We are at T  minus 2 weeks until the start of the Okanagan Spring Wine Festival and if you haven’t booked your tickets for our Assemblage event yet, now is the time to do it before the event is completely sold out.

If you were not part of last year’s event and are unfamiliar with the process, here is a bit of background information for you.

As we always do at this time of year, we will begin the sale of our futures of the Renaissance Merlot.  The 2008 Renaissance Merlot was blended last month and then returned to 4 select barrels in order to give the various components of this wine an opportunity to come together as one before being bottled later this May.  The finished 100 cases of wine will be released in September, 2010. 

Last year during the process of building this wine we had an idea about how we could share the blending experience with everyone who loves our wines.  Based on this idea and the old motto of “if you build it; they will come”, the Assemblage event was born.   

We bottled small amounts of each of the individual lots of wine that we are using in the completed Renaissance Merlot.  With these wines we are providing an opportunity to individuals to taste each of the different, interesting and unique lots of Merlot that were used to make our finished Merlot blend. In addition, after evaluating each of the separate lots of wine, individuals will be placed into groups and will then be given the opportunity to blend them together themselves to build their own variation from these lots. 

After blending is complete, each group’s finished blend will then be judged by a very important and select judging panel, (Larry, Linda and I).  Bragging rights and awards will be presented to the winning group.  To finish up the event, individuals will have the opportunity to sample the Stags Hollow Winery’s finished blend of the 2008 Renaissance Merlot while nibbling on delicious appetizers and mingling with other event participants.

If this sounds like a good time to you, please contact Linda at the Wineshop in order to reserve your spot in this event.  Space is limited and reservations are a must.  The dates are Saturday, May 1 & 8th 2010 at 11:00 a.m. - 13:00 p.m. on both days.  We look forward to seeing you there. 

linda@stagshollowwinery.com 

Phone (250) 497-6162 or Toll Free 1-877-746-5569

P.S.   Yes, Larry will be doing the dishes again this year!

“A bottle of wine begs to be shared; I have never met a miserly wine lover.”

Clifton Paul Fadiman

Dwight

By the limited amount of information updates that I have been posting via the blog and Twitter I am sure that everyone must think that I have been hibernating this winter.  In fact, I have been here at the winery and much of my time has been occupied with completing the 2009 wines.  That being said, I will endeavor to be a bit more regular on the updates in the future.

It is Easter this week end, Spring is officially here, daylight savings time has returned, and the daytime high temperatures have moved up into the double digits. Another sure sign that Spring is really here is the arrival of the new 2009 vintage of SHV wines that are starting to appear through out the province and that are soon to be available via our website/wineshop.

First off the bottling line this year, and new to SHV, is our 2009 Syrah Rose.  It has been a number of years since SHV has released a Rose and we decided it was time to do again. The wine was created in a true south of France style.  It is almost completely dry and its structure is serious enough to be paired with a vast array of summer foods but it will also be perfectly enjoyable on its own.

In addition to the Rose, the rest of our usual spring release wines will be available in the coming days (as per our normal release dates of late April).  The portfolio of wines being released will include the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 Vidal, 2009 Viognier, 2009 Con-Fusion blend,  and as well, we will also be releasing our 2008 Chardonnay and 2008 Pinot Noir.

As we always do at this time of year, we will begin the sales of our futures of our Renaissance Merlot. The 2008 Renaissance Merlot was blended last month and then returned to 4 select barrels in order to give the various components of this wine an opportunity to come together as one before being bottled later this May. The finished 100 cases of wine will be released in September, 2010.

The Okanagan Spring Wine Festival runs from May 1-9, and as we did last year, we will be once again be hosting our SHV Assemblage - The Art of Blend and Evaluating Wine event at the winery.

For those of you that missed the event last year, what we have done is bottled small amounts of each of the individual lots of wine that we are using in the completed 2008 Renaissance Merlot. With these wines we are providing an opportunity to individuals to taste each of the different, interesting and unique lots of Merlot that were used to make our finished Merlot blend. In addition, after evaluating each of the separate lots of wine, individuals will be placed into groups and will then be given the opportunity to blend them together themselves to build their own variation from these lots.

After blending is complete, each group’s finished blend will then be judged by a very important and select judging panel, (Larry, Linda and I).  Bragging rights and awards will be presented to the winning group. To finish up the event, individuals will have the opportunity to sample the Stags Hollow Winery’s finished blend of the 2008 Renaissance Merlot while nibbling on delicious appetizers and mingling with other event participants.

The dates are Saturday, May 1 & 8^th 2010 from 11:00 a.m. - 13:00 p.m on both days.

Does this sound like a good time to you? If so, please contact Linda at the Wineshop in order to reserve your spot in this event. Space is limited and reservations are a must.

I look forward to seeing you there.

linda@stagshollowwinery.com

Phone (250) 497-6162 or Toll Free 1-877-746-5569

“What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?”

W.C. Fields

Dwight