Action in the Cellar
The Cellar Team has one more grape variety, Steuben, to crush. Steuben is a labrusca sport that is native to New England. It is usually the last grape we harvest each year. We really like the juice it produces because it makes a very popular wine that goes especially well with spicy foods. But, Steuben […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &Newsletter Articles
We will focus on bottling Red, White, & Blue® each week for the next several weeks. We also have a batch of Oskyfizzante® Pink to label. Normally wine is labeled as we bottle it. The fizzy wines, however, are bottled at low temperatures in order to keep the carbonation from escaping into the air. Cold […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &Newsletter Articles
The cellar team bottled 150 cases of Oskyfizzante® Cranberry last week. We do this bottling the old-fashioned, labor intensive way with a short assembly line. The first person rinses each bottle. The second puts the rinsed bottle in the four-spout counter-pressure filler and then removes each bottle as it is filled. The third puts the bottle […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &Newsletter Articles
The cellar team bottled 210 cases of 2016 American Steuben last week. This wine has nice fruity notes of watermelon and crabapple with a touch of cinnamon on the finish. American Steuben is made entirely from Steuben grapes. Steuben is a “sport” or randomly occurring natural cross in a Vitis labrusca vineyard. Native to New […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &Newsletter Articles
Last week, the cellar team bottled Oskyfizzante Cranberry. This is a carbonated wine that has a rosy color in the glass and a wonderful cranberry note on the nose. The “fizzies” are bottled by hand and this is definitely not a process for the faint of heart or weak of arm. The carbonated wines can […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &Newsletter Articles
The Cellar Team bottled Iowa Candleglow White last week. This is our new dry white blend that is growing in popularity. This week we will bottle Oskyfizzante Cranberry. This is a seasonal wine that we will put on sale in October. We are fermenting a batch of Red, White, & Blue® and the Blackberry Wine […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &Newsletter Articles
Last week, our cellar team bottled American Pink Catawba. It has tropical fruit notes and a mouth-feel and finish that make this wine very satisfying. The work in the cellar is not all wine making and bottling. At this time of year, we experience a seasonal pick-up in wholesale wine sales. Lew, our Cellar Technician, […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &From Our Vineyard
Our cellar staff is making lots of Red, White, & Blue® and other wines that are very popular in the spring. Each week, another batch is bottled. Last week, we made a change in our bottling schedule and bottled our Iowa Prairie Snow® iced wine. Speaking of Iowa Prairie Snow, we hosted guests from Ontario, Canada last […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &Newsletter Articles
Last week the cellar team bottled Iowa Prairie Snow and this week they will bottle another batch of Red, White, & Blue. They are also managing fermentations of more juice for future batches of Red, White, & Blue and Blackberry Wine. The cellar team reinstalled the waste water treatment lagoon aerators and did lots of […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &Newsletter Articles
Our big task this week is to receive a new batch of Concord juice, get it up to fermentation temperature, and then start the fermentation. In addition, we are engaged in some spring cleaning in our vineyard building behind the Winery. And, we have the usual seasonal maintenance tasks, including getting our aerators installed in […]
Category : Action in the Cellar &Newsletter Articles
