We threw ourselves a 1st birthday party the first weekend of November, complete with chocolate cupcakes and candles.  Luckily we rarely broke out into a chorus of “Happy Birthday.”  If you have ever heard our family rendition of the song you would understand why.  Yes, hard to believe, but just over a year ago, we washed down the cement pad, used every extension cord we could find (since we didn’t have power yet), moved a bar in and handed out over 400 yellow hardhats to our very first guests at First Sip 2008!   I told people this year, that First Sip 2009 was the first event we were doing for a second time. Our year of “firsts” has finally come to an end!!  And quite a year it has been!!  More work than we ever expected but we have also been more blessed than we could have imagined!!!!

The year has brought us over 180 wine club members and too many visitors to even count.  And while we have kind of “quietly” opened our doors while under construction…..many people found us by word of mouth.  Other wineries sent people, you all told people and brought your friends.  We deeply appreciate that you liked us enough to recommend us.  Thank you!!!!!!!

The year brought construction to an end with the result being a tasting room that we love because its a beautiful but comfortable space!  Thank you for going on the journey with us and watching the development of the building.  How great it was Grand Opening Weekend to see so many of you using the space the way it was envisioned…..tasting, wandering the gardens, picnicing at the outdoor tables and just enjoying each others company(and buying a bit of wine while you were at it!)

The year brought our first experiences with public pourings.  ZAP, Zinfest, Dark and Delicious, Taste of Lodi, Grape Escape, Spring Wine Show, School Street Sip and Stroll, Treasure Island Wine Fest just to name a few!!!  It has kept us busy but also given us a way to draw more people to our winery as well as advocate for the Lodi region as a whole!!  And more people are discovering the wonderful region that Lodi is!!!!

The year brought us our first sold out wines as well as some new additions to our lineup!  We added an Albarino, a new Zinfandel and just recently a Chardonnay.  Our 2007 Rose sold out first soon followed by our 2006 Tempranillo.  And just recently the 2006 Old Vine, Primitivo and 2006 Petite Sirah all followed suit.  Chad, our winemaker, says awards are great but the best award is a sold out sign!  How true!!!  Awards are quite a compliment but the fact that you liked it enough for us to sell out is really the best award!!!!!!!!!!!!

And speaking of awards, this year brought success we never imagined!!  Over the course of the year we entered 7 different well respected competitions.  And we were blessed with 3 Best of Class Awards, 2 Best of Region, 2 Double Golds , 9 Golds, 9 Silvers, 3 Bronzes!!!  WOW!!  We have set the standard high giving us a lot to live up to.

Most of all, this year brought us a lot of new friends!  The best thing about being open a year as seeing you come back time and again.  That has been the most fun part of the whole adventure.  We have enjoyed the pleasure of getting to know you and letting you get to know us!!!!!

So, we hope this is just the first year of many to come.  After all, our family has been on the Harney Lane property farming wine grapes for over one hundred years so we are just getting started on this venture!  And we hope that our venture has been a blessing to you in some way too….otherwise what’s the point?!!  Thanks for a great year and here’s to the next 100!!!!  CHEERS!!!

Well….Lizzy and James spent Halloween trick or treating for candy.  But our customers got to join us Halloween weekend for a “TEMP”ting treat!!  The long awaited 2007 Tempranillo was released for tasting and was included in our wine club release.  Feedback was very positive and we think you won’t be disappointed!!

September 19th and 20th we had the privilege to celebrate our Grand Opening of our new tasting room!  Two days of great wine, food, music and lots of great friends (old ones and new ones!!)!!!  We think we may have seen around 900 hundred of you smiling faces over the weekend!  What a great turnout!!  And we are also very blessed to have wonderful friends and family that jump in and help wherever needed.  THANK YOU!! 

It was great to see the space used as it was intended…..a full tasting room, people strolling the gardens, sitting under the trees, on the patio listening to music.  And the new 2007 Lodi Zin seemed to be a hit too!  Thank you for all of you that came to celebrate with us!  It made it all worth while.  And if you missed it…we missed you, so come see us soon!!!!

  I’ve set down with a glass of Albarino to tend to a very overdue update of our blog.  To those of you who faithfully watch for something new, the latest progress, wine and vineyard updates…..I am VERY sorry.  As many of you know, the last month or two (it’s becoming a little foggy and not because of the Albarino!) have been very busy for us dealing with final construction, landscaping, moving and more.  It seems appropriate that as the year’s labors are about to be realized in the vineyards with harvest, our 3 years of labor are about to be realized with the completion of our tasting room.  Finally, no more construction hats are needed!  The walls are painted, the lights hung and even the toilet paper has found its way to the toilet paper holders that I so carefully picked out a few months back.  Yes, all that’s left is some furnishings, some artwork, a little more landscaping and some badly needed office furniture. 

At the beginning of August we rather quietly moved in, trying to figure our way around our new space.  And when we moved in the space it really felt just like that…..a new space.  A rather empty new space.  But, we soon hosted a group from the Society of Wine Educators for tasting and lunch.  And then we had a great night of celebrating the completion of our Tasting Room with our Wine Club.  And very quickly the space felt completely different to me.  It took on a good Vibe.  A space filled with fun times, new relationships and good memories. And this is just the beginning!  I’ve only had a few sips of my Albarino, so you can’t blame the sentimentality on that.  It is heart felt!!

So, now plans are underway for a Grand Opening Weekend, September 19th and 20th.  We hope that we will see you there to help us create more good memories!!!  We will be celebrating between 12 and 5pm.  Should be a fun weekend of Good Wine, Good Food, Good Music and Good Friends!

Here’s the latest pics.  Enjoy!

Enjoy some of the latest pictures.  Last week I had to order toilet paper holders so I think that means were getting close to completion!!  It’s really looking beautiful.  Walkways, patios and trim work are next.

I have to say that May has been a crazy, fun, exciting whirlwind of a month from start to finish.  Since we had our kids, I have always said that May is one of the craziest months.  Usually it’s filled with ball games and end of the year school activities.  Well, this month was no different in that respect(YES…Kirsten’s softball team is undefeated to date)!  BUT…this year, the winery has added to the whirlwind!!!  May began with the Lodi International Wine Awards pouring on May 1st.  This was a really fun event with a lot of local people.  Nice size crowd to be able to really talk to people about our wines and our venture.  Fast forward to the next morning and you will find Kyle and I on the road to San Francisco to do our first radio spot on the Gene Burn’s Dining Around show on KGO.  We were lucky enough to be invited to share a little about Harney Lane and to help promote Zinfest.  Mr. Burns and his executive producer were very gracious and we even got to share a little Primitivo with them live.  You can still catch the interview by podcast.

The following Friday night, May 8th we held our first Wine Club event to share a pre-release tasting of our 2008 Dry Rose and 2008 Albarino, our first white wine.  It was a great night packed full of great food, wine and even some flamenco guitar by Jesse Hendricks.  Lots of fun to get to know our wine club members better!!!!

Tom & Irene @ Wine:30 Party

May 15th-17th brought the 100 degree weather and….Zinfest weekend. The Vintners Grill on Friday night at Lodi Lake was a wonderful event.  Our Old Vine Zinfandel, being chosen as one of the 12 Zins of Lodi, was one of the featured wines for the evening.  Then…off and running Saturday morning in preparation for Zinfest Festival.  Kyle even got to talk about our zin at the Wine School along with Tim Holdener from Macchia.  Sunday’s Winery Open Houses was a great day at the winery.  We had lots of familiar faces along with several first time visitors who braved the 100 degree weather to visit us!  And…the Albarino was the BIG hit of the day!!!

We also have had the privalege this month to be on the cover of D’Vine Magazine.  Pick it up and read a bit about us if you get a chance.  You can find a copy at most local wineries.  We think they did a great job on the article.  Thanks Deana and Fran!!  It’s pretty crazy…we have even had to autograph a few copies.  Too funny!

Well…May couldn’t go out quietly so Saturday capped it off.  We had a VERY busy day in the tasting room and we had the pleasure of a mention on KGO’s Dining Around with Gene Burns again.  Seems Mr. Burns had tried our Petite Sirah, which we left as a thank you  when we were on the show.  And he called it “sensational”!  What a great compliment.  We had a few people come to visit for the first time just because they heard that segment. 

What else can I say.  Except it must be nap time.  Just kidding…..while the month has been exhausting….it has been one of the most exciting in this crazy venture so far.  And one of the best parts is that we are seeing lots of familiar faces back time after time so I hope that means we are doing something right.  Until next time….CHEERS!

It is commonly thought that a “stressed” vine produces the best wine with the most intense flavors.  This train of thought is great marketing for certain terrains and climates.  But, the jury is still really out on if there is much truth to this.  Research, as well as Kyle and my Dad, point to the success of creating great wine to a ”balanced” vine.  It is important, especially in the great growing climate that we have, to manipulate the vines throughout the season in order to create balance.  The right level of crop, the right amount of foliage, the right amount of water are a just few factors that we work to control each year.  At this time of the year, the crews are busy shoot thinning.    Each block is shoot thinned according to it’s age, variety, vigor and growing history to name a few factors.  This is the simple process of removing some of the young tender shoots to begin to control some of the above named factors….crop level, foliage vigor as well as air circulation and sunlight.  And the point is of course, great fruit which is essential to great wine!  So, next time you have a glass of your favorite wine, appreciate all the hands that have been involved just creating the starting point…..the winegrapes!

REWARDS & AWARDS
Well…it has been a very busy last couple weeks at the winery.  Organizing glass, labels, capsules, corks, etc. to prepare for bottling day. Then this last week was filled with final blending and filtering of the wine.   All this in preparation for bottling on last Friday…..which took about 6 hours total.  Lots of preparation for the final piece in the winemaking process.  But each little piece is so important to getting the final product right.  I do have to say that it is very rewarding to see the wine come off the bottling line.  Such a relief to know that all the pieces have come together finally.  And even better when you are excited about what’s in the bottle….which we are!!!  This bottling included our 2008 Rose, 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel and, for the first time, our 2008 Albarino.  The Rose and Albarino should be ready to release in the next couple months.  The Old Vine Zinfandel will cellar a little longer first.  Can’t wait!!!!

There have been new awards to brag about too.  The Lodi International Wine Awards held last month brought us some more “bling”.  Our 2006 Petite Sirah tied for Best of Class and our Primitivo received a Diversity Platinum, which means it took GOLD in all three tasting groups!  To round it out the 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel received a Diversity Tri-Medal and the Tempranillo took a Diversity Tri-Silver.  This is an interesting competition that aims to match the consumer with wines that will be appealing to their particular tasting sensitivity level.  For more information visit www.lodiwineawards.com.

Most recently, we were notified that our 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel was chosen as one of the “12 Zins of Lodi”.  This is quite an honor as we all know how great Lodi Zinfandels are!!!!  We are excited to be included in such a great group of wines and excited about the exposure this will bring!  To read more about the judging see the article in the Lodi News Sentinel.

Cheers until next time!