
372 |
0.7 |
Noiret |
56 |
0.1 |
| Corot Noir | 51 |
0.1 |
What Is Happening In Our Cellar?
The cellar crew is bottling and labeling at least one day each week right now. We typically package 400-500 cases of wine each week. Each bottling day is preceded by a day devoted to filtering wine. We are also regularly making new batches of our most popular wines.
We are also moving things around to accommodate the two new 2,000 gallon tanks that will arrive in early July. One of these tanks is jacketed, and the other is jacketed and insulated. This will make cold stabilization of large batches easier.
Join the Tassel Ridge Winery Harvest Club
Members receive four shipments of Tassel Ridge Wine each year in March, May, September, and November. We picked these months because they are usually temperate enough that we can ship wine without excessive heat or cold damage. Each shipment contains two bottles of wine which are priced at retail plus shipping. If club members pick up their shipments at the Winery, there is no shipping charge. The average price of each shipment including shipping is $45.
We offer two wine preferences:
- Dry wines for pairing with food
- Sipping wines that are generally sweeter
Re-orders of full case quantities of the Harvest Club selections are always priced at retail less 20% when orders are placed within 60 days of the original shipment.
Harvest Club members have the first opportunity to purchase limited edition wines before they are offered to the public. They are also offered special tasting opportunities when they visit the Winery. In the future, we plan to have Harvest Club “Members Only” wine and food pairing dinners, special tastings with the wine maker, and opportunities to see how wine is made. All of this is designed to make the experience of consuming Tassel Ridge Wines especially enjoyable.
The Tassel Ridge Harvest Club is open to people 21 years of age and older. Shipments are paid for with a credit card that is kept on file.
This is a great way to stay up-to-date on our new wines. Because some of our wines are never sold through retailers, you may not see some them unless you visit the Winery regularly or are a Harvest Club Member.
Consider a Tassel Ridge Harvest Club membership as the perfect gift for a person who enjoys wine. Call 641/672-WINE (9463) for more information.
Interested in Pairing Specific Foods With Tassel Ridge Wines?
Are you interested in suggestions of foods that pair well with specific Tassel Ridge wines? We’ve put some suggestions on our web site under Recipes and Food Pairing Suggestions. You can link directly to this page at www.tasselridge.com/recipes.htm.
Our Hours:
In June and July 2009, we are open seven days a week, including July 4, for tours, tasting, and wine and gift shop sales:
- Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
- Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
- Sunday, Noon–6:00 p.m.
Our Location:
Tassel Ridge Winery is easy to find. It is just south of State Highway 163 on 220th Street in Leighton. From Ottumwa and Oskaloosa, drive northwest on 163 to 220th Street and turn left toward Leighton. From Des Moines and Pella, drive southeast on Highway 163 and turn right at 220th Street. Drive west on 220th about 0.7 miles from the Highway and right into the Tassel Ridge Winery parking lot. view maps
—Bob Wersen, President
Email Jody Brockway at info@tasselridge.com to sign up a friend for our e-newsletter.