Cyser, Pyment, and Melomel

We're starting to see the end product of our grant to make more meads. This Sunday, during our first (annual?) mead and jazz festival we'll release two new meads. Or more precisely, one melomel (Miel Amour - spiced Asian pear mead) and one pyment (Vignoles Pyment - a mead made with our Vignoles grapes).

What else is in the cellar? We're hoping to release our new Raspberry Mead at the Raspberry Festival in September. And Holly is working on a true honey-only mead, a blueberry mead, and a jalapeno mead.

I'm gonna have to go down another type size in our tasting list again soon...

Every Little Bit Helps

I'm sitting at the Saturn dealership, waiting for the Hybrid Vue to be serviced. It's a great time to catch up.... including posting to this quiet little blog.

As much as we're devoted to community nonprofits, us Sandhill folks also feel pretty strongly about the environment. Part of the reason, I'm sure, if the fact that we're farmers and our connection to the land and water is strong. But it's also just something we feel strongly about. Simple as that.

So what little bits are we doing to help the environment? Hmmmm....

Our new Legacy wine contributes to the Legacy Land Conservancy. And I'm (Heather) just about to join their board.

The hybrid. When we needed a new winery vehicle last fall, we decided to spend a little extra money to save some gas.

Also last fall, we were verified under the Farm*A*Syst program -- this MDA program verifies farms that use good groundwater stewardship practices.

Our Blushing Crane wine has always benefitted the Haehnle Bird Sanctuary.

I (yep, it's Heather again) also served on the board of the Dahlem Conservancy for over 5 years.


Every little bit helps.

Facebook

Yes, I'm entering the 21st century. I've hesitated to get involved with Facebook up until now (how much more can I add to my plate!?) but the time has come.

A few days ago I set up an account with a Facebook "page" for the winery.

I promise to keep it up better than this blog! :) I'm hoping to add a note at least once a day. So stop by the Sandhill Crane Vineyards' Facebook page and become a fan!

March

It's hard to believe it's March already, but today certainly looks like spring. Grey, rainy, but in the 40s, rather than the uber-cold we've seen all winter.

What does March look like at the winery?

We began pruning the grape vines in January. It looks like we'll be finished pruning them sometime next week and will move on to the apple trees. It's probably the earliest we've ever been finished. It's nice to actually be done on time for once!

It's the middle of maple syruping season, and that means Sugar Snow. Recently Holly sweetened the 2008 vintage with syrup from Snow's Sugar Bush in Mason. We'll be bottling the 2008 vintage a week from Sunday and will release the following Sunday, March 22. Soon the Moore family will show up with sap to begin the 2009 vintage.

Almost every day I add another event to the calendar for April and early May. With the designation of "Michigan Wine Month" in April, more and more events are being scheduled around the state. Those 6 weeks or so look like they'll be really busy again this year!

The tasting room is relatively quiet, but we're seeing business remain steady. The only really quiet times are during the week. Since we close on Tuesdays and Wednesday in January, February, and March, we've been trying to catch up with some of the tasks that fell through the cracks during busier times. For example, for the next two weeks we'll be scrubbing the floors and revarnishing them. Of course, we're never able to get to more than a fraction of the things we want to do...

The Sandhill Cranes are back from their winter trip to Florida. Soon they'll be nesting and rearing a new batch of babies.