We admit it - we want more people to come to the tasting room - and we're starting a new policy to bring you in!  In addition to our usual lineup of tasting all our 8 wines, we will always have an additional bonus wine open.  This may be the Melon de Bourgogne that we don't normally pour, or may be a library selection, perhaps an older Mueller Thurgau, or maybe an Ichigo.  (Did you know that we've made a strawberry dessert wine called Ichigo in the past?  These older bottles are tasting fantastic right now!  We've sold out of the 2008 Ichigo Lot 2 already.)  These wines will be available for sale while they last - for some of these wines there are only a dozen bottles, so you're unlikely to get another chance!

On the days where the weather is not nice enough to be out in the vineyard, I'll be filtering wine.  This was mentioned in last months newsletter, but I never got around to it, so this opportunity for learning is still available.  Note that Mike has done an informal internship in winemaking and grape growing for several years now - you need only to commit to 1 afternoon each month to visit with Mike to learn the basics.

Wines made from cool climate grapes like here in the Puget Sound area, tend to be higher in acid giving them a distinctive tartness.  This is one of the things I personally most love about our wines, however, sometimes it can be too tart.  But that's ok, Mother Nature has provided us a tool to help with this - malo-lactic fermentation (in the industry simply referred to as "ML").  This is a natural process that converts very-tart malic acid to less-tart lactic acid.  We'll be testing wines for ML.  This process involves no more complexity then you can do on your own kitchen-counter, so no need to be afraid if you didn't do so well in high school chem class!  This is another invaluable learning experience if you wish to learn winemaking.

If interested in any of these, simply reply to this email or call/txt 206-200-5902 and we'll try to schedule you in.

 ▪ Vineyard: Still planting and pruning

As mentioned in previous newsletter, this is the time of year to plant grapevines.  I've gotten through the hard part, all that's left is planting some Siegerrebe vines.  If you're interested in learning how to properly establish grape plants, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn hands-on.  You could also take home some plants for your own yard.  I'll be doing this interspersed with pruning work until it's done, hopefully within a couple of weeks, so don't delay - reply to this email or if last minute call/txt 206-200-5902.  You might also wish to consider joining our pv-helpers email list to be notified of these opportunities.

It's pruning season!  Each year every single grape plant (I have about 2,200) has to be pruned back - it's a lot of work!  If you want to learn about growing grapes, this is the most important job you can learn about.  Reply/call/txt to come out and learn hands-on.

 ▪ Vineyard: "Lynda.com" drone video