Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:04:56 -0800
Subject: [PV-Friends] November newsletter

	Perennial Vintners	In this issue:
		▪ Ichigo Strawberry Dessert wine
		▪ BI Winter Farmers Market
		▪ Eat Local!
Newsletter -- November-2008		▪ 75th anniversary of Repeal
(Click here to view in HTML on website)		▪ Vineyard - Harvest is done
http://www.PerennialVintners.com/		▪ New outlet - Vino Verite

(Click on any image below to go to website with more information/larger image/etc.)

▪ Ichigo Strawberry Dessert Wine
Our new strawberry dessert wine will first be available at the BI Winter Farmer's Market, just in time for the holidays.  The name  "Ichigo" is the Japanese word for strawberry, and this bottling will honor the Japanese/American strawberry farming history of Bainbridge Island.  The wine is a wonderful after-dinner drink ("digestif", too bad I can't say that on the label) for holiday meals with food and friends.  Please come by the Winter Farmers market (or of course the winery) and buy a bottle!  Makes a fantastic offering for friends at holiday meals.  (Note -- by law we cannot sample wine at a farmer's market, however we certainly can at the winery.)

▪ BI Winter Farmers Market
The BI Winter Farmers Market begins Saturday 22-Nov.  PV will be in the indoor area this year, we anticipate being there every weekend through market close.  We have a special reason for you to come -- we'll be debuting the new Ichigo Strawberry dessert wine there (see above).  Although the growing season is over, there's still lots of great local food items and crafts.  Each Sat. 10am-3pm through 20-Dec, @ Eagle Harbor church, corner of Winslow and Madison.

▪ Eat Local!
As a newsletter reader of PV, you're aware that we emphasize local food.  We were thrilled to hear Michael Pollan's "Farmer in Chief" open letter in the New York Times and interview on NPR/Fresh Air last week.  If you haven't already, I encourage you to read the article and/or listen to the interview.

We at PV find his common-sense approach to food directly aligns with our business and personal goals.  Our wines are produced with fruit grown within a mile (at most) of the winery.  Our vineyards are maintained using organic materials and mostly hand labor minimizing carbon emissions and chemical use.  On our business materials we emphasize that our vineyard is the closest commercial vineyard to downtown Seattle -- an ideal locavore product in the Seattle area.

On the personal side, we are proud to participate in the Eat Local for Thanksgiving pledge again this year, and hope you will do so too.  When you pledge, it gives you an estimate of pounds of CO2 emissions saved.and allows you to select to get emails from the Puget Sound Fresh organization (I get these and recommend them).  Due to recent funding issues we're all aware of, it's even more important this year to participate (it doesn't cost anything -- this is not like a TV/radio pledge drive) just to show elected officials that we believe the program has value.

▪ 75th Anniversary of Repeal
Prohibition was formally begun in 1920 by the Volstead Act (18th Amendment) which made illegal the consumption of alcohol.  Needless to say, this destroyed the upcoming wine industry in America.  It was repealed by the 21st Amendment on 05-Dec-1933.  Seattle was amongst the first to react by enacting emergency legislation to allow serving on that day.

We at PV are honored to be part of the new renaissance of wine in America and are grateful to those who 75 years ago, stood up for our rights as individuals.  Although America has traditionally not been a wine culture, this is changing slowly -- Americans are becoming aware of the joys of wine with good companions and good food (overall wine sales surpassed beer sales for the first time in 2008).  Thank you for being a customer of PV; be sure to tip a glass of your favorite libation on Friday 05-December in appreciation of the fact that you can!  (References: Seattle article at historylink.org, prohibitionrepeal.com, wikipedia article)

▪ Vineyard - Harvest is done
2008 has been a nerve-wracking year for us Puget Sound winegrowers.  Winter was fairly dry and ended gently, but then the weatherman simply forgot to have Spring!  The cool weather sat on us all through Spring, with grape flowering being 4-6 weeks late.  Overall we got some good ripening time throughout the summer, and caught up to only about 2 weeks behind by late September.  Going into October I was still convinced that there was no way we'd make up those last two weeks.  But fortunately, I was wrong.  The last two weeks of October were wonderfully dry and warm, enough to get us ripened grapes, yay!  Thanks to all of you who kept us in your thoughts -- maybe that's why we made it!

All the grapes are in, the last of the wines are just finishing up fermentation.  We're happy with the grape numbers/flavors and are looking forward to finally having that first Melon de Bourgogne in WA State that we've been promising since 2004!  If all goes well it should be released in late 2009 or early 2010.

It's not too early to start thinking about reserving some of your time to learn about grapevine pruning -- we'll be starting in January whenever the weather is not too nasty.  Join the helpers email list if interested...

▪ New outlet - Vino Verite
PV wines can now be found in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood at Vino Verite.  It's a brand new shop just opened by Dave Egan.  He's just a block down from the main corner of Broadway and John St., a very good location.  With free tastings every Thursday evening, and a good selection he's sure to make customers happy.  Dave emphasizes northwest wines -- and unlike most wine shop owners, he makes the time to go visit the vineyards and wineries, so he can really talk knowledgeably about them.  We're honored to be there!