Date: Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:54:23 -0700 Subject: [PV-Friends] July newsletter

	Perennial Vintners	In this issue:
		▪ Sched - Bastille Day, Whidbey festival
		▪ We want your old license plates
		▪ Vineyard - Hedging
Newsletter -- July-2009		▪ Adopt-a-wine; learn to make wine
(Click here to view in HTML on website)		▪ Winery - Ichigo Lot 2
http://www.PerennialVintners.com/		▪ Recipe - Asparagus-Arugula Frittata

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

▪ Sched - Bastille Day, Whidbey festival
As mentioned last month, we'll be open to the public in honor of Bastille Day, 11,12-July along with the other members of the Winery Alliance of Bainbridge Island (WABI website).  Come to the winery, taste our wines and spend some time in a real working vineyard!

We'll also be at the Whidbey Island Loganberry Festival (Greenbank Farm website).  25,26-July, 10am-7pm Sat, 10am-5pm Sun.  It's a family fun event with farm, food and craft vendors, live local bands and of course wine tasting (last year there were about 20 wineries).  Hope to see you there!

▪ We want your old license plates
Our neighbor, Akio Suyematsu, who grows the raspberries for our Frambelle dessert wine, cuts up old license plates and uses the numbers to label the rows in the field and he's run out of "1"s and "2"s.  If you have any old license plates sitting around in the garage (doesn't matter if it's WA or another state) please consider donating it to the cause.  We'll give you a discount of $0.50 for each plate you bring in, $1 if it has a "1" or "2" on any wine purchase.

▪ Vineyard - Hedging
This time of year vineyard activity is finally coming under control.  The cool spring, suddenly becoming very warm has kept us very busy.  We're just finishing up shoot positioning as the grapevines climb up to the wires.  Once the shoots have reached the top wire, we have to "hedge", namely to cut off the shoot tips, so as to prevent the vines from just climbing out of control.  Given it's own choice, the plant would put its efforts into new growth -- we want it to put it's effort into the fruit, not into additional growth.  If you're on the grape-growing learning track, you don't want to miss this one, sign up on our volunteers email list and reply to to this email.

▪ Adopt-a-wine; learn to make wine
As you may recall, last year I tried what I call the "adopt-a-wine" program.  This is an opportunity for you to learn winemaking.  I have about a dozen small lots in the vineyard, anywhere from 3 plants up to 25.  Some are unusual varieties, some are rootstock/variety combinations.  The goal is to determine which ones work best here in the cool climate Puget Sound AVA.  You'll adopt a block, and make the wine from it.  You'll get to learn the last few months of vineyard work (don't worry -- most of the work has already been done this year), and how to take sugar, pH, TA measurements and or other parameters that will help decide when to harvest.  Then you'll make the wine (with my help) -- I have all the equipment and supplies available -- there is no charge.  You'll get to keep some of the wine (though some goes to WSU Ag. Ext. trials -- you're truly helping decide the future of PS AVA farming).  Your commitment is about an hour, every few of weeks until Sep., then more often for about a month.  If interested, reply to this email.

▪ Winery - Ichigo Lot 2
Although we've run out of the original bottling of Ichigo, we are fortunate that our strawberry grower had an extra lot stored in a freezer over winter.  She has made it available to us, so we will soon have a second release of the 2008 Ichigo dessert wine.  We've made it into wine, and it's more like our Frambelle than the first release -- it's pure clean straightforward fruit.  The bottles have been bought, the labels are on order -- we're scheduled to bottle it the weekend of 18,19-July.  If you're interested in helping bottle (we pay in wine!), sign up on our volunteers email list.

▪ Recipe - Asparagus-Arugula Frittata
Beth has found another wonderful light and refreshing summer dinner that goes exceptionally well with our Müller Thurgau.  Visit our recipes page for details.  By the way, if you try any of our recipes, we'd love to hear from you, even if you disagree with our pairings -- drop us an email and let us know!