July 16, 2006

Summer Solstice 2006

THE HOT DAYS OF SUMMER!

After what seemed like a never-ending, rainy winter, the long days of summer have been very welcomed here in Dry Creek Valley. We are currently celebrating the summer solstice which translates to the peak of the growing season for the vines.

This year’s growing season had a slow start with the late rains, followed by a compressed spring. As a result, the bud break to bloom timeframe has been much shorter than normal (47 to 50 days compared to a 70 day average). Be sure to tuck that bit of info away for future “Winegrowers Trivia” games!

The spring and early summer have been a busy time at Amelia’s Acre with the new driveway and landscape project. We are just completing the finishing touches and will possibly still have enough days of summer to grow a few things in the new garden!

WE’RE (ALMOST) FAMOUS

Amelia’s Acre has now enjoyed our first newspaper write-up: Harvest Market, a terrific natural food store in Fort Bragg on the Mendocino Coast, featured our 2003 Zinfandel. Wine buyer Michael Arago wrote the following:

“We consider Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley one of the premier growing regions for Zinfandel in California. Ridge Vineyards, Dry Creek Vineyards, and Rafanelli are just a few of the great Zin producers in this exalted piece of California wine country. With such notable neighbors, it’s no surprise that the Amelia’s Acre Zinfandel is so good. It’s packed with deep, rich, supple blackberry fruit flavors with hints of vanilla. Almost liqueur-like in richness, this is lovely Zinfandel, and it’s too bad the vineyard is only one acre!”

HARVEST WILL BE HERE SOON!

Before we know it, harvest will be upon us again. We continue to extend the offer for any able and willing grape pickers (no experience required!) to join in the process. Harvest at Amelia’s Acre usually lands around the first week of October, but the weather and the grapes make the final determination. Please send a quick email if you are interested and we will be sure to keep you posted on the progress of this year’s growing season, and anticipated harvest date.

2004 RELEASE, at last!

The 2004 Zinfandel was bottled last September and has been resting comfortably over the past winter and spring. The 2004 vintage, which will be released on July 9th (in honor of the real Amelia’s birthday!), is dry, and slightly more delicate than the 2003…perhaps with a style that might be called (dare I say) more “traditional” than the previous years’ vintages.

Although the “wild child” may have settled down a bit in the vineyard during the 2004 growing season, no one seemed to tell the REAL child!!!

We are accepting orders now for shipments on July 9th.

Posted by ameliasacre at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)