At Twin Brook, another harvest is over

Passing along my sincere thanks to winemaker Jason Price at Twin Brook Winery in Gap, Pa. He was kind enough to respond to a question about what’s going at his winery.

He wrote: “harvest is officially over. cab sauv was picked on wed and that emptiedthe vineyard. the frost sunday into monday turned all the leaves brown and that pretty much means pick what remains. luckily cab franc was ripe andready, so we got all the franc off on monday. we would have wanted to leave sauv on a bit longer, but nature dictated the schedule. fortunately the sauv fruit was acceptable and with some fastidious winemaking we will be ableto produce an excellent sauv for 2008. we looked ahead and did a green harvest in august, so that helped. also, with bleeding and other tricks we should get the hearty sauv we all love to drink. overall, 2008 was challenging. a lot of rain meant worrisome sleep and extended hours. the early cold forced us to pick the cabs a little early. but believe it or not, I am more excited about the 2008 wines than the 2007. there is a little more challenge, but so far the fruit has produced some awesome early wines. i just racked the 08 vignoles the other day and the whole place smelled of tropical fruits. good enough for me."

A few notes from Sand Castle Winery

Let me post these entries from the newsletter of Sand Castle Winery in Erwinna, Pa., a member of the Bucks County Wine Trail.

* Pinot Noir was harvested after foggy mornings and dry sunny days and it is showing its superior quality in the freshly made wine. Chardonnay harvest was like a dream. The grapes falling off the stems with minimum shaking during the harvest with the mechanical harvester. Riesling held its own until October and we will have great Late Harvest. We will finish harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon this week and the vineyards will start a new season with pruning, tying, hedging, cultivating etc.

* We just finished harvest. Come and help yourself. You are welcome to pick grapes which are left in vineyard and make yourself the Late Late Harvest wine.

* Sand Castle will have a kiosk this holiday season at Montgomery Mall in North Wales, PA . We will be centrally located on the first floor. Look for the Sand Castle Banner. Stop by and taste our famous hot Alpine Spice Wine.

* Route 32 River Road will be open Friday, Oct. 25 and FINALLY you can go from the
winery north on Rt. 32 to Rt. 611 and vise versa!

* What wine should you serve with Thanksgiving dinner? This is a popular question this time of the year. Let’s break down what makes up a typical Thanksgiving Dinner: some appetizers before dinner, turkey both white and dark meat, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, squash, and dessert.

Before dinner to accompany appetizers two wines work very well Sand Castle Classic Chardonnay, for the dry wine lovers and Sand Castle Cuvee Blush, for the semi-sweet wine drinkers. Both wines do not over power appetizers and will stimulate the taste buds. Also both wines are medium in body; the last thing that is needed is a big red, with such a filling dinner planned.

The perfect wine for dinner would be Sand Castle Pinot Noir, most wines do not have the ability to accompany such a variation of flavors presented at a Thanksgiving dinner. The wine must be
able to pair with turkey that is not overly powerful, gravy that is rich and fatty, dressing that is powerful with loads of herbs, cranberry sauce that is sharp tangy. Pinot Noir does all that and
remember when your drink wine with food the wine does not taste as dry as when you drink wine without food.

Sand Castle Late Harvest Johannisburg Riesling is the wine to complete the perfect meal. It pairs wonderfully with sweet desserts be it pumpkin pie, rich chocolate or cream covered
dishes. We hope your holiday is a wonderful and thankful event.