That's right, Toto. We weren't in Kansas anymore. And yet...

Once harvest was done at Grace Hill Winery, and all the wines were put to bed, we took a vacation. We went to France, where tradition reigns supreme in the vineyards. It was beautiful there, even if the weather didn't cooperate. (It was cool and misty, so the pictures don't do justice to the brilliant hillsides. It was not unpleasant.) They trellis differently, and their vineyard soil is very different in places, but vineyards still look like vineyards wherever they are.

Harvest was over there as well, and in Burgundy they are already starting to prune the vines. They burn the clippings right in the field, something I had read about but hadn't seen before. I had suggested it to Dave one cold day here, but he wasn't up for that.

We thought it was awfully early to be pruning, since we don't prune until spring. And a winemaker we talked to in Volnay agreed. He still thinks February is the proper month to prune. However, it was fun to see the over the row tractors in the tiny fields with stone walls all around. Fall is also wall repair season there, one chore we don't have.

We had a great time seeing the vineyards and trying the wines at the local cooperatives. It's different there, in that the wineries are generally in town, not adjacent to the vineyards like they are in this country. We found the people to be warm and helpful, in spite of our very limited French. I would go back in a heartbeat.

But we're home now, and are trying to get ready for the holidays here. We have lots of wine this year, and hope we have lots of chances to share it with friends, family and guests at the winery. Our hot spiced wine has been very popular so far, and the 2008 White Barrel Reserve is tasting really good right now. (The reds are good now too- don't think I'm not happy with them at the moment. I've just really enjoyed the white lately.)

The wines are available at the winery, which is now open Fridays as well as Saturdays, 1-5. They are also at Jacobs Liquor, ABC Discount Wine and Liquor and Groves Liquor stores in Wichita, as well as Newton Discount Liquor.

And if you didn't see our article in the November Splurge Magazine, look for it!

End of Harvest

Harvest is over for 2009. It has been a great year, and we have come a long way in the vineyard. Now we just have to nurse the wines along to completion (without messing it up)!

We harvested the Cab Franc last Saturday, and the grapes looked great. We think it will really make a premium wine, so we're excited. But it was a push to finish at the end, and we are a little worn out. The grape vines look that way too, slowly fading in color, getting ready for dormancy. There are still a few little clusters left on the vine, very sweet, which got missed during harvest. I thought the birds would get them, but Dave says they have moved on.

We had a huge group out here Friday to see the winery. The Pediatric Interest Group, where the residents and faculty host the medical students from KU School of Medicine-Wichita, came out. It was a lot of fun, but it was hard to really show the place off, because the group was big and night was falling. I hope they come back another time.

Now come the holiday preparations, and the start of planning for next year. Jeff is preparing a presentation for our board of directors, to see if there is a forseeable break even point in our future. (I'm afraid to ask, but I'm sure they will come up with some great ideas.) Dave wants to order more tanks and barrels, and he's right. We need them. Pat has recommended better sanitation equipment. I want to upgrade the tasting room. Always a wish list...

We did come up with a brilliant inspiration for fall/winter. We have a recipe for our Seyval as a hot spiced wine which is absolutely delicious. A real cool weather treat. Everyone who has tried it in the tasting room has been enthusiastic. It might be the perfect thing for a tailgate at a college or pro football game, especially if it's cool like this weekend is predicted to be. So come out and give it a try!

It was a quiet weekend at the winery, (well, except for the bachelorette party- that's another story) and we appreciated the chance to catch our breath. There was no harvest this weekend-we are almost done! The harvests have been great so far, and we only have cab franc left to go. It should be harvested this next weekend, if the weather cooperates. (Let us know if you want to come help.)

Last weekend we harvested the chambourcin and norton, and then were at the Kansas State Fair for a couple of different activities. We poured our wine at the Boots and Bling auction Thursday night, then later did a stint at the "Meet the Winemaker" booth. Our wines have been for sale in the wine garden as well, though they were so poorly displayed that I'm not sure we will do that again. The fair was a lot of fun, though, and we got to show Jeff our favorite attractions- really cool chickens, the butter sculpture and the biggest pumpkin. We admit to being fair nerds, but we love to go every year. If you know anybody who has Golden Polish hens for sale, let us know!

Dave and Jeff spent this Friday pressing the chambourcin, and were very pleased with the results. Dave was especially happy that he got to use one of his new 500 gallon tanks. It's pretty exciting to have that much wine. In fact, our harvest has been so good this year that we have serious concerns about having enough tank capacity and storage space. We are having to do some urgent bottling to make room. It's a good problem to have.

The norton is about sold out, but we still have 9 wines available for tasting, so come by if you are in the area. We are open Saturdays from 11-5. And if you come out on October 3rd, you can also hit the Whitewater Fall Festival!

Grapes everywhere- it must be harvest time. I think I'm beginning to dream about grapes, but have been sleeping so soundly that I'm not sure.

Harvest continues in full swing. We have harvested 11,000 pounds of grapes so far, or so Dave tells me. It has gone quickly, and our harvest crews have been great! It does get a little overwhelming though, since we have significantly underestimated every crop so far. It's a good problem to have, but a logistical challenge.

We continue to have fun and interesting people coming out to help, in a full variety of ages. And people are having a good enough experience that they keep signing up for more. So that's good news! We really try to make it fun and rewarding for our guests/volunteer workers, and give them a feel for what goes into a glass of wine. I think they mostly enjoy hanging out in the country and snacking on the grapes.

The seyval and vignoles grapes are in, as are the chardonel. Next is traminette, which will be a challenge, because they aren't trellised as they should be. We did our best, based on the information available at the time, but when the extension viticulturalist came out in July he had some suggestions for improvement. So maybe next year they will be a little easier to harvest.

Then we'll start on the reds!

We have had a neighbor girl selling her home-grown produce at the winery this summer, giving us the feel of a very tiny farmer's market. Her stuff is great- I wish it sold better. But people make a beeline for the wine, and don't notice much else. I guess I shouldn't complain, since at least I get to enjoy the produce delivery.

We now have Shannon working in the tasting room, which is a huge help. And she seems to know everyone from Newton northward- she has amazing connections. I have no idea where she finds the time to come work for us, but I'm grateful.

Dave says the fermentation smells really good right now...

Harvest has begun!

We started the 2009 grape harvest on Saturday. The seyval were ready to go, and so were we. About 20 people came out to help, ranging in age from 7 months to 80 years old. And they all seemed to be enjoying themselves!

Dave had underestimated the amount of fruit we would be harvesting, and was worried we had too many people. But it worked out perfectly, as the crop was bigger than we planned, but so was the crew. We finished up right on schedule. And the fruit looked great! It was by far the best quality crop we have ever had. The grapes tasted so sweet and good. People were eating them right off the vine- something I encourage. You can't get anything fresher than that!

Our helpers also seemed to really hit it off with each other, and I overheard some pretty interesting conversations. We had a real variety of ages and backgrounds, but everyone seemed to enjoy the chance to be outside, working on a common goal, something tangibly fun- wine! Quite a few people were from Wichita, but we also had several from other surrounding communities.

And Jeff is back! He was such a help last year, that when we got the chance to hire him again we jumped at it. He also got a promotion from vineyard boy to director of marketing. I think it's a solid move for him and for the winery.

I hope the weeks ahead are as much a success as this was. Pray for good weather and protection from critters. We do have nets and a propane cannon (very loud) to keep the birds scared off, which helps a lot, but isn't perfect. They still get some fruit. Probably the deer and possums get a little as well.

If you know of anyone who wants to help in the weeks to come (most every Saturday from now until mid-September) have them send us an email! (info@gracehillwinery.com). And I'm having internet issues, so if you want to see the photos, check facebook.

We are getting very excited about harvest! These grapes are chambourcin, just beginning to turn, and they still have a long way to go. They just glowed in the evening light tonight.

But the vignoles and seyval have ripened a lot in the past two weeks, and we are planning our first harvest of the season for Saturday. We put out an email looking for volunteers, and were fully booked in less than 24 hrs, which was very gratifying. It made us feel like a lot of other people were excited too! And there will still be many weekends left to harvest, so everyone who wants to participate should get a chance.

So we are doing a lot of preparation, making sure we have the supplies we need and the plans in place. What a great time of year!

We have the best friends and family! We decided that we needed to bottle Saturday, so a whole group of good friends and family came out to help. Dave and I got so busy in the tasting room and with various visitors that we didn't even really get to do much, but Pat was there to supervise and it was done before we knew it. Denny and Ann came out to get some pictures for a Splurge article, and before I knew it, Denny was right in the middle helping out. And then when we decided we needed to get the new tanks set up, we had the right team there to make it look easy. When it was done, we had the time and energy for goofy pictures in the vineyard. What a great day! And of course we had a wonderful pot luck dinner afterwards, with a homegrown tomato taste off. This is the essence of vineyard living, and why we love it so much!

The grapes are visibly starting to ripen, and we think we are getting closer to harvest. We think mid-August may be when we get started, but will know better in the next week or so.

Dave got the new tanks this week, and took my dad along to pick them up. We were all thrilled he went instead of me, since I always have visions of losing large and heavy things along the highway. It went fine, and we now have them set up and ready. As I look at them, I start to think we are becoming a real winery. Of course, I think that every time we make a major step forward, and it makes me question what makes a winery real. Is it the size, the quality, the financial stability? Or like the Velveteen Rabbit, is it when we are loved? We certainly felt loved this week.