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.

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?

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!

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.

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.

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.