Notes From The Winemaker

Hi folks,

After a long pleasant winter with plenty of cold (but not too cold for the wines) crisp air, spring has returned. It has been a spring with some unusually warm temperatures – leading to the earliest bud break our vines have ever had. Normally, and without much variation, bud break begins the first week of May. This year the vines are two and a half weeks early.
Spring is an exciting time in the vineyard. Our pruning crew returns and outdoor work begins – ending the winter days spent solely working in the cellar. Each vine is pruned, it’s desired starting structure restored and readied for a new season. As the ground warms, the sap begins to flow in the vines, buds swell and open and the cycle of growth and renewal begins again.
The pruning process is healthy and therapeutic for the vines. If left unpruned they would grow too extensively and produce far more fruit than they could ripen. The process though, is also beneficial for the pruner. Trimming away old growth and selecting the healthiest canes to give the vine a desirable shape and balance is a very satisfying and complete feeling. The anticipation for the new season can be felt throughout this initial journey of vine tending.
We are lucky here at Millbrook Winery to have a crew that has returned for many growing seasons. One couple has been working with us since 1991. The crew knows how to work with vines and different varieties. They know the tasks to be accomplished and the rhythm of the season. This all adds to the health of the vineyard and the grapes that will become our wines.
Another season is underway and we will do our best, both in the vineyard and the winery, to make it a good one!

As Spring Unfolds, by Cellar Master, Tim Welly

“Wine in moderation, not in excess for that makes men weak. It brightens the smile, lightens the eye, and gives a certain vivacity to ones thoughts and conversations.” -Mark Twain

When spring time rolls around a world of new life emerges. The new year offers fresh opportunities and outcomes. Our late winter discussions and early spring planning has put into motion the creative brainstorms and ideas passed around at meetings. Warming spring afternoons inspire the winery staff to start dreaming up new ideas, and exciting events that the winery will participate in for the upcoming “season.”
Spring time means the vineyard is in full swing as last years plants need to be pruned up, and tied before the buds begin pushing out this upcoming years’ undeveloped fruit. Every vine is cut and tied by experienced vineyard workers with many years of experience. This is the time of year bees start helping the blooming flowers; by passing along their pollen. Watching bees as they cover a flower means that more flowers, and maybe some honey are soon ahead. However, don’t get too close while watching or the bee might sting you!

Being stung by the wine bug, now that’s another story. Like Mark Twain says wine has the ability to excite someone, inspire another and make complete strangers relate their sensations and feelings to each other. Isn’t the idea of wine just that: an expression? An expression of who, what, where, why and how? Many people take for granted the hard work; both that of the plant, and of the winemaker who works towards expressing where that wine comes from.

The French call it terrior, an expression of: this grape, from: this climate created in this style. They are so serious it’s the law, and it is well regulated. The determination and devotion towards expressing the best qualities from that region make the wine, and the region special. But, a current style many wines seem to be taking on is blurring the line between individuality. A wine should express itself, what the weather was like, what the soil was like, and how much rain it got. But once that wine is blended to taste like something else it looses its individuality. So my suggestion and opinion is that people should look away from that discount bin of mass produced wine in search of something particular and unique. Drink local or drink specific. If wine isn’t a regular choice when choosing something to drink, then make the times you do have it special, by drinking something that is special because it is unique.

All The Little Things, by Stacey Held

Being the Assistant Marketing Manager and now the Assistant Tasting Room Manager as well, I get the rare opportunity to see everything that goes on at the winery from start to finish. In today’s hard economic times we are often left to wonder, “How do we master retention and continue to grow when times are tough?”

What are people looking for when they come to our winery? The answer I believe is in all the little things, in the details of what we do and how we do it. People want to remember their experience, they want to remember the staff but most of all they want to be remembered. In a society of high tech, digital relationships, people are hungry for real connections. When they go to dinner, when they go on vacation and especially when they come to a winery, they want personal, real and impressionable interactions. That is the essence of what Millbrook Winery is all about. This is what drives us and ignites our creative engines. The concept of making that connection with our guests and continually trying to build that relationship with our Case Club members is what we focus on.

So, this year as Millbrook emerges from its annual “think-tank like” sessions, we’re focusing on all the little things from launching this very blog to enhancing our Case Club benefits, to a million other little and not so little changes that will impact every guest both new and returning.

What I find most rewarding about being both in the Marketing Department and in the Tasting Room, is that I get to see it all unfold. This year will be full of exciting changes and new events. We’re gearing up for another great season and hopefully raising the bar while we’re at it too. Hey, we haven’t been the Hudson Valley’s Best Winery for 13 consecutive years for nothing!