Grace Hill Winery

2011-10-03T20:57:00.002-05:00

Have you met Brian yet?

Brian is the newest member of the Sollo family to join the winery, and he is already proving himself a valuable addition to the team.

He came back to join us in late July, just in time for harvest. I'm not sure it was the best timing from his perspective, but it certainly was from ours! However, we were so busy trying to get everything done that we didn't make any big announcements- we just put him to work.

I hadn't realized how remiss we had been until the fall release party last Friday, when multiple people asked who he was, and said they didn't realize we had a second son. Sorry, Brian!

Anyway, he is here and you will probably be seeing him around. His official title is business manager, which so far means that he gets to take over a lot of the bookkeeping from Natalie. We are also looking forward to him working on a lot of our business processes, to try to streamline things and make them work better. He had already shown that he has lots of good ideas about how to make things work better in the tasting room. And we hope he puts his econ degree to good use in some long range planning for us.

Harvest was pretty crazy this year, and we are glad to have it behind us. The extreme drought and record setting heat was challenging. We irrigated constantly (still are, since the heat has let up but the rains haven't come). The hard winter had already cut back the fruit quantity by destroying the primary buds on several of our varieties. Then the heat stress forced us to harvest sooner than we wanted to, in order to protect the plants for future years. The bird pressure this year was incredible, as there was so little other food out there, so those growers that didn't net lost almost all their crops. Ours were netted, and we had the propane cannon going, but we still lost a lot. And the grapes we hoped to get from other Kansas growers just weren't there like we had planned on.

The good news is that although the harvest was light in quantity, it was excellent in quality. Dave is very excited by the way the wines taste even at this very young stage. And the wines we have for sale get better every year, so we remain optimistic that we will continue to be able to provide excellent wines from Kansas!

Heat and more heat

2011-07-27T21:43:00.003-05:00

So much has happened since the last post. The event center is done, the fruit is set, and now we are just trying to survive. The record heat in the area has made everything a challenge, and the grapes are definitely showing signs of stress.

We knew that the harvest would be smaller this year as the extreme cold snap last winter hurt some of the fruiting buds. But we never expected the heat and the drought this summer would be so extreme. We haven't had measurable rainfall for weeks, and day after day the temperature hits triple digits. Today it hit 110, and was still 100 at 9 pm. You just can't water enough for that.

So we think harvest will be early and we just hope there is some fruit left. Dave thinks we may need to drop some or harvest early just to protect the plants.

Pray for rain!!!

Spring is finally here!

2011-04-07T21:49:00.003-05:00

OK, so I sort of abandoned this blog for awhile- but I'm back! Last fall by the end of harvest, there just wasn't much left for me to say, though there still was a lot going on. But it is finally spring, and with the warm weather returns energy and enthusiasm and all that. Besides, there is so much going on now that it deserves comment.

If I knew what I was doing, I would arrange the pictures better, but no. So there you have it.

Right now at the winery we have finished pruning, except for a few stray plants in the garden. That is a huge relief! (Dave's back is grateful too.) Thanks to all the friends who came out to help- you know who you are.

We will have our last planting day on Saturday. (But didn't I say that 2 years ago?) We are putting in 120 Noiret, because Dave has decided they have great red wine potential in this climate. Planting is always a lot of fun, because of the great crew that comes out to help, proving literally again that many hands make light work. This year's crew ranges from very experienced to novice, but I am confident it will go well (especially if the weather cooperates).

The new building is coming along rapidly too, though the days are flying so I know it won't be done as quickly as I would wish. We have a great builder, who works with a super team, always thinking of better ways to do things. The view over the vineyard is going to be absolutely lovely. We can't wait to show it off!

Now if we could just find time to get the new wines bottled...

February Newsletter

2011-03-07T15:38:00.004-06:00

Grace Hill Winery Newsletter

February 2011

February Recap

Construction continues on the Grace Hill Winery Event Center and Patio! As you can see from the picture, the foundation is mostly laid, the plumbing is almost done, and we are hoping to pour the floor next week! We have been receiving a lot of interest in the new addition thanks to a feature in the Wichita Eagle, which you can read by clicking here.

Also during February we saw the completion of 3 new labels! The first two are Peckerhead Red, a sweet red, and Eclipse, our first dessert wine, and are displayed in all their glory at end of this paragraph. We also have developed our version of a house wine, called simply "Party Wine" that we can customize for your party at the winery as well as add sweetness for your desired taste! Look for all of these wines to debut at the Spring Release Party, which we are planning to host sometime in May.

Lastly, during February we finally got back to work in the vineyard with the start of pruning! Pruning basically involves going through every vine in the vineyard and cutting back its branches in order to ensure orderly growth in the year to come. It can be cold and monotonous at times, but it's very necessary, and since we got some mechanical pruners this year it's been a lot more fun, and still accident free.

March: Spring Draws Ever Closer

March will be a pretty quiet month at Grace Hill, as it will largely be spent in the vineyard and the cellar. Pruning will continue its onward march toward completion, needing to be finished by the time buds begin to blossom in early April. When not giving the vines their pre-Spring haircuts, we will be in the cellar blending and bottling our 2010 versions of Prairie Pink, Chloe's Cuvee, and Peckerhead Red, getting them ready for their official release in May. And while we are hard at work on the wines, construction will continue on the event center, getting it ready for a ribbon cutting sometime in May. These are exciting times at Grace Hill Winery!

If you are looking for some Grace Hill Wine but can't make it out to Whitewater, we do have a limited selection in Wichita, Newton, Andover and Derby at these fine restaurants and retailers:

- ABC Liquor at Central and Woodlawn, 21st and Woodlawn, and 21st and Tyler,

- Jacobs Liquor Exchange East and West

- Groves Liquor at Kellogg and Webb.

- Beyond Napa in Old Town Square

- Newton Discount Liquor on Washington Street

- Hills Retail Liquor at 1st and Meridian in Newton

- Auburn Spirits at Maple and 135th

- Rolling Hills Wine and Spirits at Maple and Maize

- Flint Hills Wine and Spirits at Kellogg and Andover Road

- K&S Liquors at Rock and Madison in Derby

- R&J Liquor at Douglas and Hillside

- Beyond Napa Private Cellars in El Dorado

- Anderson Liquor in Newton

- Hangar One Steakhouse on Kellogg near the Airport

- The Anchor - Douglas and Washington in Downtown Wichita

Can't get enough of the goings on at Grace Hill Winery? Follow us on Facebookwhere we upload all of our pictures!

Thanks again for all your support!

Sincerely,

David and Natalie Sollo

Jeff Sollo

Event Center Ground Breaking

2011-01-26T17:19:00.003-06:00

The Grace Hill Winery Blog has officially crossed over to Vlog status as well! Check out the first video documenting the ground breaking for the Grace Hill Winery Events Center!

Letter To The Editor at the Wichita Eagle

2011-01-13T08:52:00.007-06:00

After seeing Barefoot Cellars (a California Wine) served at Governor Brownback's Inauguration, Grace Hill President Dave Sollo decided to take up a letter writing campaign. Below is the full version of a letter he sent to the Wichita Eagle. An abbreviated version was published in the Eagle today.

To Whom It May Concern:

I read with dismay the report from Governor Brownback’s Inaugural Ball that Barefoot Cellars California table wine was served there. We have a new governor, but we have the same poor choice being made for wine in Topeka. At a time when Kansas is trying to encourage job growth, agritourism, and rural development, why would any non-Kansas wine be served in any official Kansas governmental function?

I just returned from the Kansas Grape Growers and Winemakers Association Annual Meeting, and I can assure wine drinkers that Kansas does indeed produce some excellent wines. The wine industry is growing steadily with over 20 wineries now licensed in the state. Many other people interested in viticulture are putting in small vineyards and giving them personal hands-on care that is not found in many other vineyards across the country. The industry is poised for rapid growth that will add to the ambience and culture of our state.

I learned this weekend that Iowa has nearly 100 wineries comprising 5.75% of wine sales in the state. I also learned that Missouri does even better with 8.0% of wine sales coming from their very own wineries. This is real economic clout providing jobs and a healthy stream of tax revenue.

Unfortunately, our state has a history of neglecting the wine industry. Even our very own Kansas State Fair allows for the sale of Barefoot Cellars California table wine in the same building that is supposed to promote Kansas wines. Is not the Kansas State Fair about Kansas? I bet the California State Fair doesn’t serve Kansas wines there. Barefoot Cellars California table wine has no place at our state fair and no place at the Kansas Governor’s Inauguration.

As Wichitans, we support our local businesses. We buy local sweet corn, local peaches, local blackberries, local meats and so forth. Dollars spent on products raised here are important to building a strong economy and a healthy lifestyle. Next time you see the governor, thank him for his service, but also please remind him to raise a glass of Kansas wine the next time he throws a party. And if he’s still listening, you might remind him to get the California wine out of the Kansas State Fair too.

David Sollo

Grace Hill Winery

Vice President of the Kansas Grape Growers and Winemakers Association

End of the Year

2010-12-30T11:54:00.005-06:00

It has been another incredible year at Grace Hill Winery. From pruning through harvest, at events under the tent, and all times in between we have been both challenged and blessed. But each year we are a little more confident that we really can make amazing wine here in Kansas.

Spring started out well for us and we seem to be doing better each year at pruning the plants to bring out their best potential. There were no late frosts, and the plants came through remarkably well. As they set fruit in the summer we were really encouraged. August brought extreme hot weather which reduced our yields, especially of the seyval which ripens first. However, the vines rebounded nicely once the heat broke, and the red grapes came in well.

Harvest was once again a great time, with lots of people coming out to help, including a lot of new ones. We made some really good new friends this year. We meet such interesting people here, which is one of the best parts.

We got a tent in May, which we used for the first time at our Spring Release Party. The party was great, and the tent was used all during summer and fall for a variety of events. The vineyard is such a good setting that some days it was hard to get people to leave!

We also had a great turnout for the fall release party, and were really proud of the quality of wine we released then. Our Cab Franc is better than we thought we would be able to make, and we go through a lot of it! It is going to be served with the main course at the Kansas Grapegrowers and Winemakers banquet next month, which makes us really proud.

I think the best news for us this year, though, was that when we tried some of the wines we made in 2006-2008, they were even better than when we first tried them. We were a little apprehensive trying the 2006 chardonel, from our last year of home winemaking, but it was surprisingly rich and complex. I just wish we had saved more. We thought the same about our old Barrel Reserve Red and Norton. So if you have some of those around, there is no hurry to drink them yet. They actually do improve with age!

So have a happy new year, and we look forward to seeing you back at the winery. We have some big plans for 2011, and I promise to blog more often to keep all our friends in the loop!

Grace Hill Harvest Update

2010-09-07T08:46:00.008-05:00

HARVEST 2010

The first step towards the Grace Hill Winery 2010 vintage was taken on August 7th as harvest began. The abundance of hot sunny weather during July and early August caused the grapes to ripen quicker than ever before, leading us to pick during the first week of August. That first week we brought in our Vignoles and some of our Seyval, after which we had a barbeque lunch under the tent. The Vignoles and Seyval were the ripest of each grape we've ever had, which we hope will make them into excellent wines.

We continued harvest the next weekend, this time picking our Chardonel as well as the rest of the Seyval. We were extremely pleased with the how the Chardonel turned out and have high hopes for it as it makes the journey from vineyard to bottle to dinner table. As is customary with white grapes, the freshly picked grapes were brought to the winery, where they were crushed, pressed (though not with our feet), and pumped into tanks to begin fermentation.

The next Saturday, August 21st, we harvested the first of our 2010 red grapes as we picked our some of our Chambourcin and all of our Noiret (one row). We had another great crew of pickers on hand, causing the picking to be done very quickly. Since lunch wasn't quite ready when the picking was done, we decided a morning barrel tasting was in order! We went down into the cellar and tried wine from three different barrels, two of which we bottled the following Monday. We crushed the red grapes on Saturday as well, but left them in their bins for a few days before they were pressed. This is different from white grapes, which we press the same day they're picked, as the time a red grape spends on the skins allows it to achieve that deep purple color. If we pressed them the same day, all our reds would be pink!

On August 28th we had our biggest harvest of the season, bringing in almost two and a half tons of grapes! We picked our Traminette, the last of this year's white grapes, as well as the rest of our Chambourcin. When the picking was finished we had lunch under the tent catered byBlue Collar Barbecue who came out and cooked it all up on site. Delicious!

Most of all we want to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who has helped out, as we could not do it without you! We only have a few harvests left, with only our Norton and Cabernet Franc still left on the vine, but we do still have some open spots for the coming weeks, so if you haven't joined in on the fun yet or would like to come out again, send us an email at info@gracehillwinery.com and we'd be happy to have you.

Upcoming Events...

Due to the great response and fun we had at our Spring Release Party in May, we have decided to continue the tradition with a Fall Release Party! On Friday October 8th from 5-8, we will be debuting four of what we think are our best wines yet, our 2009 Barrel Reserve White, 2009 Red Barrel Reserve, 2009 Cab Franc, and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. We are very excited about this group of wines and hope that you will join us in the celebration of all our hard work!

If you are looking for some Grace Hill Wine but can't make it out to Whitewater, we do have a limited selection in Wichita, Newton, Andover and Derby at these fine retailers:

New additions

- R&J Liquor at Douglas and Hillside

Oldies But Goodies

- ABC Liquor at Central and Woodlawn, 21st and Woodlawn, and 21st and Tyler,

- Jacobs Liquor Exchange East and West

- Groves Liquor at Kellogg and Webb.

- Beyond Napa in Old Town Square

- Newton Discount Liquor on Washington Street

- Hills Retail Liquor at 1st and Meridian in Newton

- Auburn Spirits at Maple and 135th

- Rolling Hills Wine and Spirits at Maple and Maize

- Flint Hills Wine and Spirits at Kellogg and Andover Road

- K&S Liquors at Rock and Madison in Derby

2010-08-02T20:57:00.001-05:00

Grace Hill Winery Breaking News!

Harvest Update

August 2, 2010

Greetings!

We went out into the vineyard this afternoon to check the progress of the grapes. We knew they were coming along quickly, but didn't know how quickly.

Long story short, rather than August 14th, harvest will start in earnest on August 7th. Dave says we need a good crew, so we are recruiting volunteers. Read on for details, and if you can come, great! We will start at 8, pick through the morning, and then provide lunch with wine. See you there!

Sincerely,

Jeff Sollo

Grapes and when to pick them

Grapes ripen on the vine this time of year at different rates, depending on the variety and the weather. As we go into the vineyard to assess their maturity, we look at color, pH, acidity, sugar content and most importantly, taste. Picking them at the optimal time allows for the best balance of flavor, sweetness and acidity. Right now everything is coming together just as we had hoped.

Of course, there are lots of other factors that come into play. First is the weather, which can speed or slow things, or even potentially ruin them. We don't want that! The next is pressure from various pests, such as bugs, birds, deer and turkeys. Then finally, there is still the risk of disease. If the weather is too humid, all sorts of rot can occur.

Right now we have the propane cannon to scare the birds, and we are putting on nets as fast as we can. We aren't the only ones who know how good those grapes are. And right now, they are really good!

So if you can come out for harvest this Saturday, August 7th, (or any other Saturday in August or September) send us an email at info@gracehillwinery.com.

July means harvest is coming soon!

2010-07-14T21:20:00.003-05:00

June disappeared without me knowing it, and July is half gone too. What's with that? Did I blink?

Wherever I go people ask me about the grapes. So here is the status update, in case you're curious. The grapes are rapidly growing and maturing. We have received a ton (ok, many inches) of rain in the past few days, way more than we really needed, but the grapes continue to do well. They show no sign of rot, which is really good news since it has been so wet and humid. The berries seem bigger every day, though they are still quite small and sour. A guest tried one Saturday and pronounced it"like a crabapple". But it's early yet...

Even so, knowing that harvest usually starts in early August, we have less than a month to go. It's always exciting. And we have a few grapes, mostly noiret, that are already starting to turn color. Veraison is the proper term, and it is always an exciting time in the vineyard.

Harvest is even more exciting, and we will be calling for harvest volunteers in the next few weeks. We send out a list of dates in our newsletter, and will post it on Facebook as well. We ask that people interested in helping email us to reserve a spot. We harvest on Saturday mornings in August and September, offering our volunteer crew a true agricultural experience, followed by lunch with wine. And of course, discounts in our tasting room come with the work. We really do have a good time, and it is appropriate for all ages. We have literally had volunteers from ages 8-80 in years past.

Our other big news is about Georgia. She is a miniature bulldog puppy that Jeff adopted in the last month or so. She absolutely darling, a solid bundle of joy! Our family dog for many years was a bulldog named Chloe, and she was an amazing animal. Her portrait graces the label of Chloe's Cuvee. Georgia isn't related but she looks like she could be. She is often out at the vineyard, so come by and see her (if you're a dog person).

In the meantime, stay cool!

Blooms in the Vineyard

2010-05-30T15:39:00.004-05:00

This is bloom season in the vineyard, where all the grapes-to-be are clusters of flowers. They aren't showy- you could never tell from the road what was happening. But up close it looks really wonderful, full of promise of a great harvest. You can even catch the fragrance, which is pretty unusual for grapes. The vineyard is really at its best this time of year, with everything lush and green. And our canopy management has never been better- just look at those well-trained vines!

May has been a very busy but very fun month at Grace Hill Winery. We started off with the release party. No, actually, we started with putting up the tent. It went up surprisingly well, and worked great! It even came down easily at the right time, which was a relief. The tent really added something to the night of the release party, since it was a little breezy. It gave the sensation of being protected while right in the middle of the vineyard- just what we were hoping for. We can't wait to use it again! And we had a great group of people out for the party, where the V was a big hit, as was the Prairie Pink.

Then we had the Rotary Ann group out for a tour and tasting. They seemed to really enjoy it, and the vineyard was once again gorgeous.

That Sunday night we had our wine dinner at Reba's restaurant. The food was excellent, and we continue to learn more about the things that pair well with our wines. For example, the appetizer was a ricotta toast with truffle oil, which went really well with the Seyval. I wouldn't have guessed that would have worked like it did. And we were concerned that the mint in the lamb sauce would fight with the Barrel 10 Chambourcin, but actually it worked great! We were fairly certain the strawberry cake would pair well with the Prairie Pink, and we were right.

And then our next big milestone, not a winery but a family thing, was Brian's graduation from Grinnell College. We are very proud of him. (Don't ask us what he's going to do next, because he hasn't said yet.) Shannon has been great at covering the winery while we have been gone.

So now we will be nurturing the vines to get them ready for harvest this August and September. There are lots of other fun things coming up, like the opportunity for people to blend their own wines, and then harvest. And we need to do some bottling to clear out space in the tanks and barrels for the 2010 vintage. There is always something to do at Grace Hill Winery!

Spicy Artichoke Dip Recipe

2010-05-25T16:59:00.003-05:00

The Spicy Artichoke Dip was a big hit at the Grace Hill Winery Spring Release Party, so courtesy of the Women Of Great Taste cookbook compiled by The Junior League of Wichita, here is the recipe:

Spicy Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:

1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Puree all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Spread mixture in a shallow 9 inch baking dish. Bake uncovered until lightly browned on top, 30 to 45 minutes. Serve with lavosh crackers or tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Spring has Sprung!

2010-04-29T21:44:00.006-05:00

Wow! April is almost over, and I'm not sure where it went.

The vineyard woke up and looks great! This was one of the prettiest springs we have ever seen here, with all the trees blooming at once. The scent of the lilacs was intoxicating, just going out to get the mail. The vines wake up slower, and some of them are just now beginning to look green. But as they come out, they show us the potential of this year's crop, which is always exciting.

The vines survived the winter very well. We were concerned about the cold snap in early January, since it got much colder for much longer than is typical around here. But the vines look like it never happened, which is a real relief. I always think there isn't much to do in the vineyard this time of year, but of course, there are always things to do. Right now we are making sure the plants are trained appropriately, and we are thinning out shoots to manage the crop load.

We are trying out a new type of net this year, for bird protection. It is also supposed to help to train the vines, which is why we were out applying it recently. We knew it wouldn't work as well to try to put it up in a stiff wind, but did anyway. This is south central Kansas, and you never know if a calm day is actually going to happen. Actually, the second day they put it up was calm, and they said it was a lot easier!

Dave got a new (used) cooling unit for the cellar this week. He brought it back in our trailer, which worked fine. When he told me he planned to get it down into the cellar by strapping a pallet to the top and lowering it down into the pit with the forklift, I was a little skeptical. But it worked like a charm, and still works like a charm. Dave and a forklift-what a combination!

Last week we poured our wines at the Old Town Walkabout. It was a wonderful time, raising money for the Guadalupe Clinic, which is a very worthy cause. We had a great volunteer team out to help, and they were extra special because they are all great supporters of the winery, and have been an integral part of our success. Thank you all!

We tasted V, our Vignoles, this week. We will be releasing it at the spring release party next week. It is really good! A dry white wine, with a great aroma and wonderful flavors, it's my current favorite. The Spring Release Party is Friday, May 7th at the winery from 5-8. Come on by if you're available!

Spring pruning

2010-03-24T09:10:00.005-05:00

Pruning is in full swing now, since it is technically spring. The vineyard is still dormant, though sap is starting to flow. We are hoping not to see bud break for a little longer, since this year has been so cold. You can see from the before and after photos that pruning really controls the vines and gets them in shape for the new seasons growth. The quality of the fruit is dependent on the job we do now, so Dave is very particular about how it's done. However, the vineyard is large enough that he needs to accept help from some of the rest of us! (19 rows to go.)

It still doesn't look like spring around the vineyard yet. I had to bring forsythia branches in to force them, to get some sense of spring. But at least the buds were in there!

Jeff got the opportunity to talk about our wines at a tasting at a bed and breakfast near Haven last weekend. He introduced them to Prairie Pink, which isn't officially released yet, and it was a big hit. We are really excited about it, and look forward to having it out sometime in April.

Having hosted big planting parties in April for the last several years, it seems odd not to be planning one this year. But we are done putting in new vines, at least for now. We will be replacing a few that have died, but mostly we will be tending the ones we already have.

We are looking forward to some fun events in April. We will be pouring our wines at the Old Town Walkabout as part of the Midwest Winefest April 22nd. Look for us at CityArts. (Tickets are on sale now, and they sell out quickly.) Then Jeff will be pouring our wines at Main Street Emporia's event on April 24th.

We found out last month that we had received a matching grant from the state for an event tent, which we are looking forward to using at the vineyard. If you have ideas for us, let us know. The tent is on order, and we are excited about it.

Last but not least, Dave had a letter to the editor published in the Wine Spectator this week. (April 30th issue.) It may be the only way we get into the Wine Spectator, for now, but we'll take it!

2010-02-24T20:48:00.004-06:00

You can't get out and prune when the vines are covered with ice. And even though the storm was last weekend, the ice was still glistening when the sun hit it this morning. I think it finally all melted today, but it is supposed to snow again tomorrow. Will this winter ever end? It's really making me grumpy.

On the other hand, we have been able to get some things done around the winery, since we haven't been able to go outside. We have bottled "V", our 2009 Vignoles, as well as "Prairie Pink", our 2009 version of rose'. They will be ready for release sometime in the spring, and are both promising to be really special. We have also bottled the 2009 Norton, but it won't be ready for release for awhile. My parents came out to help with bottling. They are really getting experienced, and are a huge help!

We have been giving away chocolates with our logo on them during February, as a free gift with purchase. We have one last weekend for that promotion, which has been a lot of fun. Dave is hoping we sell a lot of wine, but if there is chocolate left, he thinks he gets it. Maybe he will get the red hearts, but I'm keeping the logo chocolates for the tasting room.

Jeff got forklift lessons this week, when he picked up a pallet of side-netting for the vineyard. (It is hard to think about bird protection when everything is frozen, but Dave plans ahead.) He got the hang of driving the forklift quickly, which is good because it drives backward and is completely counterintuitive. His response was similar to Dave's, "That thing is AWESOME!" I just find it scary, so I'm very glad they enjoy it.

Jeff got our first real newsletter sent out last month, and this month's version will be out Friday. It is packed with lots of good information, so if you know of anybody who would be interested in receiving it, have them send us an email. (info@gracehillwinery.com).

More Frozen Fog

2010-01-31T16:51:00.004-06:00

We thought we might get to go out and do some vineyard work this week. We did do a little last weekend- not pruning yet as it's still too early. But since then, the weather hasn't been what we wanted. We got about 8 inches of snow here on Thursday and Friday. (We managed to get the Prius stuck, but got it out pretty quickly too.) Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day in the snow, but today the frozen fog was back. It makes for beautiful pictures, but I want the sun!

Dave and Jeff worked in the cellar this week, finalizing some of the blends for the new wines. We're really excited about them, and would be thinking about bottling soon, but we need our road to dry out so we can get the bottles delivered. Cars do ok, but the semis have some issues, especially with turning around. Still, it's exciting to think about the spring releases.

The tasting room is slow, but we do get some business every week, so we're still keeping it open Saturdays. If nothing else, it gives us a lot of time to catch up on the paperwork and cleaning and organizing that we might not get to otherwise. And we are starting to put together more plans for spring. I'm ready!

2010-01-11T20:48:00.003-06:00

The annual meeting of the Kansas Grape Growers and Winemakers Association was this past weekend in Emporia, Kansas. The record cold temperatures, snow and wind kept some people (including some of the presenters) away, but we headed out across the tundra to spend some time with the experts and also with good friends and colleagues.

There were sessions on grape growing, wine making and marketing, and I think we picked up some really good information. We took Jeff along for the first time, and he got to meet a lot of people. The instructors didn't intimidate him, and we all had a good time talking to them. (We did notice him playing games on his iphone during some of the sessions. Clearly his parents don't intimidate him either.)

Our Red Barrel Reserve was served with the main course at the banquet, and paired well with the beef tenderloin and crabmeat dish with which it was served. We were proud!

The most amazing development of the weekend in my opinion was when they elected Dave as the Vice President of the organization for the upcoming year. Not that he isn't capable. And he certainly has a lot to offer. But those of us who know Dave know he doesn't do meetings! It's going to be an interesting year!

2009-12-27T18:34:00.003-06:00

Baby, it's cold outside!

The vineyard is beautiful in snow if the sun comes out, but we have only seen a few short glimpses of sunshine in the past week. I'm getting tired of being cold! Dave had me working in the cellar this afternoon, and it has no heat but is still a lot warmer than outside. At least the wind stopped blowing, so I should stop whining.

The year is quickly coming to a close, which means it's time for reflection. We've been looking at the photos, reliving some of the great harvest parties and remembering all the activity at the winery (like Dave's new big tanks). I won't have a top 10 list of best or worst moments, though that could be enlightening. Lately I've mostly just been trying to keep warm.

Business in the tasting room picked up for Christmas, which was really nice. Liz, who worked for us last summer, came out to help while she was home on break. Overall we've had a very good year, with sales up substantially from the year before. And we continue to learn what works and what doesn't. Business in the liquor stores has been good too, and we appreciated all the people who went in and asked for our wines.

The 2009 vintage wines are aging nicely at present. We have been working with them, trying to decide how we will use them this time. It's a lot more complicated that you would think, and we have rethought the plans several times now. Dry, sweet, blended or not, what will our customers like and what will we be proud to offer? When will be the right time to think about bottling?

The Kansas Grape Growers and Winemakers annual meeting is in a couple of weeks, and we are proud to announce that our 2008 Red Barrel Reserve wine has been chosen by the chef to be served at the banquet. It's quite an honor, and we are thrilled. It has been our favorite of our wines for awhile, and we are glad for the chance to share it.

We will be reverting to our Saturday only hours now, until sometime in the spring when it warms up. See you then, and have a Happy New Year!

2009-12-15T22:03:00.004-06:00

It's slow in the vineyard now, so the boys needed a project and did they ever find one. Dave and the guys from our winetasting group (the ones that got us started on this glorious wine adventure) decided we needed to have a pig roast.

So Dave got online and did some research. Then he and the guys did some planning. Then some building. Then some calling around because a whole pig already cleaned is not easy to find. And then Saturday, while Jeff and I worked the tasting room, they roasted the pig. With great ceremony. What a manly adventure!

Actually, the people coming to the tasting room often had to wander over to inspect the progress, although it was not a pretty day. I was glad to have an excuse to be inside!

But afterwards, when we had the feast with contributions from everybody and lots of wine, we all felt thoroughly satisfied. This is wine country living at its best. (You didn't know you could call it that in Kansas, did you?)

2009-11-28T09:03:00.002-06:00

We had a great Thanksgiving, and hope you did too!

Things have definitely slowed down at the winery, and we are entering the quiet time of year. The vines are dormant and it's too soon to prune, so there isn't much to do outside. The weather has been gorgeous lately, though, so we have enjoyed some opportunities for outside clean up around the property. And the vineyard was perfect for a post-Thanksgiving stroll.

There are still inside tasks to be done, but most of the 2009 wines are just resting and aging at the moment, so even that is slower. As the holidays approach with their tendency toward busyness, it's nice that some things have quieted.

We are in the midst of planning for the next year though. The grape and wine meetings will start right after Christmas, and we are getting our orders ready for supplies and all. We ordered replacement grape vines months ago, though they won't ship until April. I think we'll only be planting about 30 vines this year, rather than hundreds like years past.

The spice wine has been a big hit in the tasting room, which has been a lot of fun. And our newest gift idea is an opportunity for a private tour with barrel tasting. So come by and get the details!

2009-11-09T19:24:00.003-06:00

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

2009-10-07T19:50:00.006-05:00

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!

2009-09-20T20:52:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-08-31T21:20:00.005-05:00

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!

2009-08-10T20:58:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-08-05T20:56:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-07-28T21:11:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-07-20T20:15:00.003-05:00

Summertime in Kansas is rarely this lovely, but we are taking full advantage of it, being outside whenever possible. And we are saving up our strength as we mentally prepare for harvest. The first grapevine to start to go through veraison (color change) is a vine that isn't where it should be, and we don't know what it is, but sure is pretty! And it gives us hope that harvest will come sometime in the next month or so.

Pat, our number one assistant, went to wine school in Missouri last week, and came home with all sorts of good information. He told us the highlights were pH, temperature control and sanitation. We have a pretty good handle on pH, and our sanitation procedures passed muster, but temp control remains an elusive goal. Dave is looking into upgrading the insulation in the winery building, and he just ordered some jacketed tanks. (There goes my profit for the year!) So we will work on that piece. There is always more to learn, it seems.

We had another visit from a vineyard consultant last week, Andy Allen, from the University of Missouri. He showed us a lot of things we could do to improve the trellising, but I think we were generally on the right track. We had a couple of other vineyard owners out, too, and got a ton of questions answered. We also got to see first hand what 2,4-D damage looks like. I know our neighbors are careful, but I guess it's time to call the county and the highway department again and remind them that we are here.

The farm epitomizes fertility right now. The grapes are starting to ripen, the tomato plants are producing like crazy, the chickens are finally starting to lay eggs, and the "male" cat that Brian dropped off for the summer looks extremely pregnant. Kittens, anyone?

2009-06-30T21:37:00.003-05:00

The grapes are going crazy! We have so much fruit out there- if we can bring it all the way in, it will yield an amazing harvest. (Dave is already starting to sweat the logistics.) The weather has cooperated so far, so we're pretty optimistic. Of course, living around farmers has taught us to be guarded in that optimism. We still have to worry about deer, birds, bugs, fungus... But I think it's going to be awesome!

The tasting room now features pottery and artwork by Janet Fisher. We have some really fun and whimsical things, and the artwork brightens up the place a lot. Since we now have 10 wines available for tasting, there are a lot of reasons to make the trip out to see us.

We will be open on Friday, July 3rd, from 11-5, as well as Saturday, July 4th. Come up and get some wine for your holiday celebration! Or stop into ABC Discount Wine and Liquor (Central and Woodlawn or 21st and Woodlawn) as they are now carrying a limited selection of our wines.

Happy Birthday, Brian!

2009-06-22T07:53:00.005-05:00

This morning the vineyard is lush and green. We have had regular sun and lots of rain, so the vines are going crazy (as are the weeds- another project). The crop looks great so far, in fact a little too great. Dave and his helper, Michael, have been dropping fruit to try to keeps the vines in balance. Too much fruit stresses the vines, and is hard to get to ripen. But it certainly is a joy to watch the crop mature.

We now have a helper in the tasting room, Liz. She has been a great addition to our team, and has learned a lot about the vineyard and winery. We just wish she'd stay longer than just the summer!

We are really enjoying having regular hours every Saturday (11-5). Business has been good, and we have met a lot of people from all over. We have had the opportunity to do special tastings for a variety of people, including Casey and Janell- Happy anniversary!

The 2008 Barrel Reserve White Wine is now available in the tasting room, which brings us up to 10 wines that people can taste when they come out. It's pretty exciting for us, and we are getting lots of good feedback, and lots of repeat customers.

We now have a page on Facebook, so you can check us out, and "fan" us there.

2009-05-30T13:33:00.004-05:00

Now it really feels like summer at Grace Hill Winery! It is hot and sunny, and the vines are growing like crazy. We are trying to keep them under control, but they can be just plain unruly at times. However, to get the best crop, in the best condition, we really need to control the growth. Since the quality of the wine is directly related to the quality of the grapes, we really want to do our best.

We had a vineyard consultant this week, Dr. Keith Striegler, from the University of Missouri. We walked the vineyard with him and got all sorts of recommendations about fertilizing, pest control and crop loads. It is so nice to have someone who knows what we could do better to advise us.

Memorial Day weekend was awesome for us too. We had Dave's parents and our boys here, and got everyone to pitch in to bottle the Barrel Reserve White 2008. It is a really nice wine, and we had a great time bottling, with music playing and the boys singing along. There is an entirely different energy in the room when they are there. We had a lot of fun bottling with Mark and Nell a couple of weeks ago, and it certainly wasn't dull conversation, but somehow the boys kick it up a notch.

The 2008 Barrel Reserve White is quite different from the 2007, but I think both are really good. It should be released for sale in about another month. In the meantime, we do have the 2007 vintage still available. We had it with oysters a couple of weeks ago, and it was a perfect accompaniment. (It's also good with quail, smoked salmon, smoked chicken, cheeses, and just by itself!)

We had a very nice article published about the winery in the Newton Kansan newspaper yesterday. You may be able to find it here. http://www.thekansan.com/news/x726819073/Couple-pursues-wine-passion. It has brought out some traffic today, and hopefully that will continue.

So come out and see us! We have lots of wine available, and lots of things to try.

2009-05-17T21:22:00.003-05:00

Spring is finally here! The vines are awake- even the newly planted ones. This afternoon was one of those perfect days, where the air is crisp and the sun is warm, and everything seems possible.

The vines seem to have come through the winter well. Though the season is late this year, the plants look vigorous and we are anticipating a great season. (True farmers will tell you that it is way too soon to tell, though. Anything could happen.) It feels so good to be out in the vines, training them to grow properly.

We bottled yesterday, the Cabernet Franc and the Red Barrel Reserve. They should be awesome, and will be ready for release in another month or so. The Dodging Tornados Silver, the sweeter version of our signature Chambourcin wine, is now released and is for sale in the tasting room. It has been a big hit so far. So if you've been waiting for it, come on out.

Dave's sign seems to be working at bringing people in, which makes him very happy. I wasn't sure how many people would actually notice it, but people definitely have done so, and have stopped in as a result. We also got some people to come by when they heard Dave on Guy Bower's radio show, which was a lot of fun for him. One way or another, people seem to be finding us! So come on out, Saturdays from 11-5 or other times by appointment.

2009-04-21T20:42:00.003-05:00

Grace Hill Winery is now open every Saturday from 11-5, as well as by appointment. Come out and try our new wines!

Our current offerings include the 2008 Seyval (sweet), 2008 Rose (slightly sweet), 2007 Barrel Reserve White (dry), 2008 Dodging Tornados (dry), 2008 Norton (dry) and our Cabernet Sauvignon.

We have been busy lately and this week will be even busier! Tomorrow night our wines will be featured at a reception for Cokie Roberts, who is in town to speak as a part of the 60th Anniversary of KMUW, our local public radio station. Friday night we will be pouring our wines at Emporia Main Street's Taste event, along with 5 other Kansas wineries. Then Saturday we will be open at the winery, and then will go to the Midwest Winefest, where a Grace Hill Winery harvest party will be featured in the live auction. We're excited!

The new vineyard is in now. The grow tubes are all in place and the wire has been strung. It's pretty amazing to think that the field is full now. It feels really good to have all that accomplished.

This weekend was another adventure at the winery, this time again with signage! Dave had put together a beautiful sign to put out on K-196 to show people where we are. He wanted to make it extra sturdy to stand up to the Kansas wind, and when he got it together, it was (at least to us) huge and heavy. So he got out the forklift, as he loves to do. We were fortunate that no one came down the road as we were headed out with the new sign. And getting it into place went really smoothly, except for getting the forklift stuck in the mud. (That's why we keep an SUV around- to pull things out!)

Spring has been painfully slow to come. The blizzard at the end of March really set things back, although I don't think it hurt anything. The vines are finally starting to wake up, and the buds are swelling. Pretty soon it should start looking a little green out there!

2009-04-05T21:26:00.003-05:00

Planting day was amazing! We got all 750 vines in and the irrigation in place before lunch.

We were so lucky and blessed to have great weather and a great crew. The weather had been iffy after the blizzard last weekend, so we watched and waited as things dried up over the course of the week. But the ground was dry enough to dig on Friday and plant on Saturday. The sun came out and though the wind was blowing, it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, it felt really good to be out there. We had a great crew of about 25 people, and they literally made the proverb about many hands making light work come true. Many of them have come out for years, and so are very experienced, but they all were very helpful, enthusiastic and hard-working.

Then we had a great lunch with some Grace Hill wine, which made it extra fun!

Today it was bitterly cold with a stiff north wind and intermittent snow. Tomorrow is supposed to be not much better. But the plants are in, we have wine to sell, and we have great memories of a good day with wonderful people. It doesn't get much better than that!

2009-03-23T20:22:00.003-05:00

We have wine again!! The 2008 vintage is here, at last. We have just released our flagship wine Dodging Tornados which we think even the governor would like. And for the first time ever, we have a very limited bottling of our own varietal specific 2008 Norton. It is a very special wine with lots of fruit and a touch of oak. The long cool 2008 summer allowed for development of wonderful aromatics which make our first Norton something worthy of cellaring or just drinking right now as well. Note the special bottle, too. Very handsome. Also, in the lineup you will note our very pink Rose' which shows off its color in the clear bottle. It also shows off nicely on the palate with a spring freshness that we long for especially this time of year. Last, but not least in the picture is the 2008 Seyval, which will make those of you with a sweet tooth very happy.

We are getting ready for a very busy planting on April 4 with another 750 plants going into the vineyard. We are adding more Chambourcin, Norton and Vignoles. We also have an experimental row going in for Noiret which is a new hybrid developed at Cornell University known for its cabernet flavors and Norton hardiness.

We still have lots of wine in the cellar yet to be bottled and will offer a Cabernet Franc, new Barrel Reserve White and Red, and a semi-sweet version of our Dodging Tornados. As mentioned, the 2008 vintage was really spectacular and the wines are very exciting.

There is just so much left to be done. There are still almost 10 rows of unpruned vines in the vineyard, the sign to go in at the end of Grace Hill Road is not up yet, our advertising campaign on KMUW has not yet started, and we have not found anyone to run the tasting room on Saturdays to start in late April. If you know anybody interested in Saturday work from 11-5 who is over 21, not a felon, friendly and loves wine, have them call us at 316-799-2511.

Come out and try the 2008 wines!

2009-02-28T07:39:00.002-06:00

Pruning season has begun at the vineyard, as well as preparation for planting. We're feeling grumpy because the weather has been beautiful during the weeks lately, while we are busy at our day jobs. Then the weekend comes and it is cold and windy. It's not fun to think about going outside today, so instead we are going to bottle.

We bottled Seyval and Rose last weekend, and we will bottle Norton and Dodging Tornados today. That part is exciting, because that means we will have more wine to sell in a few weeks. And for today it means we will be out of the wind and in the cellar, which will feel balmy by comparison even though it's only about 48 degrees down there.

2009-01-21T20:01:00.003-06:00

We had some new experiences this year at the Kansas Grapegrowers and Winemakers meeting. What a fun time! The meeting was in Emporia, KS and had a great program. JoAnn and Terry and everyone who worked on it did a great job of putting it together. Thank you!

The first new experience was when I was asked to be a judge at the Amateur Wine competition. I've never judged wines before, though I have a lot of experience tasting them. It was really fun to see what the winemakers were doing, and an honor to be asked to participate. Dave was very jealous that they asked me, but he was quite supportive. And I have to say, it is hard work! To keep perspective when tasting a lot of wines, and to offer useful feedback, is a challenge. But fun.

The next new experience was when one of our wines was chosen for the banquet which culminated the weekend. The meal was excellent, and the chef had chosen wines specifically to complement the menu. Our Barrel Reserve White was chosen for the first course, to accompany a bacon wrapped quail with a poblano chile stuffing. It was awesome, and we were thrilled that the wine went with it so well.

The whole weekend was fun, with lots of opportunities to see old friends and to make new ones. We are really excited about the Kansas wine industry, and the strides it is making in both quality and volume. We are honored to be a part of it.

Now we're home, getting ready to bottle the first of the 2008 vintage. All the labels are approved, thank goodness, and the bottles are ordered. Spring will be here in no time!

2008-12-28T20:37:00.002-06:00

Happy Holidays!

We had a lovely (and quiet) Christmas at Grace Hill Winery, and we hope yours was good too.

We had a huge crowd come out last weekend on the 20th, which was so fun and so gratifying, but a little overwhelming. We sold a record amount of wine (not too tough in your first year). But mostly we enjoyed the chance to share our wine with so many people. Thank you all so much! And for those of you who were so patient with us when we got busy, thank you again. We were really blessed to have friends who pitched in to bring out more wine and give impromptu tours when Dave and I got swamped in the tasting room.

When we closed up a little after 5, we realized that we never had lunch, and never had the chance to even think about it. A friend who has much more experience in retail than we do later gave us advice about how to sneak in some nourishment on such crazy days. "Keep a granola bar or something quick around at your desk, because you never know what a day will bring." I think we have a lot more retail advice to get from her, because clearly this is an area outside our experience. But we will get better, and next year we will hire some help!

We sold out of our Dodging Tornados wine, as well as our Red Barrel Reserve, so now we only have the White Barrel Reserve and the Cabernet available. But Dave spent yesterday in the cellar, getting the 2008 wines in place for bottling in the spring. We hope to have a full complement of wines back by April. Now we are looking at the other details, like how many pallets of bottles to buy and how many labels to order. And I am pulling together numbers for all my end of the year reports for the government.

We will be going to the annual meeting of the Kansas Grape Growers and Winemakers Association in Emporia in a couple of weeks. It looks like it will be a good meeting, with a solid agenda and some fun times too. Grape and wine meetings are generally much more fun than medical meetings, that's for sure!

We will remain open by appointment for the rest of the winter. So if you need some wine, give us a call.

2008-12-16T20:35:00.004-06:00

"In the bleak midwinter..."

Actually, although we are now covered in snow (way more than predicted), it has been anything but bleak around here. We are having a great month!

Our talks at the Sedgwick County Medical Society (with wine) and the East Side Rotary (without wine) went really well. We seemed to be able to share our excitement about the winery, and it was so gratifying to see people get excited about it as well.

We have had a lot of traffic the past two weekends, and the party for the Whitewater Memorial Library was especially fun. The food was excellent! (Thank you, friends of the library- you were awesome!) Wine sales have been better than we expected. OK, we had no idea what to expect,but still they have been better.

And then on Sunday, in the Wichita Eagle business section, we had a beautiful story published about us and the winery. You can read it here, I hope: http://www.kansas.com/business/story/630776.html. We have received lots of calls and emails as a result, from people all around the country. Some are old friends, and others are people who got interested in our story. It has been amazing and humbling to see how many people are cheering us on.

So, if you are anywhere near Whitewater this Saturday, stop in between 11 and 5. You don't need an appointment, and we would love to let you try our wine and see what all this work has produced!

(By the way, Dodging Tornados Silver is sold out.)

2008-12-01T20:44:00.003-06:00

OK, so it's December. I didn't get around to posting in November, even though a friend reminded me that time was running out. It seems like there is always so much to do this time of year. And blogging requires a certain amount of thought, I'm finding. I always thought newspaper columnists had it easy, but now I'm not so sure.

Anyway, the big news is that the 2007 Cabernet is now available, and it's really good! This Big Red Cab has plenty of Big Red Fruit with a long finish that should keep even the most discerning eonophile happy. It has enough cherry and raspberry flavors to withstand its 15.2% alcohol and enough tannins to allow one to lay it down in the cellar for a few years and see continued improvement over time. It spent 12 months in new American Oak before being bottled just 4 weeks ago. (Description by Dave)

We had a great open house on the 22nd of November- a lot of people came out, and we had so much fun! We are looking forward to being open the next 3 Saturdays, and are especially excited about the wine and food pairing event to benefit the Whitewater Memorial Library on Saturday evening, December 6th. (Call or email for details- tickets are still available).

We will be talking about the adventure of the vineyard and winery at the Medical Society meeting tomorrow, and then at the East Wichita Rotary on Wednesday. Public speaking is not what we are trained in, but somehow our enthusiasm for what we are doing makes it a lot easier. We do get excited talking about all the things we are doing, and especially why we like making wine so much. Although the three themes of the wine business seem to be

That was more work than I expected,
That took longer than I expected, and
That cost more than I expected,

we still have to say that we love what we are doing, and we hope to continue to grow grapes and make wine for a long time.

2008-10-31T20:16:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween!

Out here in the country no one rings our doorbell. It's awfully quiet, but usually that's part of what we love.

All our wines are quietly aging in the cellar at this time of year. Dave is feeling a little lost with the vineyard quiet now. The days are shorter, and although today was beautiful, we've had our first freezes and the vines are quickly losing their leaves. It's not as picturesque as it was a few weeks ago, but that is all part of the cycle. We do feel the seasons more acutely now.

And yet, the planning for next year is already happening. The vines we will be planting (April 4th-mark your calendar!) have already been ordered. The endposts are in and the vineyard has been laid out. The midposts will be installed in the next month or so. The posts have to go in when the ground isn't frozen and is soft from recent rains-it has been perfect lately.

I am sure that when we are open regularly the Christmas season will be a busy one for us, but I don't think that will be the case this year. Maybe something will prove me wrong! Anyway, we are gearing up for the days we will be open this next couple of months. Come out then, and try the wines! We will be here on November 22, Dec 6,13, and 20th from 11-5. And other times by appointment. (That means just call and see if we are around. If we are home, we can be open.)

2008-09-30T20:48:00.003-05:00

We are pressing grapes tonight, but I had to come back to the house to get this post going. If I miss tonight, I miss September. Hard to believe, but true.

Harvest is over. We finished last weekend, with the help of lots of friends and family. We are so grateful to Heather, Adam, Glen, and Mary. Tom and Chris and Ray and Janet. Steve and his son Alex. Nancy and Ann. And as always, we count on Pat. Thank you all, so, so much! And Jeff- did we mention that we never could have done this harvest without you?

We came close to missing this last harvest. We somehow had the bright idea to travel to California wine country last week to see how things are done out there. (We figured harvest would be long since done, and Jeff could keep an eye on things.) Dave was concentrating on the winemaking and I was taking copious notes on the tasting rooms. We had a great time, made a side trip to the ocean, and tried lots of good wines. But at the end we were eager to get back to our own grapes, still on the vines. However, our flight home got diverted by a thunderstorm, so we missed a connection and ended up flying to Tulsa and then driving home to Wichita from there. We got in at 2:30 am, then got to get up for that last harvest. We made it, (caffeine helped) and had a really good day. Sunday was rough, though!

The processing goes on, and there is always more work to be done, but we are making progress. Most of the wine is in tanks or barrels, though we still have one lot of Cabernet Franc fermenting.

The wines from last year taste really good right now, and we are working on getting the tasting room ready for more regular hours. We will be open this Saturday, October 4th, from 11-5. Come on out!

2008-08-31T20:27:00.003-05:00

Where did the summer go? It's the end of August and it never got blisteringly hot, we are just now finishing the harvest of our white grapes, and somehow I feel like summer eluded us. Is it age or strange weather that leaves me feeling confused? Dave kept announcing that the hot weather was finally here to stay, but it never was. So harvest is weeks behind what we have come to expect. I guess that's OK.

In any case, the whites are now done, and we are preparing for harvest of the red wines. I don't know when that will be. Two weeks from now? Longer?

Harvest has been fun, and we have had the opportunity to get to know people in new ways as they came out to help. "Many hands make light work" has never been more true. People as diverse as middle and high school students and retirees, friends and family, and people we didn't really know well before have come out to help. A few more weeks and this year's harvest will be completely done. I have to admit that I feel sad when I look at the vineyard, at the vines that no longer have grapes. I know it's part of the cycle, but there is a feeling of anticipation when the grapes are still on the vine that I miss once the harvest is done.

However, there is a satisfaction (and relief) when the grapes are safely harvested and are fermenting away, becoming wine. The cellar smells really good right now!

We are very happy with the taste of our wines from last year. They have matured very nicely, and we are proud of them. We took them to the Taste of Butler dinner, where they were quite well received, and where we had a great time. It was an excellent dinner, and reminded all of us there what opportunities we have in locally produced foods. We do live well out here in the country.

2008-08-18T21:00:00.003-05:00

Harvest season has finally arrived!

It has been such a cool and rainy summer that the grapes are ripening very slowly, but they are finally ripening. The photo shows some of our Norton grapes, finally making progress. They will be deep blackish purple before they are ready.

The white grapes are starting to really arrive. We harvested the Seyval and Vignoles grapes last weekend, and we hope to bring in the Chardonel on Saturday. The Traminette still have a ways to go. It is such a relief and a joy to have wine starting to ferment in the cellar. It smells really good down there!

So if we can keep the grapes protected from the rain, the bugs, the birds and the deer for a little longer (did I mention fungus?) we should have a harvest to be proud of.

We will be taking wine to the Taste of Butler, a dinner of Butler County foods, on Thursday. We are actually in Harvey County, but I guess we are close enough. And our White Barrel Reserve will be in the People's Choice Wine Judging at the State Fair on September 5th. (If you go, vote for us!) But if you really want to try the wines, come visit.

2008-08-11T21:02:00.005-05:00

Growing grapes is not for the faint of heart. (Actually, I don't think any type of farming is.) We are waiting anxiously for the grapes to ripen, but the weather is not cooperating. Neither are the pests. We have had cool and rainy weather for the last several days, so the grapes aren't making much progress but are more susceptible to fungus. (3 inches in the last 4 days-hard to believe it is August.)

And the birds and turkeys which last week were just decorative have become dangerous. The grapes are ripe enough to attract them!

This year for the first time we have applied bird netting to try to slow them down. It does seem to be helping, but we don't have everything covered. I think in the future we will. Dave put together a device to apply the netting that worked really well, surprising even him. So we hope that at least some grapes will survive until harvest. I just keep thinking we will start that process any day now, but no. Not yet.

However, one of the red wines that we bottled a couple of weeks ago tastes really good! It is our Dodging Tornados wine, Chambourcin blended with a little Cabernet, made dry. We are really excited about it, and we are starting to selling it now. The other reds should be ready for release within a few weeks if all goes according to plan.

If you read this blog and are interested in helping with harvest (whenever it happens), let us know. Send an email to info@gracehillwinery.com and we will add you to the email notification list. No obligation, lots of fun and a free lunch too!

2008-08-01T21:05:00.005-05:00

Thank goodness July is over. It wasn't an easy month.

I could say that I haven't written because we had too many family obligations, which would be somewhat true. We went to Colorado for a family reunion to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. (An absolutely marvelous time, by the way!) Then we had family members visit here-Dave's parents, his cousin, his brother and wife... Then we got to move the boys home from Lawrence. It has been busy, but now we have Jeff here doing an internship with us, which I think will be a very good thing.

But the truth is that the wines have been frustrating. So have the grapes. The grapes seem to be taking forever to ripen. Last year at this time we were harvesting. This year the grapes are so slow, painfully slow, to even start to turn color. I don't know when harvest will start, but not this week or next.

And we have had some ups and downs with the wines. The Seyval and the Rose had some issues, so we have suspended sales of them for now. (We do still have the Barrel Reserve White.) We have bottled some reds, so when they get through bottle shock, in another month or so, we will have reds to sell as well. We have certainly learned a lot in the process.

We survived our inspection by the Kansas Department of Agriculture today, so I guess that's good news. It was scary, but not as bad as I expected.

So the bottom line is that, like all procrastination, once I started avoiding this blog it became easier to just keep avoiding it. And it hung over my head, calling to me. So I'm back. And anyway...

Life at the vineyard is still sweet. We see the birds and butterflies, wild turkeys and quail, and just soak in the peace and quiet. We have kittens for a constant source of entertainment. It's a good place to be, and August will be a better month. Come visit!

2008-06-25T21:22:00.003-05:00

Talk about a week of ups and downs...

First the good news! We had a great time at our open house on Saturday. The crowd was big enough that we felt like we were really open, but small enough that we weren't intimidated trying to remember how to use the cash register. We actually sold our first bottles of wine that day, so after 5 years of planning and work, we now have revenue. (Not profit, of course, but revenue never the less.) It was extremely exciting. We are now officially open by appointment, and would love to have people call us and come in for a tasting. We won't have regular hours until the fall, when we have red wines available too.

The other big pleasure is seeing the grapes grow. The vineyard looks absolutely beautiful this week. The grapes look like the real thing, though hard and unripe. They still have a ways to go.

Which leads to the bad news.

We were out in the vineyard last evening, as we are most evenings, and found we have fungus in some of the grapes. This has been such a wet year that we are even more vulnerable than usual. We have tried to be proactive with our spray regimen and our vineyard management, but problems have crept up anyway. We try to be minimalist with our spray regimen, but haven't found any way to completely avoid spraying for fungus. It's very discouraging when we have worked so hard to keep the grapes doing well. However, we think we caught it quickly enough that we won't lose too many grapes. We try to be philosophical and take the approach of our friend and farmer Willard, who tells us when we complain about the weather not cooperating, "That's farming."

2008-06-16T21:39:00.003-05:00

Open house at the winery! This Saturday, June 21, 2008, we will be open from 1-5 pm for anyone who wants to stop by for a tasting. We are so excited to finally have wine, bottled and labeled, ready for sale. We probably shouldn't do this until our wine has had a little time to stabilize in the bottle, but we are too excited to wait. Besides, this way we can have a chance to try things out with a very small crowd. So if you read this blog, you're invited. And if you mention this blog, Dave is offering a discount on purchases. We have a dry white, a semi-dry rose, and a sweet Seyval now for sale. (If you are looking for red wines, you will have to wait for fall. They are still aging in the barrels.)

It has been busy and fun around here lately. We got the labels in (finally!) on Friday night, and immediately got to work on labeling the White Barrel Reserve, our dry white wine. Then Saturday we finished labeling it, and then bottled the Rose and Seyval wines. Today we labeled those wines, and now we are ready for business.

The work on the building is done for the moment, and we are ready to go. (We hope!) The drainage work on the area around the building is done; it has been tested thoroughly and worked well with all the rain we have had lately. We have been fortunate not to have had severe weather or flooding, but our parking lot is still a little soggy.

So come by Saturday. We are going to have a good time!

2008-06-08T21:44:00.002-05:00

Bloom has about finished in the vineyard and baby grapes are now appearing on the vines. The wind is doing its best to destroy our trellis structure, but the vines are holding on fairly well. We are lucky in that we have not had the hail (or tornados) that have been all around us for the past week, but we are craving some peaceful weather. The sun, rain and warm temperatures have made the vines grow like crazy, and the weeds too. There is always more to do in the vineyard.

We are wondering if our labels will ever arrive. They were supposed to be here weeks ago, but problems keep cropping up. All we can do is hope that they will be worth the wait. If they ever come, we will actually be able to sell some wine, which is a very exciting prospect after all these years of planning and work. We should finish bottling the white and rose wines this weekend, and with any luck will have them labeled as well.

We have been doing some construction on the winery building, to get the tasting room ready for business. As with all construction, it seems to take forever. Although we are almost done, there are still several loose ends that need to be tied up. For example, we have a lovely new ramp but the access to it is a mess. We are having an open house this week for the Whitewater Area Chamber of Commerce. I hope they are forgiving of the poor access, and I hope it doesn't rain, because we had another big tree blow over, this one into our fledgling parking lot.

Yet with all the setbacks and frustrations, we have wine that we are really proud of. We can see the next step in the whole project, opening up the winery, just around the corner. It is very exciting!

2008-05-26T14:57:00.005-05:00

Look at the happy graduate!

We took time away from the vineyard last week to go up to KU and see Jeffrey graduate. It was very exciting for all of us, seeing him and his classmates successfully make it through. We have known many of them for years, which made it doubly sweet. The weather was absolutely beautiful for the whole weekend, which we appreciated so much, especially when we came home to storms.

The weather has been unstable for days, first with high winds that toppled 2 large trees in the front yard, then with rain and thunderstorms the last three nights. We are supposed to get more severe weather today. We are fortunate not to have had hail or tornados so far, as many people around us have had.

We started bottling our wine yesterday, and have plans to finish the rest of the white and rose wines in the next 2-3 weeks. It all went smoother than we expected, and faster too. What a pleasant surprise!

The vineyard is coming out more every day. The new plants are growing quickly, peeking their heads out from the grow tubes. The older plants are getting ready to bloom, any day now. Bloom in the vineyard is tough to see, unless you look closely. On a few of our oldest plants there are a few blossoms present, as shown here. You would never notice if you didn't know what to look for!

2008-05-11T21:48:00.003-05:00

Spring has finally arrived! When you look across the vineyard, it is now green- new baby shoots, but green. The photo on the left is a cluster of blossoms, not yet in bloom. But it's a sign that grapes are on the way.

It has been a bit of a rough week for us, but it finished gloriously. We were frustrated early this week when we went to filter the Barrel Reserve White, and the filter pump didn't work. After much swearing and frustration, we took it apart, figured out the problem and fixed it. So then we felt pretty good, because the winery business is full of technical problems, but we are getting a handle on them one step at a time. We did the filtering yesterday, and it went flawlessly. We are now on target to start bottling over Memorial Day weekend. Spring is flying past, but we are making progress!

The vineyard is beautiful now, with wildflowers in bloom everywhere around the periphery. Tonight was perfect, warm with no wind. We had a dinner salad of greens fresh from the garden, and it was wonderful. Days like this are why we moved to the country.

2008-04-29T21:21:00.002-05:00

We have a new sign tonight! We have been working on it for a few days, worrying the neighbors, I'm sure. But we put it in place this evening, and we think it looks awesome. It somehow makes this adventure a little more real. Of course, now we need to quickly put up a "Closed" sign, because we aren't quite ready for company. (We need some wine that is actually in bottles before people start driving up.) Hopefully, in another couple of months, we'll be ready.

So here is an update on the vines; they are starting to come out, but so sloooooowly. This is the latest spring I can remember. Even the newly planted vines show (tiny) signs of life, but the vineyard still looks brown overall. You can see life if you look closely, so we are optimistic. We just wish it would hurry up and get green!

2008-04-21T20:11:00.003-05:00

OK, it finally feels like spring. Today was warm, with a mild breeze and that slight humid feel to the air that smells fresh. It feels like we have been waiting forever! Last year the vines woke up early, but this year they are like lazy teenagers on a summer morning- just not ready to stir. However, we saw our first glimpses of life in the vines in the last couple of days. There are very few real leaves yet, but the buds are definitely swollen.

We got our first shipment of bottles today, and that was an experience! A pallet of bottles is much taller than we had somehow expected. Driving the forklift is still a new enough experience to be frightening for everyone involved, but we managed without any disasters. We are one step closer to being ready to bottle the white wines. This dream is becoming more real every week.

2008-04-13T21:13:00.002-05:00

After all the flurry of activity with planting, things have slowed down. We finished putting on grow tubes, wires and irrigation by Monday afternoon, then watched the storms come in over the next few days. It has either been cold, windy or rainy, (or all three) ever since. Fortunately the grapevines remain dormant, so the freeze we expect tonight shouldn't be a big problem. But we are ready for budbreak! And decent weather!

We have been able to spend some time working on preparing equipment for bottling. Our directions were in English, rather than the Italian we have come to expect, but it still took some work to get things figured out. I think we are one step closer to being ready to bottle.

2008-04-06T21:30:00.003-05:00

Planting day was yesterday, and it went very smoothly. We had a great crew of friends and family, almost all of them experienced, so they were very efficient. The weather cooperated, and although we started in jackets, most of us had shed them by lunchtime. We planted another small vineyard of Seyval and Chambourcin, which have been our most reliable varietals so far. They should be producing grapes for wine within 3 years.

At lunchtime we barrel tasted our 2007 Barrel Reserve White, and found it awesome! We will be bottling it soon. We also tasted the Chambourcin, which is coming along nicely, and went very well with barbecued brisket. The 2007 Cabernet is maturing well in oak, and will probably be ready for bottling in the fall.

Spring has finally started to come to the vineyard, though the grapevines are still dormant. At least the daffodils and the apricot tree are providing color. It was a great day to be outside!

2008-04-03T07:27:00.002-05:00

Brian Sollo, this post is for you. Yes, this is your parents' website. Show your friends!

2008-03-30T20:03:00.002-05:00

The pruning is finished! The last of the vines were pruned today. So now we have a moment of rest in which to prepare for planting. We will be planting new vines next Saturday, and we are very fortunate to have friends and family who have volunteered to help, as they have so often in the past. We will be planting around 550 new vines, mostly Chambourcin and Seyval. We have promised them better weather than last year, which was bitterly cold, and so far the weatherman is cooperating. We'll see- like so much of farming, we really have no control!

We tasted all the wines we have aging in the cellar yesterday. They seem to be maturing nicely. It really is fascinating to see how the flavors develop over time. We hope to start bottling our 2007 white wines within the next month or so, which should put us on target for a limited summer opening.

Pruning the Grapevines

2008-03-25T20:34:00.004-05:00

The pruning continues, and fortunately the weather has cooperated. After the Easter freeze of 2007, we had a lot of plant damage to contend with, so this spring has been a challenge. But we are making good progress, and we finished pruning our hybrid grapes today. We still have several rows of vinifera grapes to go, but the end is in sight! We expect to see budbreak within the next two weeks, at least in some of the vines. Things will look much greener after that.

Welcome to our Blog!

2008-03-16T22:31:00.001-05:00

We are busy with pruning our vines at this time and getting ready to bottle our 2007 vintage white wines. Planting day is coming up on April 5 and we are putting in more Chambourcin and Seyval vines. The winery building is getting updated and our website is now up and running. Thank you for visiting us here on the web and keeping tabs on the happenings at Grace Hill Winery. We look forward to seeing you out here!